The Monticello Hotel opened for business on July 23, 1923 and was the centerpiece that the City of Longview was built around. The “fire-proof” 200-room hotel housed prospective residents and visiting business people who had come in search of property. Originally named “Hotel Monticello,” it was the first building to be completed in the planned city. The name was chosen in honor of the first pioneer community on the Cowlitz River, which was named after Thomas Jefferson’s plantation.
I am Because You Are
I would have nothing but death
and with a broken heart You made plans for that
You said there would be war
and rumors of war
You said You would come back
and I would take my eyes off You in order to guess
Even this is more proof of You
My neighbors revel in gossip and drama
while people You love
starve and sleep in the street
You said humanity would breed evil
and it has
I have tried to avoid dancing with them yet still I must repent
You know how hard I have tried to be good
and failed
Your love is so deep and encompassing and honest
Trust founded in you
has been raped by our greed
But in my heart You remain
You overwhelm me with Your grace
So I would be happy to look more like you
You said I would be persecuted
by liars, tramps and thieves
Your salvation is complete
even while I still remain ready to compete
I hear the song in my heart cry with You
because You replaced mine with Yours
You see me through Your Son even through my sin
I am slowly losing my first site and sound of judgement
because You require me to give up all
While You are my amazing gain
I live in a glass house You built
I am hidden by Your Name
You are Promise and Truth
You are Overcomer and Savior
I am because You are
The Wellness Plan
You want me to live in your box
Your invitation is perpetual
and you think you won
In the black and white
I die
The death you embrace
The rigid walls cut my skin
You spend resources
to name my life as yours
Writing rules is your passion
You poke and prod
You question and assess
but you do it for you
while I fight to hold still
Powers and principalities
push me out of your realm
Push you into yours
The realness of fear
keeps us in opposition
It is not just flesh and blood
that makes us move
It’s life
I Will Fear No Evil
I was kicked in the stomach today
I am the subject of a hit and run
Accusations runs wild
Fear plays loudly in stereo
and surround sound speakers
Not one bit of gratitude
has played for my ears
While I fly over their heads
Attacks come
from every direction
There is screaming inside me
Yet there is also quiet
that holds my attention
My gums are inflamed
my stomach is on fire
But You are here all the while
When I land
I will still be in Your arms
I will be in your peace
where I am never evicted
where I have what I need
Your countenance shines through mine
While I am in You
and You are in me
Image Credit: http://blessingsbeyondthebarnyard.com/2013/09/what-are-you-afraid-of.html
The Anti-Trust
The gifts will continue to stack up
while you curse His blessing
Even while you mock His greatest creation
you will always have enough but I hold what you didn’t ask for
He cries for you
while you do what was done to you
Wounded and guarded
they pray for guidance while I carry them
Together we maneuver your obstacle course because
I refuse to hide your bad marketing
He cries for you
while you do what was done to you
You sing your own praise to all who can hear
You thank Him for divine gifting but don’t see what is in front of you
Depravity has been born out of neglect
While you shut me out in fear
He cries for you
while you do what was done to you
Keep tearing me down while you push them away
Don’t listen to me even though I speak through honest hearts
Ignore my communication and spite my questions
Only see the distraction instead of what I hold in my hands
He cries for you
while you do what was done to you
Note: As with any art what you see or hear is relative. I don’t usually explain any part of my poetry but the message on my heart while I wrote this is so important. The subject of this poem is so many people who are believers who don’t love people because people hurt them and stole their trust; there are so many of us. “I” is the Holy Spirit. “He” is Jesus. “They” are the messengers he has placed in our lives to show us something we need to heal. If you want to be healed Jesus knows what you need. Trust him. You can’t always trust your eyes & ears. If you have been abused your eyes & ears may have scars. Believers can’t rely on the sword and the law; we are no longer subject to the law because the life of Jesus will lead you in all righteousness.
Image Credit: http://elgarblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/the-pendulum-swings-patent-misuse-and-antitrust-by-daryl-lim/
Why Do You Need a Website?
Screen captures from Angel Wings Rescue, The Monticello and The Petworks’ websites in 2014
Your website speaks volumes about your business. If you have a business, you need a website. If you have a business, you need a professional looking website. If you have a business most likely potential new clients will see your website before they see your storefront.
Although you and your employees (if you are lucky enough to have them) need to sleep at night, your website never sleeps. Your website will never go on vacation or maternity leave. Your website will never need sick days or overtime pay. Your website will never move, even if your storefront does.
A well-designed website can make your business appear larger by giving you a place to show off your portfolio and client testimonials. A successful website may ensure you don’t lose new clients to a business that does have a website because, believe me, your competitor does have a website. Of course, on the flip-side a poorly designed and maintained website will produce the opposite effect. If you have an unattractive or outdated website, you might as well go without.
We Are the Wings
Up high in the air
Only God really sees
Flying where he breathes
Only God really sees
Over rivers of his glory
washing and cascading
through canyons
and dry heat
The song we sing
Only God really hears
His song he sang
Only God really hears
The walls he made
to guide your path
Are glorious
as we fly
Our direction at his discretion
Only God really speaks
His word shake us
Only God really speaks
His message of love
is his glory we sing
from rainbow filled skies
we are the wings
EXCLAIM the Memories in VIDEO
In the month of May we stop for a moment and remember those who have paved the way for our life today; many who gave even their life for what they believed in.
I asked Karen what her first thought was about Memorial Day, which falls on Monday May 26, 2014. She said:
The first thing that comes into my mind when I think about Memorial Day are veterans that have fallen…and then I start to think about people, who I personally have lost, and how important it is to remember these people. Now we have memories and those memories are great. Those memories are so priceless….
One
My love and I sit entwined
although our bodies
are in different rooms
Dancing inside are
Your wish for us
wrapped around hope
and joy
and something much larger
than one word can convey
To be so completely connected
but never satiated
keeps my curiosity high
Calls me back to the promise
Maintains a fervor back to your heart
Where my identity
My true name
are written in blood
You catch me in the strongest arms
You carry me in the softest embrace
You bless me absolutely
and I can only consider
my devotion
as we move together
as one
Image Credit: http://blog.ponoko.com/2012/08/16/painting-one-of-my-3d-prints-with-video/
The Rainbow
I know all promises are fulfilled
because you are here
You have filled the empty places
and the reality
is no longer overwhelming but healing
To enjoy the dance
doesn’t just make me stronger
as we move together
The colors that paint the sky
made of water and light
have shown me the greatest declaration
and my eyes have forever been opened
to who I am with you
The revelation you have been here forever
while I was being perfected
makes me sing in uplifted tones with my hands held high
The burning inside
is encouragement that I was made for this path
Makes my motivation more real
I continue to become more of who I was made to be
My greatest JOY is that you are always here
The rainbow doesn’t have to be anticipated anymore
because the treasure has been unearthed
The See Side
I swim in a pool of unuttered tears
only known by the LOVE that hears and sees and knows
The cool of the liquid
comforts sore hands and knees that are scraped
The waves are red and blue
the colors of you while we played
I know you know that you are loved
by not only me
My arms rest on the water
They ache to hold you now
as when we danced and learned and sang
I know that you know that I smile
as I remember sleepless nights
and the comfort of the sound of our games
Faith in you washes over my newest scars
A great wall made of stone
divides us today
It continues to be built regardless of my hope
I know you know
the LOVE that whispers encouragement
and holds us safe
from the law abiding guards
I sang my heart song into the wind today
and I know you know
I will keep dancing in the rain
until we can revel in rainbows again
where our outstretched arms
replace the miles of regulations
While LOVE builds the sand we sink our feet in
into the firm foundation that calls us to walk on the water
where we will dance and learn and sing
The Biggest Piece
Can I manufacture hope when I am less than You
What if I lost my control
My direction
My passion
Would You love me less than me
In the peace You are the piece of me I could never have made
The life in me that never runs dry
Becomes immobile
Forgets the goal
Regardless of the surprises
The add-ons
The details I wasn’t told about until I have shown up tired
Used up
Gave with the part of me that doesn’t live
You live in me
Love for me
You are the maker of my hope
While I learn to let You be the biggest piece of me
JOY is Always
Thank You in our JOY
Thank You in our times of
perceived lack
Thank You because in
Your patience
Your salvation is true
For the suffering man in the cold
For the lost dog
For the rich man who thinks
they have it all
My heart aches because
Your JOY is full
but we don’t know
Why did I stand here
ringing a bell
that sings over Cowlitz County
The rings louder than
the truth we don’t have time for
Until they trust me
I will stand here
& in your patience
I will see your salvation
become real for more
than the 12 in this room
Sometimes I don’t hear either
so I will thank You
that You are true & never move and I never lack
by Summer D Clemenson
December 14, 2013
Choose Love
Happy New Year! As we welcome 2014 and say goodbye to 2013 there are lots of reasons to think about the future and reminisce about the past.
I chose the phrase, “Choose Love,” for a message this month because it is so easy to forget to keep building your online presences during the holidays and when you are marketing your business and what you do you are showing that you love what you do and that you want to share it with others.
(more…)
Wings Not Necessary
you dangle over a ravine
you dug
Faith not of God
but by your own power
you have danced, sang and praised
In the light of His love
He feeds you
and sustains you
just enough
“Not enough!”
you scream
“Where are You?”
you shout
you flail around
in the river of your own blood
your tantrum will end soon
In your quiet
He will be heard
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty
He is great and worthy of praise
He enjoys the glance of your eye
He inhabits His praise
His glory is worth noticing
His blood saved you
In your exuberance
In your new freedom
you didn’t know how
your mind is confused
as you try to use two
The old mind still sings
yet Christ in You reigns
so in your good intensions
you suffer
your ministry flounders
because you are listening to the wrong heart
But God is faithful
His is happy you are dangling
because when you grow weary
and let go
He wont let you crash
anywhere
but in His arms
By Summer D Clemenson
November 25, 2013
Based on James chapter 1
My Blood Covered Face
You have taken something from me
I can never have again
You stole it
with insatiable teeth and greedy hands
You planned it
and here we stand
while you have never see my face
I don’t glorify God
He told me I can’t
before I was born He breathed me into being
He knew the hurts He would have to heal
before He chased me down with more passion
than I have ever possessed
He saw me in a light I didn’t create
All I said was yes
He is glory and
He glorifies Himself in me
You can’t hear me
on top of your high mountain
Your reflection is all you see
In the tone you have perfected
you have fooled many
But I have listened to my heart
I can’t see you because
I am looking at Him
I don’t glorify God
He has told me to stop
He didn’t create me as a his pilot light
But the stand that He sets ablaze
The fire you try to start
smolders while my tears run down His cross
and I choose to forgive you
He sees me as He created me
And I said yes
He is glory and
He glorifies Himself in me
In His blood I am me
by Summer D Clemenson
November 2, 2013
and I Groaned
and my heart was happy
while the angels sang
in words that only You can hear
Their cries rose out and over
encompassing this man
encompassing and overflowing
as Your messengers sang
You took him away and brought him back again
brand new
His eyes glowed and shone of Your mercy
clothed in Your banner of love
his spirit ever singing Your praise and Your grace
Oh holy Lord
Oh holy Lord
Oh holy Lord
You won
You are life
You are
As Your countenance shone through mine
You overflowed
Your love on all that were infiltrated by Your miracles
who foresaw and believed
with empty hands and full hearts
they sang with me as I was embellished
who You are
as You chose to prove who You are
I heard my soul singing
in our secret prayer songs
and I groaned
Amen
By Summer D Clemenson
10-8-2013
Dedicated to Lynn’s Brother
The Mission
Louder than the wind
I hear the screams
The accusations
The fighting
All the times you didn’t know how
to choose joy
The whirlwind never stops
The one that keeps my voice
out of your head
Judgement
Defiance
Defenselessness
fed by a spirit you know well
but not by name
I want nothing more than to love you
I have gone to the ends
of the world & back
I chose you
I will never give up
So I will wait
Even if it is your last breath
I will hear you
when you choose joy
by Summer D Clemenson
9-28-2013
Photo Credit: Joy, Photo Credit: Mashakotcur, Dreamstime.com
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