Sweet Surprise

I returned an item to my Sister-in-Law, Linda, this afternoon. We had some pleasant conversation. I was happy to visit.

Then she said this is a birthday/Christmas present, and gave me these lovely things. I was surprised and joyful. I mean, WOW! I cannot wait to finish my current journal, though sadly, it will be a while.

We talked about church, and I said I was not going. She invited me to come to her church, which was my church before, and that may happen.

I need more personal interaction. I have very nearly become a hermit.

Anyway, beautiful things given to me by a very dear person.

Swim

Standing at the edge
Of the river known as Life
Looking across it,
To the other side where dreams
Dear held, challenging reside.

Procrastination,
Doubt, fear of failure, aside
A toe in the stream,
So cold, vast, daunting, lonely
No bridge, boat; must cross alone.

Wading in deeper
Knowing there is no return
To this place, safety,
Embarking; bottom falling
Away from hesitant feet.

Beyond all limits
Pulled under the water’s flow
Finding the way up
Blessed air, more determined
Swimming like a manatee.

Nothing hurried now
Building passage with each stroke
In the depths, courage
Must be found to reach those grounds
Where all good things may be found.

It is the journey
Building every needed strength
Which allows success
In each endeavor given
As Life becomes love engaged.

Picture and Poem

Today and Again

Do you ever have to slow down and find your center? It can take time to remember who you are and for what you are meant. We so easily get lost in chasing the things we need and want and plowing our souls under the toil. Stillness helps us see our persons; music can raise us; reading can picture us; art can show us reason; writing can free us.

We deserve to live creatively and with such love that we feel we can accomplish our hopes and dreams. Some find inspiration in a relationship with Christ Jesus; some follow other paths. As we meet in lives so often hectic, we need to share love and kindness no matter the circumstances in which we exist. Our differences make the world fascinating and rich. We learn much when we open ourselves to one another.

Stepping out of space and time to give ourselves peace to clarify our goals is worthwhile. Sometimes this is done in silence, some creation, some before the eyes of the world. Whatever our method, we must never give up. We are the outworking of the prayers of generations; our promise and purpose must continue.

Today is the moment we grasp; it is our time to build within. Letting it slip through our fingers is not an option—love, love, love. We should be a blessing in whatever places life carries us. Time and again, we can begin a better beginning, for we are living gifts.

Celestial

Some tell me the stars
Hold me, describing my fate;
I think they shine light
Into the deepest darkness
Lending me strength to begin.

When the sky above
Burns like a bonfire aflame
Upon such a plane
The confusion enhances
Every blessed moment timed.

I plucked, like fine fruit
For display, banquet, table,
Where grace finds its place
Making everything stable
Until dawn convenes with song.

Rich the scattered hours
No creature may fast devour,
But explosive spent
In ceaseless labor unmeant
To torture the evening ways.

The stars have lived long,
Being a beginning staid,
Forever music
Played those spheres united, untied,
What we know, guess, still survives.