31 days of surrender

It has always been difficult for me to walk away from a challenge.  

For the fifth year The Nester is hosting a 31 day writing event.  

Participants choose a topic and blog about it every day during the month of October.

Rick and I are walking through new doors that the Lord is swinging wide before us, 

but we can not answer His call in our own strength, 

for our own reasons 

or for any glorification of our selves.

I am not at all certain how the posts will evolve.  

They could be pictures, scriptures, poetry or prose.  

I do pray that they will not only be about surrender 

but also an exercise in surrender.

Will you join me?

I'll leave links to each day's post right here
so this page can be a jumping off place

Day 1: tenacious cling
Day 2: accept the blessing

Day 3: my spirit yearns
Day 4: open hands
Day 5: surrender to stillness
Day 6: not my will
Day 7: squeezed
Day 8: not some, all
Day 9: surrendering time
Day 10: surrender to the narrowing
Day 11: surrendering ordinary
Day 12: yielded and still
Day 13: His clay
Day 14: Thanksgiving Monday
Day 15: surrender to the call
Day 16: give in to the fog
Day 17: silent hopes and dreams
Day 18: surrendering communication
Day 19: surrendering words
Day 20: surrendering to change
Day 21: every bit of me
Day 22: surrender like Esther
Day 23: surrendering the fight
Day 24: surrender to the breaking
Day 25: surrendering alone
Day 26: night surrenders to day
Day 27: surrendering uncertainty
Day 28: not about me
Day 29: surrendering recognition
Day 30: leaves transformed
Day 31: surrender never ends

 

mere rushing on

One's action ought to come out of an achieved stillness: 

not to be mere rushing on

D. H. Lawrence

help me settle, Lord
into the peace of Your embrace
surrendered to Your command
where anxiety flees

seeking the stillness with Sandy

 

September lessons

This month is closing soon
October is knocking at the door
with the wind sharp and cold
today is a good time to reflect
on lessons September taught me

In September, I learned:

things look clearer looking backwards in When I see you I see me 

God surely laughs in God's sense of humour 

things don't happen in my time in Awaiting storm 

safety can be an idol in Seeking safety 

His mercy is vast in Mercy for all 

change happens in Standing on new ground

change is more than paint deep in Put a coat of paint on it 

people are people not problems in Not an issue to solve 

I need to be transformed in Living water 

Joining Emily and others sharing what September taught

 

living water

the bathroom renovation is nearing completion

things at first only imagined are becoming real

fixtures are in place

lines are connected

and water flows

there is a finish line

we will cross it

and the work will be over

the renovation of my heart

mind and spirit

continues and continues

no perfection until I stand

in His presence

drenched in living water

flow fast

flow free

drench me

Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, 

that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 RSV

walking with the imperfect but redeemed at Emily's

 

not an issue to solve

Do you see me as a problem? A puzzle?  Something to fix?

I want you to see me.  Just me.  

A little girl who has to grow up too fast.

I'm not just a headline.

I live and breathe and hurt.

I am just like all the other children you know.

Yes, I cry, but I laugh too.

I am not an issue.  I am a life.

I am an opportunity.

I am an invitation into relationship.

What God created us for.

I am waiting.

He Is waiting

What are you waiting for?

Poverty is not necessarily an issue to solve; 

it is an opportunity to serve. 

As we go through each day, 

our heart’s cry should be, 

"Lord, where would you have me give, 

serve, and invest myself to bring hope to the poor?"

Orphan Justice author, Johnny Carr

Is the Lord whispering to your spirit, urging you to get involved?  

Click here to begin the sponsorship journey.

  

welcome one another

So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. 

Jesus did it; now you do it!

Romans 15:7 The Message

 

 singing with Deidra and the Sunday choir

 

personal sounds

We listen too much to the telephone 

and we listen too little to nature. 

The wind is one of my sounds. 

A lonely sound, perhaps, but soothing. 

Everybody should have his personal sounds to listen for

sounds that will make him exhilarated and alive, 

or quiet and calm... 

As a matter of fact, 

one of the greatest sounds of them all

and to me it is a sound

is utter, complete silence.

André Kostelanetz

seeking the silence with Sandy

 

shifted glory

leaves are loosing their green

transformed to browns

yellows, a blanket spreading 

wide across the yard

the glories of Summer

ceding to Autumn

and yet

the flowers refuse

to surrender

exploding wild with life

in hues of joyous praise

capturing the light

against the darkening days

 

my shirt

it may be dirty

with holes worn through

a little too big

but it covers me

when I want to hide

there is room in here

I pull it over my head

close my eyes

I grow tired of seeing

the same nothing

day after day

I grow weary

of trying to 

sleep the same hunger 

screaming night after night

covered with mud

tattered and worn

but mine

all I can call my own

can you see me

in here

behind the rags

I live and hurt and wonder

about the God I've heard of

and the people who help

in His name

will they find me?

Compassion Blog Month is more than halfway over.  If you'd like to help us reach our goal of getting 3,160 children sponsored online by 11:59 p.m. MT on September 30 click here for moire information.

 

put a coat of paint on it

does your day feel

dark, messy

put a coat of paint on it

maybe no one

will know

are there cracks

where the  pain

weeps and leaks

put a coat of paint on them

it might seal

what will not 

heal

or at least forget

for a little while

memories like dirt

streaks ragged

put a coat of paint on 

everything looks like new

looks like

but isn't

no 

give me the paint

that washes 

clean the deep red 

flow that leaves 

snow white behind

Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. 

Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow 

Isaiah 1:18a Amplified

back at the bar with the poets

 

standing on new ground

Remember the old ugly?  

I have lived with a floor I hate 

since moving into this house eleven years ago.  

It still covers the hall and the kitchen/dining room,

but in those areas there isn't water damage underneath.  

How much is hidden beneath ours foundations that is rotted and soiled?

When we know something is wrong but are afraid to look the damage increases.

It was time.  We stripped the old away.

It was bad, but nothing that couldn't be dealt with.

Yes, our imaginations magnify.

So I ask Lord, search me.

Show me the wrinkles and spots.

Let me see so I can let You change me.

Investigate my life, O God,

    find out everything about me;

Cross-examine and test me,

    get a clear picture of what I’m about;

See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—

    then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Psalm 139:23-24 The Message

This is what the floor looks like at the moment.

The wire for the under tile heat is in place

and leveling cement has been poured

to prep for the laying of ceramic tile

There are spots from dry wall mud

yet it feels clean, fresh

a picture of where I am

standing on new ground

waiting to take the next step

 

fresh start

God, make a fresh start in me,

    shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.

Don’t throw me out with the trash,

    or fail to breathe holiness in me.

Psalm 51:10-11 The Message

 

celebrating Sunday with Deidra

 

by listening

I remind myself every morning: 

Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. 

So if I'm going to learn, 

I must do it by listening. 

Larry King

 

in the stillness with Sandy

 

mercy for all

is that a cross in the clouds or Jesus with arms extended to us all?

you're gonna get what you give

seems I heard that over and over during my growing years

(as if growing ever ceases)

if you want to have a friend, be a friend

do unto others

love your neighbor

some lessons have been harder to learn

forgiveness, grace

can I proclaim judgement on others

while expecting mercy for myself?

dare I shout out for punishment for the sins of another

while clothing myself in the truth of His goodness 

while His mercy washes over me?

He Is mercy.  He Is grace.  He is love.

for the least of us

for all of us

every.single.one.

 

talking about mercy with Lisa-Jo

check out what the women of (in)courage are up to in Kenya here

 

seeking safety

I received the following email earlier this week:

For assignment two of Compassion Blog Month we want you to write three things about one word.

I am reposting a prayer from one year ago today, during another blog month, with thoughts of 9/11/2001 swirling.  The one word I am highlighting is safe or safety

My precious Lord:

Today marks eleven years since the Twin Towers fell in New York City.

Eleven years since acts of violence forever changed the way we live life.

Security has taken top priority, risen up like a golden calf.

We seem to seek safety above all else.

Your life wasn't safe Lord, you lived each moment

knowing that one day you would pay the ultimate price

your blood, your life, given for us.

The winds are howling strong today

trees trembling in a frenzied dance

the wail like a cry in my spirit, a continuous prayer

let me be more like You

dead to myself and alive in You

living for grace, for love, for mercy and justice

There are so many children who have never known safety

they have never lived in what we would call a home

families are broken, shattered with need

help me to care more for them

then my own comfort

The wind howls still

as my prayers continue

help me be a mother to the motherless

a friend to the weak

let me be filled with Your passion, Lord.

I may be the only Jesus they see

may I reflect You, Lord as You are

not as I might imagine You

True light, true love.

The answer to every question, asked or silent.

Through the acts of my heart and hands

may they taste and see that You are good.

This month, the goal is to get 3,160 children sponsored.  If God has been tugging at your heart, this is a great time to visit the Compassion page and extend your heart in sponsorship.

  

awaiting storm

clouds slip in

soundless, quick

light muffled 

as all movement

stops, static pricks 

tense skin

thirsty ground

and hungry hearts

hold breath for the first

drop to nourish, refresh

hands, leaves, petals

reaching wide

for what sun's return denies

back at the bar, hanging with the poets

 

radiant

The precepts of the Lord are right,

    giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

    giving light to the eyes.

Psalm 19:8 NIV

 

singing at Deidra's with the Sunday choir

 

first duty of love

The first duty of love is to listen

Paul Tillich (1886-1965);

Theologian, Philosopher

if I seem quiet here

or non responsive elsewhere

know that I am doing what I am called to

loving in all the ways I can

in silence I adore Him

 

still and listening with Sandy