Sunday, January 29, 2012

Be Who You Are

You don't have to lower
your lids in fear
ashamed about
your presence here.

Don't be afraid
to live your part
to speak the truth
that's in your heart.

We each hold pieces
of the truth;
there is no other
one like you.

The world's approval
soon is past,
just for the moment,
fading fast.

Work instead
for fruit that lasts.
Make the most
of what you have.

Share the gift
that's yours alone.
Give it freely
for all to own.

Don't worry
that it has no worth.
Who knows
how it might heal the earth?

Let us all
be unafraid
to be the wonders
God has made.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Joy

This day is sacred to our Lord.  Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

                     
                                                                   Nehemiah 8:10

 I have battled depression for as long as I can remember.

 Losing my precious baby brother (he was 27 at the time, but still precious) the same year I lost a dear friend to breast cancer only deepened what felt at times to be an unbearable burden of darkness.

That was 12 years ago and the darkness still comes and goes with uncomfortable regularity.

But so does the joy of the Lord and I know that no matter how many times the darkness assaults me, He has promised I will not be defeated.

There are days I have to cling to that promise with every shred of faith that I've been given but I have never been completely forsaken, even when I felt like for sure that I had.

God is faithful and true to His Word.  If there is anything I have learned in these last 12 years, it is that fact.

God's Word has given me hope in the darkest of nights.

God's Word has given me joy in the simplest of pleasures.

God's Word has given me peace in the most improbable of times.

I know without a doubt that God's Word is living and active and that it may even have saved my very life.

Whatever your problem, there is a timely and perfect solution waiting for you in God's Word.

Blessings to you in your search!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Praise Him

The seabirds sing
their praise to Him
as joyfully
they dart and skim.
They trust
He always will provide
spring, summer, fall
or stormy tide.
Persistently they live
each day
as patiently they seek
their way,
their fill alone,
no more, no less,
just what they need
to be at rest.
They live to be
and not to kill
to seek, to find
and to be still.
Meanwhile in places
far and near
our murderous greed
kills someone dear
as men determine
to control
without considering
the whole -
but only what
they choose to own,
forget this world
is not their own.

Dear Lord, please heal
our broken hearts.
Remind us whose
we truly are.