It's a Curse and a Blessing

Thank you for the lesson in

Putting things in perspective,

The things I call a burden

Are another’s objective.

The rains that drown my landscape

Are craved where the fire’s burn;

Where they have constant sunshine,

We long to just have a turn.

The blessings that fill our lives

We often take for granted,

We fail to treasure the crops

Which earlier we planted.

We need to relish the bliss

That grows right in our back yard

And stop always complaining

That our life is just too hard.

The Men Who Choose to Serve

There is no wall to demarcate
Between the dark and light.
The line is drawn between the wrong
and all we know that’s right
with courage and with fortitude
and faith that will not swerve
by men who stand upon the line.
The men who choose to serve.

Freedom’s price is dearly paid,
Then paid and paid again,
by children and by lonely wives
and by those loyal men.
They hold, with flesh and blood and steel
and sometimes with raw nerve,
a line of hope against despair.
The men who choose to serve.

We sleep in peace, we pray in faith,
we work without the fear
that those who seek to do us harm
can ever draw too near
because they keep their faith with us,
with strength and calm reserve,
the men who stand upon the line.
The men who choose to serve.

We owe them more than we can pay
And yet no price is asked
Except for someplace safe to rest
When they’ve laid down the task.
For they know other brave young men,
will step up to the mark
and carry on the task for them,
the fight against the dark.
We owe them more than platitudes
for the price they have paid.
We owe them more than gratitude
for sacrifices made.
We long to, but can’t give full due
of all that they deserve,
we owe too much to all of them,
The men who choose to serve.

Isaiah 21:8

Ever watchful for my Lord,

I pray that I will be.

Let me watch for his return

Across the rolling sea.

Let me wait with leaping joy

For that day when I see

My dear Savior ride the wind

As he returns for me.

Isaiah 21:8
And the lookout shouted, “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post.

Lingering in the Night

Emptiness fills up my mind,

My heart is barren, too.

I long to laugh, or even cry;

There’s nothing I can do.

I play at laughter through the day,

Count moments through the night.

I know there’s nothing I can do

To make it all feel right.

There is a brooding sense of doom

That lingers in the air;

I try to turn my mind from it

But it’s still everywhere.

I know the light is waiting there,

Beyond the tunnel’s dark,

But I seem hopelessly trapped here

Without a single spark.

Please help me find my way back home,

Beyond the empty night,

Where passions flow like sparkling waves

That glitter with the light.

Psalm 56:8

You count the tears that I have wept,

And catch them as they land,

Each one is marked as precious as

You hold them in your hand.

It’s true that life will run its course,

And just as you have planned,

But sometimes that course seems too rough.

You always understand

That, though I fall, I’ll find a way

To rise again and stand.

And tears will mark the path sometimes,

Across the bitter land,

But in your love, you catch each one

And hold them in your hand.

Psalm 56:8
Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll — are they not in your record?

Sea of Sadness

The sorrow patters in my heart

Like rain out on the bay.

I really have no cause for grief,

But it won’t go away.

I seem to be adrift in life,

My anchor has torn free,

And all the tears that I have cried

Could wash me out to sea.

It is a sadness of the heart,

But it will pass away,

And happiness will fill the place

Where there are tears today.

Nehemiah 2:2
so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”

When Things Fall Into Place

Sometimes things just fall into place

You almost hear them click

You call a friend you haven’t seen

To find out they are sick,

 Or need your help or just a chat,

But it is plain to see

That it was by the hand of God

You were where you should be.

Though some may call it fate or chance,

I think of it as grace.

For both are blessed, quite simply, by

Being in the right place.

I thank you for the loving words

And for the friendly face

Thank you for putting me where I

Could share that warm embrace.

It really made my day!

1 Peter 3:4

The beauty of your youth has passed

And time has left its mark

Where once there was the flame of life

There now remains a spark

A spark that still so brightly burns

With beauty that won’t dim

Because such beauty is not born

Of flesh, it is born in Him. 

1 Peter 3:4
Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

1 Kings 8:54

 

So many things went wrong today,

But many more went right.

All of the things I had to do

Remain undone tonight,

But we had sunshine and not rain,

The inlet burst with light;

There was that fuzzy little bird

Who seemed to dance in flight.

And as I counted all the joys

That seem to fill such days,

I noticed that the old fig tree

Had raised its hands in praise.

1 Kings 8:54
When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.

more problems with Blogspot last night. Sorry for the delayed post. You can always find the posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Each-Day-A-Praise/158386117521398 if this site is down. 

Luke 12:27

Delicate and beautiful,

The blossoms of the spring,

Clothed in their fragile garments

Have never done a thing

To warrant all their beauty,

The happiness they bring.

Yet their loveliness is real;

True proof of God’s blessing

Luke 12:27
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

The Song that Echoes

The song was simple, her voice sweet;

She sang a song of light.

I carried her sweet melody

With me into the night.

Standing at my window today,

As I watched ceaseless rain,

I realized I still could hear

Her melodic refrain.

It was a gift she gave to me,

A simple gift of song.

A gift I’ll carry in my heart

To light a way that’s long.

I wonder what the song I sing

Leaves in a list’ner’s mind?

Does the lingering melody

Stir angst or something kind?

I must assure that my song leaves

Echoes of joy behind,

That I am touching those I meet

With patience for mankind.

Reflecting the Fire

Lord, let the fire of your love

Reflect itself in me

That I might light a darkened hour

For one who needs to see.

I am not worthy of your light,

But someone may need me;

So shine through me that when they look

It’s you that they will see.

Exodus 24:17
To the Israelites the glory of the LORD

looked like a consuming fire on top of

the mountain.

2 Samuel 22:11

I’m the bird with the broken wing

Who still thinks she can fly;

I’m the bird with the heart of stone

Who longs to dance the sky;

I’m the bird who should never soar

But I’m going to try,

Because the sky is calling to me

And I just KNOW I can fly.

2 Samuel 22:11
He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.

The Gift of a Peaceful Morning

Sometimes the gift is not the thing

Which we’ve asked to receive,

But is, instead, the quiet place

Where we wait to believe;

The prayers we’ve prayed that rise above

The petty and mundane;

The truth that is reflected from

The heart onto the brain;

The faith that rises on swift wings

To carry us through strife;

The love that offers heaven’s hope

To a once broken life.

Psalm 4:3

I struggled with all the worries,

I suffered with the fears.

You kept saying to just let go,

But I clung to my tears.

I knew that I could never solve

The problems that I face,

While you kept bidding me to trust

In your enduring grace.

When I broke down beneath a strain

I could no longer bear,

I turned my face back to you, Lord,

And you were waiting there.

You heard the prayers I raised to you

And then you answered me.

I offered all my fears and tears

With loving certainty

That you would do what you have done,

And done so easily.

You had the answer all along

And you’ve set my heart free.

Psalm 4:3
Know that the LORD has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.

Psalm 84:3

Oh Lord I sing with all my heart,

Though my voice is so small;

I know that it could well get lost

With all the hearts that call

And yet you still hear my small song

In the midst of them all.

So I will sing for I am loved

And you answer each call.

Psalm 84:3
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

Genesis 7:12

I’ve tried to give voice to a praise,

Though rain clouds fill the sky,

But every time I look up, Lord,

I get rain in my eye.

I know that it replenishes

A dry and weary land,

But if it gets much wetter here

I’ll have no place to stand.

So let me focus on the trees

That flower in this rain,

Thus keeping my eyes focused down

So they’re not splashed again!!

Genesis 7:12
And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

The Broken Fig Tree Buds Anew

The storms of winter tore you down

And shattered half you boughs,

Your branches soon were black with rot

Such winter rain allows.

Your roots were strong, we trimmed you close,

Cut back the damaged wood.

We didn’t think that you’d survive

But we did what we could.

And then we let God take a hand,

To see what he would do,

And just today we saw the proof

That you were pulling through.

So, battered by the storms of life,

With very little chance,

God spilled his grace into your heart

And soon your leaves will dance.

Then all the fruit that you will bear

Will be fruit born of grace

For not by man’s skill were you saved,

But by God’s sweet embrace.

Matthew 24:32
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.