Category: waiting

Take Heart

We travel far and reach abroad

Endlessly searching for life

Step by step we soldier ahead

Numbed by a false sacrifice

The pain we endure in the journey

Gathered and kept in a vault

Secrets left hidden will hinder

And others are blamed at fault

Slinging and slander will follow

A soft fitted mask becomes real

It is vital to wake from the slumber

Before acting becomes the appeal

Check in with your heart and wonder

Remember the things that felt real

Under a canopy of kindness just wait

For the steps that God will reveal

When the path is dark and impossible

And no light ahead can be seen

Pause and breathe in His mercy

God’s love comes through in extreme

No matter the darkness or difficulty

If the way you are led seems true

Your heart can discern its Creator

Listen to the wisdom come through

Dismantle the overthought questions

Let peace in the unknown grow

Close your eyes and take a moment

To settle on what you know

Who I trust is Jesus my Savior

And His are the words that are best

His ways are beyond comprehension

Start here when put to the test

In this world he promises trouble

But take heart He has overcome

In hard times it is also worth knowing

That God’s good Word will be done

Thy Way

Standing before the ocean

The great and mighty sea

Waves roar and lightly land

Power turns soft at my feet

Deep and inescapable

As far and wide as my view

Wonder sinking to the depths

My God, my God, where are You?

Answers deep inside my chest

My heart can hear the calling

Thunder rolls in water crashing

Louder than my yearning

Trusting what my eyes can’t see

Open hands surrender

Breathing deep and grounded now

I know that I must enter

The Red Sea story beckons me

A miracle of parting water

He was in the unseen deep

Deliverance from the slaughter

I cry aloud with fear and praise

Trading bondage for His freedom

Arms raised high with surrender

Aware of how I need Him

Thy way is in the sea my Lord

Your paths are in the deep

I cannot see your footsteps

But my soul is Yours to keep

Faith steps in and takes my hand

My fear is slowly fading

I step in and find dry ground

The Promised Land is waiting.

Inspired by Psalm 77

“Thy way is in the sea, and your paths are in many waters; and your footsteps shall not be known.” v19

New Normal

Shedding the scales of the old ways

Believing the new ways will come

Forced to exist in a smaller domain

There is nowhere to run away from

A heavy storm of sickness and fear

Has washed across the earth

Page after page in a never ending chapter

What was our previous life worth?

Missing the chaos, we want to return

To places we knew too well

Somehow we know this is crazy

Yet our heart is too desperate to tell

The longer the pause, the more we settle

A chance to consider the past

Maybe this reset and unwelcome halt

Reveals we were living too fast

Reaching for things we thought would bring joy

Pursuing pleasure and lust and money

We forgot how to feel the pain of too much

And bitterness tasted like honey

A new normal set into the rhythm of life

Hidden things come bursting into view

Some things are dark and some filled with light

Most of which we already knew

The power to choose when the world opens up

Holds a chance for the life we desire

I pray that the chaos cannot recover

And the shadows don’t kill back the fire

There is a smoldering spark of redemption

Patiently waiting to burst with a hopeful flame

All we must do is fill with God’s love and recover

Knowing our stories will not be the same.

Advent 2019

In a season of waiting

Each morning unfolds

Open hands to receive

The story being told

Clenched or closing

Refusing new grace

Shackles old thoughts

No mercy embraced

Sun rises slowly

Brings light to new ways

Trusting the process

Turns color from grays

A blanket of snow

Warms earth underneath

To bear the cold season

Hope springs new relief

For so many years

God’s people were yearning

A Savior foretold

A long time of learning

The birth of a baby

In a manger of hay

The answer to prayer

In the Father’s way

The King who came walking

Just like one of us

His holiness hidden

To love and not crush

This love that was given

Is heavy to bear

Yet when I receive it

I learn how to share

From Advent to Christmas

I must travel alone

Hand in hand with Jesus

To learn what He knows.

She Does

Blades of grass

Soft under her feet

Gift of a journey

A mission to meet

Called from the chaos

A moment of rest

Time slowing down

To gather the best

Her grip is loosened

Uncontrollable things

Falling behind her

Like butterfly wings

A gentle voice guiding

Faith is her strength

Joy is the weapon

She uses at length

Never forgetting

The battle at hand

Obedience leads her

To new spacious land

Aware of the darkness

Existing with light

Following her Father

Persevering with might

For now like Mary

She chooses the good

At the feet of Messiah

She does as she should.

 

“His love broke open the way and he brought me into a beautiful broad place. He rescued me—because his delight is in me!” (Psalm 18:19)

Inspired by Luke 10:42

“But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

 

What Love Does

When you give your heart away

There is floating in between

A place of honest giving

Trust in how it will be received

The truth in giving love

Is to draw from our Redeemer

The One who gave it all

To the frail and flawed receivers

Faded flower calling in colors

Take a second look before you pass

New does not always mean best

Return to the the richer past

Knowing and loving and being true

Words to solve a puzzle

Understanding why is not so bad

Soak into my loving nuzzel

The question of how does not matter

My heart has been rooted in God

Loving a man that is in a battle

Is a wife’s holy and graceful nod

Moving to the next me brigade

Is nothing compared to commitment

A vow to be what I could not be

Without my Saviour’s commission

A love was protrayed in agony

A sheep praying for her wolves

Nailed to a cross with a silent prayer

Sacrifice is what love does

Apekdechomai (Assiduously Waiting)

Shifting sand and pulling waves

I struggle to keep my balance

Longing heart desire craves

Recall the accepted challenge

Cooling water ebb and flow

Await the next relief

Timely answers held in shadow

Faith beyond belief

New year dawns with stealth approach

Creeping near my soul

Time has passed with tears and love

A healed heart becomes whole

Paused behind the starting line

Poised to take my stance

Anticipation for sound of blast

Strength builds to take the chance

How long before the race is won

Seeps doubt into my mind

Eyes glance up and see the Judge

Hope rests in His sacrifice

A love so vast and worthy

A man so real and true

Jesus came to lay the track

The Way to make it through

This banner raised above my year

A word for hope and wait

Patience with excitement brews

Apekdechomai is the gate.

True Treasure

Dusted with joy

My waiting is sweet

What seems like forever

Light quickens defeat

Shadows uncovered

Hidden from view

Trapped voices start singing

Dead life becomes new

Like flowers through concrete

Hope reaching for life

Defiant in darkness

Beauty reigning in strife

It’s not in tomorrow

It’s not yesterday

It’s how we are living

With what’s given today

Taking a moment

Feel my feet on the ground

Imagine earth spinning

Yet stillness is found

Sun and moon rising

With each orbital spin

Daytime gives way

As light comes to an end

Eternally focused

I know light will reign

Dark only for moments

Heart fills with good gain

A small life of waiting

Like seeds in the field

Bursts into a harvest

True treasure revealed.

Life In Spite of the Scars

This Holy Book, where life is found

Rips up the hardness in my heart’s ground

Voiceless pondering, things of old

Solitary mining for treasures and gold

Lonely places in a discarded life

Filling with redemption as the bride of Christ

Hope and mercy, graceful love

Lands on the runway from Heaven above

No need to hurry or scrape for a chance

Your desires are known by a Father’s glance

Abiding in strength, when others see weak

I am learning to listen to a Man who was meek

Yeshua, Jesus, Mighty Counselor, I Am

Light in the darkness, like pearls in a clam

A heart that is open, and eyes that will see

Partake in the goodness meant for you and me

Do you sleep in peacefulness, and wake full of joy?

Life is a gift, like a child’s Christmas toy

Morning by morning, new life and new day

Truth and purpose, on my knees when I pray

No matter your worry, your sins, or your doubt

This Lover of souls will not leave you without

Redemption comes to you right where you are

In the middle of darkness, in spite of the scars

The wounds that burn will find ways to inspire

Your path has been lit by God’s Holy fire

He will use you to bring justice and might

Take up your armor, and prepare to fight

Your orders were written in the ink of blood

Rise and renew what sin has undone

We will never be ready with perfection in view

But sowing with hope, He will make all things new.

Surrendered to Seeds- A Secret Lament

The battles and questions do not give way

When hope is spoken come what may

Years of prayer and faithful trust

Leave us in waiting, ashes and dust

With lifted eyes we’ve hoped to see

Our desires answered, binds set free

Betrayals and sickness, cancer and loss

Seemingly drowning like leaves under moss

We find a comfort in secret lament

Rich in darkness, soil prayers are sent

Surrendered to seeds despairing to grow

Silently pressed into earth below

Quieted language and resting in dirt

We learn of sweetness being honest in hurt

Sadness and tears soften the ground

Water and salt clears sight and sound

We listen for breathing and look for light

In passionate peace grows strength and might

Husks of hope will break open in time

We wait together holding, yours, ours, mine.

 

Written in honor of Scott and Kaleen ❤️