Winter lingers

Facebook and Twitter messages flash on my screen, 

telling me of seeds planted, buds appearing, 

blossoms beginning to thrive. 

Such is March in the lives of many.

I have chosen life on the Canadian prairies, 

western Manitoba, 

where snow falls early and stays late.  

The flakes first appear in early October 

and can fall fresh in mid-May.

This is home.

The long winters teach lessons in patience and hope.  

We flip through seed catalogues, 

water the indoor plants 

and believe in what we cannot yet see.

Faith means ·being sure [the assurance; or the tangible reality; 

or the sure foundation] of the things we hope for 

and ·knowing that something is real even if we do not see it

[the conviction/assurance/evidence about things not seen]. 

Hebrews 11:1 Expanded Bible


Linking up with Lisa-Jo today

 

Something beautiful

I have felt like broken glass

sharp, cold

shards and splinters

able to cut deep

needing to watch that my words

build instead of break

myself and those around me

I am broken glass

sharp, cold, scattered

useless to shape any good thing

and yet

and yet

there is a hand that crafts

with unimaginable skill

fragment by slivered fragment

something of use

and beauty

that He chooses to call His own

singing an old song today:

Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life

walking with Emily and the redeemed

 

moving through

This week's chapter of The Furious Longing of God is titled Healing.

My heart was moved as I read not or physical miracles but heart and spirit recoveries, healings that go much deeper than flesh.  Brennan Manning tells the tale of a young man who had his self esteem, his heart, his very core lifted back to life by a public kiss from his father.

"Lodged in your heart is the power to walk into somebody’s life and give him or her what the bright Paul Tillich called “the courage to be.” Can you fathom that? You have the power to give someone the courage to be, simply by the touch of your affirmation."

only a touch

a hand resting on a dropped shoulder

only a word

acknowledgement that someone is seen, appreciated

We can walk 

as lifelines through this world

when we pray

to be ever listening to the quiet voice 

that urges us to stop, speak, touch

sometimes beyond reason

yet trusting that He knows

what we cannot see

I'll be a fool for You

to help you mend a heart

open wide all that I am

so that Your love can move in, out, through

Joining the discussion at Sarah's today

 

Releasing to joy

You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance; 

you have taken away my sorrow 

and surrounded me with joy. 

Psalm 30:11 Good News Translation

My clutch is tense

the grip firm, unyielding

automatic

holding on to what I know

even knives that cut

slicing pain 

into my deepest parts

aching to empty, release 

leave myself open

to the exchange

He offers freely

letting go of it all

to be lost in the dance

linking at Peter's today to talk about letting go of sadness

and submitting these words at the pub tonight

 

Grass of the field

And if God cares so wonderfully 

for wildflowers that are here today 

and thrown into the fire tomorrow, 

he will certainly care for you. 

Why do you have so little faith? 

Matthew 6:30 NLT

 

surrounded by the Sunday singers at Deidra's

 

Allowing emptiness

It is very hard to allow emptiness to exist in our lives. 

Emptiness requires a willingness not to be in control, 

a willingness to let something new and unexpected happen. 

It requires trust, surrender, and openness to guidance. 

God wants to dwell in our emptiness. 

But as long as we are afraid of God 

and God's actions in our lives, 

it is unlikely that we will offer our emptiness to God. 

Let's pray that we can let go of our fear of God 

and embrace God as the source of all love. 

Henri Nouwen

leaning in to listen with Sandy

 

An offering of time

This has been a week of pondering

harvesting wounds

like this wire of barbs

almost hidden in the bush

old yet ever able to cut

let the light shine