Drawn Together by Love

"So many women whose daily circumstances differed but whose core issues were the same."  from Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst

Those words jumped off the page of Lisa's  most recent book during our online Bible study as I struggled to understand some of the differences being expressed in our women's group.  This group  started over a decade ago when 5 of our current members all attended a small mission church together.

In the past 15 years we have all ended up going in different directions after our small church fell apart for a variety of reasons.  We have added several new members but our core group right now consists of 7 women.

We all come from different places but the one thing that draws and binds us together is the love of God.      We've had some difficulties as theologies and opinions have differed.  We each have been called to question what we truly believe.  That sounds so simple but turns out sometimes to be a very complicated thing with the potential to create divisions in our relationships.

I am encouraged by Lisa's words that remind me that we are really all there for the very same reason - to grow in our relationship with God and with one another.  I believe that God, through the power of His Holy Spirit,  the truth of His Holy Word and His Living Word, Jesus Christ, is drawing us, along with all creation, into perfect unity and harmony in Him.

An Imperfect Father's Day

Celebrating Father's Day this past Sunday made me realize how much unexpected and unrecognized pain surrounds so many of our most familiar holidays.  We dream of a picture perfect day where everyone has smiling faces and happy hearts.  We often miss the suffering just beneath the surface.

Within my own small sphere of friends and family I thought of six separate circumstances that were far from the perfect image.

I thought of my dear father who has lost his only son and namesake at the age of 27.

I thought of my friend who had just lost his father to the devastating ravages of cancer.

I thought of a delightful new young friend whose father had abandoned her as a child.

I thought of my stalwart lifelong friend whose husband had ripped apart their young family to pursue an affair with another woman.

I thought of another faithful friend who lost her beloved father within one day of losing her mother.

I thought of my friend who lost her father to suicide several years ago.

I feel such a weight of sadness as I think of the pain each of these people has to endure in the depths of their hearts and souls.  I wish I had done more to honor and be sensitive to that pain.  I pray that in the future I will see more clearly the wounds that surround me that I might in some small way be able to lessen the load of sadness or bring a glimpse of hope and healing to ease the pain.  I pray for the grace to be kind and remember that each person I meet carries their own heavy burden.

For a Broken Heart

The greatest love
can sear the soul
with agony
and pain untold
taking life
before our eyes
while we stand by
with silent cries
begging
for some sense
of peace
the raging pain
to finally cease
for those we love
while our hearts break
feeling
life's too much to take.

I Don't Know . . .

I don't know how
the sun slips silently
behind the trees
or how the leaves unfurl so quietly
that I miss their arrival.

I don't know how
the Dogwood blooms white
and the Bluets suddenly appear
in a tender burst of burgeoning hope.

I don't know how
the years pass so swiftly -
one moment a child
and too soon a man.

The years float swiftly past
like clouds on a summer afternoon -
how I long to tie them down
like buoyant balloons.

Love

Love

     is always

          there

never-changing:

     it silently

          shines forth

               in the darkness

and holds

     a lifetime

          of memories -

the good

and the bad

     are all absorbed

          in love's

never-ending embrace.

Love Alone

There is a love
that binds all things
with hearts and hands
and breath and wings -
a love that ties
us each to all
and brushes back
despair's dark pall.
I hear it in
the Mourning Dove
cooing softly
from above.
I heard it in
the Cardinal's "cheer"
first morning sound
to greet my ear.
I see it in
my dog's soft eyes
while at my feet
she sweetly lies.
I saw it in
the Northern Lights
bright green against
the darkest night -
bringing peace
to mind and soul
filling the relentless hole -
a hole that never
can be filled
with things of earth
or manmade thrills -
a space that longs
for love alone -
God's answer to
the great unknown.

A Heart Set Free

The well was deep
where I was bound
despairing that
I would be found-
the darkness thick
with muffled sound-
the lies dead tight
that wound around
my beaten heart
which could not see
the love that You
had meant for me.
But step by step
You led me out
beyond
the stranglehold
of doubt
up to a place
of life and light
of hope and peace-
the love of Christ.