All posts by L.L. Shelton

About L.L. Shelton

Bonnie is a Jesus Lover, and in light of the fact, loves His wonderful church. She is interested in many things and enjoys sharing her view of some of them on this blog. She is a poet and a singer of songs. She resides in Memphis, Tennessee, where she is a dedicated wife and the mother of seven children- five of whom she educates at home, as the eldest two have graduated homeschool and are pursuing their own interests. In her spare moments she may be found in her home office with a client, as she is a practicing Biblical Counselor and a Life Coach. She welcomes you to print and share her articles and poetry, and to quote freely from them with the understanding that she is to be acknowledged as the author. Mrs. Shelton does NOT OWN the copyright to the majority of the photos and other types of illustration used on this site! View all posts by L.L. Shelton →

My Supplication

March 4, 2018PoetryL.L. Shelton

Allow me not to shame you,
Father I have loved.
At your gracious invitation,
More so at your command
I have loved you.

All the while imperfectly,
And yet authentically
I have embraced you.

Your Word is life to me,
Without it I shall not want to live.
Without that which is you,
There is no life.

Allow that I please you,
Though my way still is fraught
With the dust of my composition.
Make me a pleasantry to yourself,
While I am yet clay.

Amen.

My Daddy’s Blanket

March 1, 2018Family Life, Humanity, Parenting, Poetrygrandparenting, grief, loss, parentingL.L. Shelton

This is my daddy’s blanket.
I got it at Lolli’s house.
My daddy’s in heaven.
Is Joseph in heaven?
Did Daddy see Joseph?
Is Baby Jesus in heaven?
Did Daddy see Baby Jesus?

We snuggle under Daddy’s blanket,
And I wonder at all that I know,
And at all that I don’t know.
I hear his rhythmic breathing.
I hold him, kiss his precious face,
And I marvel at all that we’ve lost,
And at all that we’ve found.

You Can’t Have Everything

February 28, 2018Education, Family Life, Mental Distress, Mental Health, Mental-Physical-Spiritual HealthL.L. Shelton

It is evident that my paternal grandfather-in-law, Orange Arthur Shelton, whom I never had the privilege of knowing personally, was right concerning at least one matter: “You can’t have everything.” While this may seem obvious on the surface, it appears to be quite difficult to comprehend.

I am in practice as a Life coach and Biblical counselor and have heard astounding things in my office. For instance, I have heard a man complain that his wife is not sexy enough to suit him, after he has willingly given her several children and can not afford for her to have the occasional new dress or to take her out to dinner. I have listened to a wife who has no need to work outside the home, complain that her hard-working husband is not home enough, that he doesn’t relate well to their child or spend enough time with him, and in the same breath admit that she could never let go of her brand new car or manage without her weekly manicure. I have been told by another that he can not tolerate his wife’s career success but would not stand for his wife not helping to pay the bills. One man said that his wife should be home with the children while insisting that she hold a regular job. A woman complained to me that she wanted to be healthy while stuffing down a third candy bar for lunch and reminding me of her reasons for not getting any physical exercise. I’ve listened to addicts describe their great desire to abandon their drug of choice and in the next breath state clearly the reason they have no intention of letting it go. I’ve paid close attention as liars have told me they are aware of the problematic issues resulting from their chronic dishonesty and strongly want to change, and heard them lie to me with their next sentence.

As it turns out, life is all about choices. Granted, some are more easily recognized than others, for example: If I want to be a concert pianist, the manicures mentioned previously will not be an issue as my nails must remain clipped short; therefore I can be a concert pianist with nails clipped short or I can forgo such endeavor and keep my nails long. Other alternatives are not as readily apparent. We must live a little longer, dig a little deeper to unearth the truth. As with this profundity: One may not be a person of conviction and at the same time enjoy a conflict-free existence. There is this to ponder: We can not feel love without feeling loss. If we feel one we are guaranteed to feel the other at some point- if not on multiple occasions. In other words, we may live a life without love or choose love and accept the loss that accompanies it.

Straight up to his death, my father-in-law maintained the opinion that one can not expect to have both sanity and many children. I decline comment. The point is that one thing nearly always edges out another. We would do well to remember the truth in these wise words: You can’t have everything.

On Art

February 27, 2018Academics & The Arts, Church Culture, Humanity, Humanity & Sin, Poetry, The ArtsL.L. Shelton

As a favorite philosopher/theologian Francis Schaeffer stated quite appropriately in his thesis, How Should We Then Live, art is merely the expression of a man’s mind. I’ve spent many years processing this idea imparted to me by Dr. Schaeffer. I knew I agreed with him from the moment I heard him utter it, but I think I knew there was more that needed to be said.

The true artist is of either the most courageous among us or the genuinely nonchalant; for he dares to create something abiding which will outlast his own existence here. He is a person of conviction who boldly believes in his right and ability to impress on his own generation and on the ones to come his thoughts, his experience, or he is oblivious to his own place- maybe to his own identity, and in a whirlwind of reactivity leaves a piece of himself behind.

The importance of art certainly can not be overstated as it is of a permanence our physical bodies do not attain. Art will endure and it will influence and persuade those whom it touches. It will do these things with or without permission. It will do these things within and outside of boundaries, and it will remain our responsibility as individual souls to respond in a manner conducive to the blessing of our brothers and sisters in humanity.

Nothing Owed

February 25, 2018PoetryL.L. Shelton

…And yet by hope in mystery,
Belief in what I cannot see,
I’ll be relieved this awful death,
Have life abundantly,

Will not hang relentlessly
Upon this cross ‘twas built for me,
Will instead at your command
Be In Love eternally,

Will behold the summer storm
In all it’s fury, kept from harm,
Though wrapped in winter’s blizzard
Be all the while made warm,

Observing autumn’s dying hues
No longer be inspired to gloom,
Knowing raging change of spring
Enjoying peace in everything.

Paid In Full

February 22, 2018PoetryL.L. Shelton

I will not heed the myrrh, the wine.
I’ll hang here ’til the end of time,
Feel the full unyielding pain,
Unending summer void of rain,
Winter hardship without snow,
Autumn foliage minus glow,
In spring witness no rebirth,
I will bear this awful curse,
Refuse to numb my aching mind,
Refuse to welcome senses blind.
To tolerate your lawlessness,
I will receive no recompense…

It Was Called Beautiful

February 21, 2018PoetryL.L. Shelton

Nothing is coincidence
In His economy,
A crippled fool
Is turned athlete,
With wisdom is transformed,
Goes running and leaping
And praising God,
Though silver and gold
Has he none.

Sensational Sexuality Diet

February 19, 2018Church Culture, Holistic Health, Humanity & Sin, Married Life, Mental-Physical-Spiritual HealthBiblical application, Christian sexuality, healthy living, healthy sexuality, human sexuality, Love, real love, sensational sex, spiritual successL.L. Shelton

Steps To A Truly Satisfying Sexuality

Stop! Proceed with caution. This list has the potential to alter your life and is intended for married and soon-to-be-married eyes only. Not intended for minor use. Parental supervision suggested. You are on the honor system. You must not continue reading unless you fully intend to read through the last word and to the end. Please thoughtfully consider the terms. If you agree to the terms of use, you may proceed.

Steps to your satisfaction:

Binge! Throw out that one year Bible reading plan and read ahead to the next chapter. Ask God to join you through His Holy Spirit as you feast on The Word! Enjoy every morsel, each small bite so full of flavor and nutrition, created especially for your dining pleasure. Reconnect with the exciting authentic history, thrilling true tales of prophets and kings, the beautiful poetry, and miraculous moments of discovery and deliverance. Relate anew to the genuine Gospel and the establishment of the Christian church. Eat and drink until you begin to feel hopeful and content with your God.
Purge! Now clean out that ridiculous clutter you’ve been stumbling over for so long. Is there a secret stash of soft porn somewhere? Do you only need to touch a screen to access it? Is there a Victoria’s Secret across the street from where you work? Is that Frederick’s or Chippendale’s catalogue someone brought in laying around somewhere? Are there steamy romance novels- you know the kind- filled with men human husbands could never manage to be, men who are perfect beyond measure, infallible heroes to the end? Are there lewd books, magazines filled with pictures and stories of strange women- you know the type- perfectly built women with fabulous faces who beg to serve and to participate in aberrant sexual practice and couldn’t care less for a wedding ring? Is there legitimate pornography available to you and used by you, once in a while or regularly? Trash it! Toss it with the understanding that God abhors it. Ask your abba (your daddy) to give you the grace, strength, and courage to resist it. Ask Him to give you a new perspective (a new heart) toward those who are involved in creating these images to incite lust. Pity them. Pray for them as if they were your own people caught in a horrible self-destructive lifestyle. They are, after all, your human brothers and sisters.
Starve yourself! Allow your thoughts of sexual satisfaction to rest on your spouse and only on your spouse throughout your waking hours. Ask God to continue the vigil as you sleep. Ask God to remind you that honest fulfillment in any arena is only possible when you are more concerned with giving than with getting. Recognize when your thoughts threaten to turn selfishly lustful toward your spouse, to linger lustfully on another or to turn sexual toward another, and refuse to stay; immediately command your mind in the name and power of Christ to turn back toward your spouse and toward your God. At this moment, God will remind you of some Truth in His Word regarding Himself. He is attempting to replace the potentially unwholesome thought with thought of Himself. Cooperate! Acknowledge the thought, embrace it and repeat it, again and again until you feel cleansed. The more you listen to God, the louder He gets!
Start over! When you fail, do not give up. Seek and ask for forgiveness, from God and from your spouse. Use your will power given to you by The Holy Spirit, and in His strength, begin again. Together, with your abba, put one foot in front of the other, and proceed through these steps.

This diet is guaranteed to radically alter your life! Your sexual urges are designed by God not only to ensure procreation, but to drive you away from yourself and toward your spouse to aid in the development of a particular level of intimacy with God, as well as with your spouse, unique to marriage. By implementing this plan you will find your own sexuality transformed! If your spouse is committed as well, your joy in one another will be rich. It will not happen overnight, as with any diet, this one must be participated in fully and committed to as a lifestyle to result in lasting success.

Finally, we make authentic love because we are under the influence of the genuine love of God, and are inspired to the giving of ourselves and receiving of another in a beautiful way because of it. Anything less is ordinary loveless sex.

Disclaimer: Some participants will need to focus on God as someone other than “daddy,” as their earthly daddy (or mama) wittingly lead them toward or directly contributed to their sexually retarded development. I urge those to remember that God is a perfect father and cares tenderly for his creation as a good mother cares for her young. Though you may have no immediate earthly example of a Godly parent available, you may find it helpful to imagine such a leader through literary ideal, including biblical, and film illustrations, and to know that God (according to His Word) joins you in your grief.

Greetings

February 18, 2018PoetryL.L. Shelton

Whchchchchchchch!
Whchchchchchchch!
Spring is heralded
Outside my window.
I’d be calling back
With equal delight,
But for the body
Sleeping next to mine.

Everglades Shooter

February 16, 2018PoetryL.L. Shelton

Slowly rejoining the land of the living
I raise my weary head,
Acrid smell of smoke in the air
Seventeen lay dead,
I wonder what might happen if I slept for a week,
I keep a silent vigil from my bed.

Scripturally Speaking

Thoughts Of A Wondering Christian