Nothing is Sweeter...

"Love is a great thing, a great good in every way; it alone lightens what is heavy, and leads smoothly over all roughness, for it carries a burden without being burdened, and makes every bitter thing sweet and tasty. Love wants to be lifted up, not held back by anything low. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing higher, nothing fuller, nothing better in heaven and earth ... Love keeps watch and is never unaware, even when it sleeps. Tired, it is never exhausted. Hindered, it is never defeated. Alarmed, it is never afraid. But like a living flame and a burning torch it bursts upward and blares forth..."
-Thomas A Kempis


"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..."
-Corinthians


"We walked together in the dusk
To watch the tower grow dimly white,
And saw it lift against the sky
Its flower of amber light.
You talked of half a hundred things,
I kept each hurried word you said;
And when at last the hour was full,
I saw the light turn red.
You did not know the time had come,
You did not see the sudden flower,
Nor know that in my heart Love's birth
Was reckoned from that hour."
-Sara Teasdale


"The heart is a living museum. In each of its galleries, no matter how narrow or dimly lit, preserved forever... are our moments of loving and being loved."
-Diane Ackerman


"Love is quick, sincere, dutiful, joyous, and pleasant; brave, patient, faithful, prudent, serene, and vigorous; and it never seeks itself. For whenever we seek ourselves, we fall away from love. Love is watchful, humble, and upright; not weak or frivolous, or directed toward vain things; temperate, pure, steady, calm, and alert in all senses."
-Thomas A Kempis



"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it..."
-Song of Solomon

Running

The books will have to wait tonight;
I have a little too much on my mind and I
am searching for a moment with you.
Talk with me while the clouds swing into space
and milky starlight falls to earth,
falls sweetly on your brow-
oh, somehow...
everything can disappear and you
remain unbroken with your words.
Leave me to wonder, while skies gilded in
velvet robes of perfect black and violet hover,
how suddenly you've changed...
or maybe it's me
who's changed and I see you through my
brand new eyes, flawless
lense into a spinning world I can't keep up with...
unless
you fall behind tonight and help me stand, like
you always did.
Let's touch the satin strings of moonlight, breathe
in October air so our feet take flight-
not dancing but running on our freedom stage, away
from nothing,
hoping
for everything. The books will have to wait.
Tonight, I've a little too much on my mind and
I'm praying for a moment with you.

Wordless Conversation

Where are You, God? I can't see You.

I'm here, child. I've always been here.

Then why can't I feel You, or see You, or hear Your voice amid the chaos and the noise? Why can't I rest in the cradle of Your peace like I always have?

Because you're moving too fast. Sit down here a moment beside Me. Just breathe.

God, I can't keep pretending everything is fine, and that I'm not worried about my next step. I can't see two feet in front of me. I am at a place where light is scarce in my tunnel, and I know I trust in You. But Jesus, trusting isn't the hard part- knowing and walking in the right direction is. How do I know that where I'm going is the way You want me to go?

Do you think I would abandon you, beloved? Do you think I would lead you through deep waters and not help you swim? Oh, I love you far too greatly. Here, rest in My arms. I have all the time in the world for you. Just be still...

My heart rejoices. This morning I looked up to where the sky was gilded in streaks of color-stained clouds- dawn's masterpiece made in blue and lavender, baby pink and fire orange. You sat among the stars who hadn't fallen into night yet. And You wore a robe the color of something quiet- my high King clothed in everything majestic, making even the skies lose their beauty for you lather it all on Yourself. The earth can only crown You. Whisper praise. Sing adoration. Abba, You take this breath away...

Like Birds

I wrote my shame
on the corner of my paper, and tore it off
to feed the birds. They gather
the shards and build a nest in diligence marked
with white.
There they live
happily and I watch them from my window.
They're learning to sing and so am I. We're unlike
one another but they have a strange part of me, something
secret.
Except they've been made fools. They dance
about their stick and paper home in the weeping tree, and
never leave but once or twice to
gather food. They may feel afraid.
They may fear the outside. And their quiet sanctuary
is false protection, for it's made up of
everything I'm running from.

If a Picture's Worth a Thousand Words...

There's a photograph of you on my wall- nestled
into the other
long-ago
pictures taken. I can't hear the collage of voices
anymore, but your smile
is the first to somehow steal the eye
of every person who looks on the collaboration on my wall.
Somehow..
it never goes away, yet I
can't remember what made you smile that way
in the first place. I'd like to think
it was the noticeable result of
something
first grasped and never forgotten, everything
I didn't see but snapped the shot anyway.
But I don't think it was that...
Tell me why you smile. Tell me
why it never
ever
fades away like the others- time worn,
and lonely. Tell me why
a broken spirit does soar when
it takes only one glance. It matches the color
of the sky,
and trickles like crystal water
down
my walls. Goodnight, sweet smile-
be here when
I wake.

Dear Jesus,

What am I to make of this? Of myself. Surely I've become everything you've never wanted me to be. Or are you shaping me? The clay is wet before it dries. Oh, make me moldable in your hands. Make me a masterpiece signed with your name- an art that reflects all of you. Never let my imperfections cover beauty. You are beautiful.
Oh Lord, I am surrounded yet I feel more alone than I ever have. Why was I left here? Return me to you, my Friend who never leaves me. Touch my breaking heart and send love and assurance in streams through every part of me. Bring me up from darkness and envelope me in holy light.
Is this the way it was meant to go? Can there always be rejoicing after pain? I wait on your faithfulness. Would you cover me. I'm letting go and clinging fast to you, and my hope is in you all the while.

10/14

I feel like I want something extraordinary to happen today. I feel like my wings are torn and fragile. I feel like falling. If you'll catch me. I feel...

Home

There were copper-colored ponies,
There was air
That smelled like rain,
And the moon shone out in daytime
When I first learned your name.
And though the clouds a-quickly moved in,
Though the path
Looked overgrown,
The time that I spent talking to you
Made me feel
Like I was home.

(Music/lyrcis from As Told By Ginger)

Still Singing

I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord...

You Are

Glory days and lovely nights
caught up tight
in Your beautiful arms of never ending grace
sweet Hiding place
my Wonderful, my Treasure untouched
by my rust and moths
my One remaining
when everything I loved has left
me here
hold me near
show me everything You are.

Still

I see his thoughts, his falling aspirations coming close
to where no one knows.
They thrive and then they brush and
blow away;
they move like whispers against a face
of one tilted to another day,
and I see the dreams held like a captive chained to his lonely heart
that begs to fall on trembling knees and pray,
and break like tormented waters
along the line where they part
divided once again, even though I took his sin
and made him more than a spirit prone to drift, more than
a fading
falling autumn leaf, soaked in rain and bitter morning mist
that steals the life he could have lived.
I made him more than that, to prosper his hours around the sun-
teach him to race if he can run,
to harvest in abundance, the fruit of the world that will be sweetened
with Me
if he’ll choose to go and bring them into the light,
to help them see, that once he was blind but I gave him sight.
And I know this fear
of love he is afraid to give, love that stirs within the deepest parts
of his soul, the love he fears to live-
that part of him that kindles a flame of joy- joy like fire,
...spread.
And yet he locks it away and reluctantly
chooses to see past it, and not think upon the blessing instead;
but does he know it comes from Me?
That dream that has yet to fall, that living, breathing chance
that he is too blind to see,
a dream that is quick to pass, if there is nothing to grasp
the power it offers, when it clings to
a single soul
and how I want him to know, that there is more for him in store
than yet another set of failures
when the angry rains begin to pour, and more for him than merely
a life engulfed by a sinful, raging sea.
My will for him is greater than
the all encompassing hold of his returning sin
stronger than the cries of his lonely and desperate heart
more joyful than the emptiest thought
of where he once had to start, and
entirely perfect
is My plan for his every tomorrow, if he will surrender in full
and be still, to know that I am God.

I wrote my name on a tree,
in wood colored etching where no one could see.
It's weathered the changing seasons this year,
when I thought surely it would disappear.
It lasted though the gray winds blew,
and somehow I think I will too...

In Loving Memory of Virginia Pearl Ogden (1919-2005)

this isn't the end-
only the beginning of eternity,
forever and always with Me,
so kiss the lovely world goodbye
smile, Virginia,
fly...

You and Me

What day is it? And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive.
I can't keep up and I can't back down;
I've been losing so much time.


Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose,
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you.


All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right
I'm tripping on words
You've got my head spinning
I don't know where to go from here.


Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to prove,
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you.

(Lifehouse)