The Old to The New

The old year passes quietly

The New Year bustles in,
And I can hardly wait for that
Bright, new year to begin.
 
For I know that the coming year
Will be a year of grace
With blessings poured out on the lambs
That live in His embrace.
 
There will be troubles now and then,
But troubles make us wise,
For it is in our troubled times
We turn to Him our eyes.
 
And so I count even troubles
As blessings on the way.
Thus I’m eager for the New Year
To soon be underway!

Resting In His Peace

The troubles of this world are mine,

As they belong to all,
But when they come to seek me out
I do not fear their call.
 
For, though they weigh upon my mind
As they have always done,
I’ve learned to face them with more calm
By resting in the Son.
 
He knew the torments of this world
And faced much more than I,
So, if He bids me Trust in Him,
That trust I’ll not deny.
 
And I will face my own troubles
With His peace in my heart.
It may not hold my woes at bay,
But it’s the place to start.
 
John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

A Day of Blessings

What an amazing blessing, Lord,

This day has been to me.
All of it in such little ways
I’d not normally see,
And yet today the little things
I recognize clearly
As blessings well beyond my due
That came from You to me.
 
Daniel 9:18
Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.

A Glimpse of Spring

Just a little glimpse of summer

When winter closes in,
Is all it takes to lift me up
To face the cold again.
 
I know that spring’s around the bend
And I will miss the rain,
But for the moment, in the cold,
Spring warms my heart again.

Passing Smiles

We pass each other every day

Without speaking a word
And we don’t know we’ve missed the sound
Of the words left unheard.
 
We live on different pathways,
And yet they intersect
More often than we notice or
Than we even suspect.
 
It’s not that we choose not to see
Those we pass by each day.
It’s that we’re always hurrying
To be along our way.
 
It may not make a difference
That you will ever see,
But sometimes just a passing smile
Can change the day for me.  
 
2 Timothy 2:24
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

Time To Chill

I didn’t know how very much

I needed time to chill
To let the world go spinning past
While I simply stayed still.
 
The peace that recharges my soul
Gets lost in life’s fast pace,
And yet I find I need that time
In a still, quiet place.
 
So thank you for seeing the need
That I forget to fill
And giving me this precious time
To just be still and chill.

New Dawn, New Life

From Christmas 2014

In the fresh light of the dawn,
As Christmas comes again,
I am reminded of His Grace
On behalf of lost man.
                              
He sacrificed immortal life
To walk on earth with man,
And then He died that we might live
To be born once again!

The Christmas Moon

There in the stillness of the night

While the world lay in sleep,
The angels sang of the promise
God was about to keep.
The moon watched, solemn, in the sky,
The birth of Heaven’s king,
And smiled with joy as he listened,
Hearing, the angels sing.  

The World Waits

From Christmas 2013

They settled in amid the straw
And darkness in the shed,
Preparing for the birth to come,
The child who’d have no bed.
 
He swept a space, in the twilight,
And smoothed down some fresh straw,
While she was fighting back the pain
That stirred both fear and awe.
 
A new child was about to breathe
The first sharp breath of birth,
Within the small barn, all alone,
As twilight draped the earth.
 
They settled in beneath the roof,
The colored sky peered in,
The whole world held its breath to wait
For that life to begin.

Luke 2:5-6
He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,

Broken Enough - December 2011

There are so many things to say,

The thoughts pour through my mind,

And yet the words that shape those thoughts

Are those I cannot find.

It’s hard to comprehend the gift

You gave a broken world.

You filled the night with brilliant light

And angel wings unfurled,

Yet sent the word first to the meek

Who by their fires were curled.

It’s as if it was in your plan

To touch the shattered soul

And render it, through fullest grace,

Into a perfect whole.

So on the eve of your birthday

I watch the darkened night.

I long to hear the angels sing

And see the gleaming light,

For I am broken enough, Lord,

To see that wondrous sight.

Luke 2: 10-11

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012

As choirs of angels sang on high,

Mary hummed a lullaby.
While wise men brought their gifts of praise,
Joseph prayed for safer days.
Though shepherds knelt and cattle lowed
And heaven burned with light,
Mary embraced her infant son
And smiled in her delight.
She knew what life would hold for him,
The sorrow he must embrace,
But on that night she held him close
And kissed her baby boy’s face.

Luke 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Remembering Christmases Past

For the next few days I am taking a bit of a break from writing and I am re-posting one Christmas-tide Praise from the past five years through which I have written this blog. Just a brief break, then back to new Praises each day.

From December of 2011
















The earth lay quiet in the dawn,

Its breath held at the sight,

As if it knew that very soon

His birth would bring new light.

 

And so it waited, still as mist,

To see, in coming days,

The birth of him for whom the world

Would lift its voice in praise.

John 1: 4-5

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Contentment

Although it’s humble, life is good.

I’m grateful every day
For all the blessings and the pain
That come along the way.
I didn’t always live in peace
With my life as it is,
But I’ve found peace comes easily
Since I’ve made my life His.
So look upon me as you will,
I am no more than me,
But I am more content than most
People will ever be.

Winter's Light

In defiance of the darkness

That consumes the winter days
I offer a song of sunlight,
To You, Lord, I sing my praise.
 
Born upon a distant morning
Deep within the cold of night
Was the answer to the darkness,
Jesus Christ, the Lord of Light.
 
All the colors of the heavens
Captured in the morning sky
Join with me in exaltation
Praising Him, the Lord on High!

Still Frozen In

It isn’t all that cold outside,

I must be cold within.
I know where there is warmth enough,
But not how to begin.
 
I’ve done the things I know to do
The lights, the songs, the tree,
But I’m still waiting for Christmas
To warm up inside me.
 
It feels as if I’m on the verge
Of thawing out inside,
And giving in to all the joy
Of Holy Christmas tide.
 
Yet still the cold is in my heart
Oh, what am I to do?
If I stop focusing on me,
Can I warm up in You?

Meme

Feeling the Years

She feels the years a little more

As each day passes by,
But as she counts the long years past
A smile touches her eye.
 
There were those years, more than a few,
When life had been so rough,
But there were many, many more
Filled with more than enough.
 
She weighs them all in the balance
And finds more joy than tears,
More love, more laughter and delight
Than all the cares and fears.
 
Although her hair is growing white,
And time’s not on her side,
She smiles, content that when she goes,
The love she lived will bide.

Being Sick

I’m feeling pitiful tonight,

I just want it to stop.
Although I fear my self-pity
Might be over the top.
 
I haven’t been sick for a while,
In fact, for several years,
So right now I feel like I am
Stuck on the verge of tears.
 
I know that this, too, will pass, Lord.
And, melodrama much?
But if You don’t mind, while I’m sick,
Can we stay in close touch?

New Meme

Angel Chats

It seems like in the days gone by

Angels visited earth
To warn of dangers, and of grace;
A virgin giving birth.
 
But since then they don’t come around,
It’s practically a slight,
And though I’d love to talk to one,
It’s not likely I might.
 
But then, I recognize a truth
That’s all too plain to see,
I don’t need angels stopping by
For God speaks right to me.
 
He lets me know the right and wrong,
He guides with love, not wrath,
And, if I pay close attention
I stay right on His path.
 
While I would love an angel chat,
I’ll take things as they are.
I rather like chatting with God.
It’s much more fun, by far!
 
Luke 1:26
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,

Winter's Embrace

The winter whispers on the wind

And shrouds the mountain’s peak.
The sun loses the game it plays
Of cloudy hide and seek.
 
The whole world burrows in to sleep,
But deep beneath the snow
The life that God breathed into earth
Maintains its living glow.

I seem to mirror winter’s sleep,
Walking a slower pace,
Until the spring wakes me again
Into its warm embrace.
 
The seasons are the Lord’s design,
They travel at His pace,
So, despite all the winter’s chill,
I cherish its embrace.

Dark to Light

Tonight I turn my eyes to You

And lift my voice in praise
I thank You for the blessing of
The coming winter days.
 
The time of darkness and of cold
When all the world is still,
As if it’s waiting for the light
To burst across the hill.
 
The light that turns the darkness bright
And warms the morning air
Until the whole earth shrugs awake
And new life’s everywhere.

My Blessings

There’s so much beauty in my world,

I feel blessed to be me.
If I forget it now and then
All I need do is see
The trees reflected in the lake
Beneath a misty sky,
Then I recall how blessed I am…
And I remember why.

A Love Letter

Dear Child of Grace,

I know your day was so hectic,

But I kept watch on you.
I set my name along your walk
That you’d find your way through.
 
I kept the real harm from your path,
But let some struggles in,
For when you need to call on me
You know who brought the win.
 
I smoothed the bumps that you would face
But left a curve or two,
So that you could move forward, yet
Not see the whole way through.
 
I know you didn’t see me there,
Doing the things I do,
But I kept you well in my sight.
And PS… I love You.
 
Luke 2:40
And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

Meme

Mist-understood

We all must wander in the mist

Without knowing the way;
Too weary to keep moving on
And too afraid to stay.
We could be almost within reach
Of what we’re looking for,
But we give up or we turn back
Without those few steps more.
It always hurts to think we’ve quit
While just shy of our goal,
But either way, we’ve missed the mark,
Each lost and broken soul.
For there is no way through the mist,
There is nowhere to rest,
And over time we understand
It’s the mist that’s the test.
A test to see if we’ve the will
To give this life our best.
There is no final goal, you see,
The win comes from the quest.

Safe At Home

I worried about the wild storm,

The flooding on my way,
But here I am, back safe at home
At the end of the day.
 
Lord, I know that the floods may rise,
The winds will whip and blow,
But I trust You to bring me home
Whenever I must go.
 
So when I need to go, I will,
Despite the rising tide.
For there is no storm I can’t face
Travelling at Your side.

In Solitude

There are times I need solitude

To walk and think things through,
That’s when I want to be alone
With no one else but You.
You walk me through what worries me,
What’s weighing on my mind,
While leading me along the path
That You want me to find.
I listen best when I can hear
Your voice whisper softly,
And that requires solitude.
So please, Lord, walk with me.

New Meme

Swept Out To Sea

I thought I’d be swept out to sea

If I stood on that shore,
Lost to the turbulence of life
And heard from never more.
 
I felt the waves tug at my feet,
Drawing me out to sea.
I knew if I did not find help
There’d be no hope for me.
 
And so I called out through the waves,
Salt tears burning my eyes,
“Oh Lord You are my only hope
Of seeing clearer skies.”
 
The crashing waves rose up again
Then fell back from the shore
And I stood firmly on a rock
I had not seen before.
 
Now I no longer fear the waves
Or the wild churning sea,
For I live my life on The Rock
And He will shelter me.
 
Psalm 31:2
Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

A Heart Locked in Stone

There was that moment, in years past,

When Christmas held much more
Than what I find this Christmas is
Likely to hold in store.
 
I know that this Christmas is rich
With blessings of its own,
But I am having a hard time
With my heart locked in stone.
 
It’s hard to find the spirit, Lord,
That I know lives inside.
Please help me dig deep in my heart
To find where it must hide
 
And open my heart up to joy
That Christmas time should bring.
Remind me that those I have lost
Would still want me to sing!

My father went home to God in 2010, my mother joined him in 2013. I have found myself struggling each Christmas since then to find the old Christmas joy. This is a photo I took on my mother's last Christmas with us. She had dozed off in her chair with my sister holding her hand. My sister decided to lie down and take a rest herself, but didn't want to let go of Mom's hand in the process. I just love this photo. It seems to capture the love of Christmas for me.

The Light of the World

The world is darkening these days

In more ways than just one,
But every darkness that’s begun
Is broken by the Son.
 
He brought The Light back to the world,
And each time it goes dark,
He’s the one upon whom we call
To renew heaven’s spark
 
Within a world lost to the light,
And His light will not fail.
So stand, believing in The Light,
And fight through each travail.

John 8:12

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Praise Memes

I think this is the last of the mass postings, but my wonderful college Roommate is still creating them, so... I'll be posting the new memes as she makes them. Rejoice, for God's Grace is Abundant!

 

Praise Memes

The Rock and The Tree

I thought that tree clung to the rock,

Holding on faithfully,
Until I saw it was the rock
Who held on to the tree?
 
As if the rock’s love was so great
It wouldn’t let the little tree
Fall from the cliff, and from its arms,
But held it tenderly.
 
I don’t know why I’m comforted
By the rock and the tree,
But I am awfully glad My Rock
Keeps holding on to me!

Isaiah 26:4
Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Praise Memes