Analytical Dream

I was racing down the interstate, late getting to my destination. There was a semi truck in the right hand lane and I needed to get around it. As I started to pass, the road started to curve. The semi began moving over into my lane with nowhere to go, but into the median. As I drifted I noticed it was not a semi at all. It was a Budweiser truck drawn by six dark, giant horses. Their hair and their tails flying high behind them in the wind as they charged ahead over 90 miles an hour.

I am driving in the median trying to stay on track and not lose control. The horses never stop; they keep pushing me over and over until I cross the other side of the interstate. The embankment on the other side of the road it a mass of dark brown mud. Mountains of soft, suffocating mud. The horses lose control, knocking me out of my car and into the mud. I am flying high and then sliding down the muddy hillside. The horses are still moving towards me, chasing me down the hillside. I am shoving my feet and my arms into the mud trying to slow myself down and stop the falling before the horses land on top of me. I can feel the mud consuming me, comfortably surrounding me and slowing suffocating me.

I cannot die. I cannot leave yet, I have too much to do. My mother will cry and my father will miss me. I have to beat the horses. I cannot let them fall on me.

The movement stops. I am lying at the bottom of the muddy hillside. I am alive. There is something wrong with my leg, but I do not care. I get up. I walk away the only survivor except for one horse. He is standing calmly in the middle of the road. He is waiting for me. He is my only way to get away from this place. I climb on his back and we ride together to find my parents, to find help. I see the police and the ambulance down the road, but they are so far away. Why are they so far down the road, when we are down here?

He takes me to them, to safety, as I lay on his back. He delivers me home, the only survivor.

Slipping Away

Slipping away
Beautifully
Quickly

Her legs no longer able to carry her
Finding strength in the arms of her sons
A soul that never fell when her body could not stand

Even when there is no will to eat
She hungers for us to stay
Too see our faces and know our stories

Slipping away
Beautifully
Quickly

When we think she is not with us
Her humor reminds us she is still here
Every bit of here is here now

She does not want to be left alone
To feel left out of the lives we share
But she is the reason we are all here
She is why we live and why we love

Slipping away
Beautifully
Quickly

The drawl of her voice is strong yet sweet
Reminding me it will all be alright
Her lingering gaze tells me what she wants to say
What words cannot express as beautifully as we can

I will sit with you and bring you comfort
As you have done every day before
You will live with in us
Never leaving our hearts, but protecting our souls

Slipping away
Beautifully
Quickly

Wisdom in Your Own God

The world we live in is filled with beautiful cultures, personal ideals and incredible opinions which all offer up a variety of “gods”. I personally dream that before I spend the rest of eternity with my God, I get to meet yours. We all have a faith in something much greater than ourselves, and I personally believe more in “faith” than I do in any other aspect of religion. I believe it is what our god and our ideals created in us in order to connect us as one. It is our communication channel keeping us on track.

Now, I have stayed away from writing about my personal beliefs and opinions, but I know this is one we can all stand to listen to, so hang in there. Just this morning I received an email devotional. I love getting these because it allows me to have a moment in the day to spark some thought and talk to Him about Him. Sometimes I do not get a chance to read them and honestly sometimes they just go right over my head and I talk to Him about something else completely. The one I received today sparked a little thought in my head about how I experience my God and how I understand His wisdom.

The following point was made: "Tap into His wisdom - by being in scripture consistently and by praying regularly - in order to know His desires for you."

My first thought was, “Who said this is how you understand His wisdom and why is that the only way?” I do agree with the fact that we learn more and more about His wisdom when we spend more time in his scripture and in prayer, but I do not think that is all we can do to understand his wisdom.

When I walk outside on a very sunny day and feel the rain pouring down on me, I understand that God can make “out of the ordinary” things happen, and so can I. When I hear Avery laugh as I walk in the room, I understand what real love is and why He loves me and why my parents and family love me. I gain wisdom more in actions, observations and experiences. I may lose someone I love through tragedy or simply through bad timing, but I grow in the wisdom of His plan. Although I think it is good to read the scripture and come to know it, I also think we need to raise our heads more often and live it.

There are so many cultures I hope to experience and so many gods I want to meet. I think we all have the same faith that connects us, because we believe in something that makes us who we are and makes us whole. These gods are alive and teaching us in what we see, what we feel, what we want and how we live. Everything about us reveals a faith in some form, we just have to stop and see it.

Finally - A Good Rush

I got such a rush today and boy have I needed it! I absolutely love putting myself out there to try something new and even take a few risks. For the past few months I have just felt like I could not find a way to try something new or really take a chance, but that all changed today.

Earlier this week I got a call from Tomatino's Pizza here in Montgomery asking if I could bring in come pantings to place on the wall. I believe I wrote to you earlier how I was torn on the idea of trying to sell these masterpieces (yeah right), but after today I am all for it! So they called and asked if I could be there at 1pm on Sunday. In less than a week I got a whole business plan together for these paintings. I do not want to look like I am putting all of my eggs in one basket, but I want to be ready if something else comes of this. So of course the first order of business was business cards from Mom! As soon as she got the news, her little printer started working. She made me some really classy business cards for Paintings by Searcy Yoder. Nothing outrageous in the title, just simple and the way it is.

Caroline from Tomatino's was so nice to coach me through this process considering I had no idea how to price or even how much space was available. She said a guy backed out and she needed to fill some space. I was thinking I maybe had room for like 2 of my reguslar sized pieces and then I could fill in with some small ones, just to get started. Thank goodness I decided to take all of my pieces today, because they ALL made the wall!!! I was so excited when I walked in and did not see one piece on the walls. I could not help but think, "No way this is all my space", and I was right. Half of the restaurant was mine!!! Unreal.

So if you are hungry, go eat pizza. The restaurant is not too large, so you really cannot sit anywhere without sitting next to one of my paintings. The prices are very reasonable. You will see pieces ranging from $20 - $55 and they will be there until October 4th. Maybe one day I can charge over $100, but babysteps. I do not want to get too far ahead of myself.

At one point I was sitting on the back of the booth seat hanging up the last piece and I looked down the wall at all the little stories I painted. I laughed at the secrets they hold and felt a little sad. I felt like I was dropping off my child at college. They are all so grown up and out in the world on their own. I was leaving and felt like I needed to tell them goodbye, so of course I did when Caroline was not looking. It is sad to think I may not see them again, but I guess it would be even more sad if I did not sell any!! Grass is always greener. I guess there is not much risk here. If I fall on my face, I will be happy to bring them back home.

You can view the paintings at: http://picasaweb.google.com/searcyyoder/Paintings#
Keep a look out for a new link later on. I just got a Mac and not sure if I will still use Picasa or if it will change, but I will update ya!

I hope you like them!