Beauty in Chaos

Life can be a jumbled puzzle

With pieces that don’t fit,

Yet somehow, if you look for beauty,

You see the best of it.

Don’t focus on life’s upheavals,

Look instead at the joy;

For every day contains them both

Choose which you will employ.

Unspeakable Kindness

While flipping through a photo book

They found a yummy page,

A daughter sitting with a mom,

Wracked by disease and age.

The plate of cookies pictured there

Triggered life in old eyes;

The memory from her lost past

Of a childhood surprise.

Without saying another word

Her daughter rose with care

And opened up the cabinets

To see what was in there.

She gathered up the things she’d need

To make the lovely treat.

Then, from a heart filled up with love,

She baked up something sweet.

She laid them out upon the plate

To match those in the book,

Then served them to her mother with

A soft and loving look.

The light came on in those old eyes;

She knew what lay in store.

As she reached for the fresh baked love,

She was a child once more.

An act of kindness from a heart

That remembered the day

When she was young and fresh baked love

Had touched her heart that way.

It was just a little moment

That came and went so fast,

But, though the cookies are long gone,

Such love will always last.

Reflected Through You

I stopped to lend a helping hand

To one I did not know,

And in her eyes I saw myself,

A face that seemed to glow.

I realized that what she saw

Was not just simply me,

She saw me through a lens of you;

The “me” I ought to be.

I liked the look of who I saw

When she saw me through you,

And all it took was loving as

You’ve told me I should do.

For it was not that I had changed,

It was her point of view;

I looked more perfect through the love

That I learned watching you.

I understand more clearly now

The wonder of your grace,

And pray that I’ll see more of me

Reflected through your face. 

The photo is a blessing from TF, my wonderful room mate from college! Thank you! 

Holding On To Him

There must be somewhere in between

The storms that toss me now

And the peace that comes at last

When, at your throne, I bow.

There must be someplace where the winds

Don’t drive the cutting rain

To tear my heart and fill my world

With sorrow and with pain.

But if there is or if there’s not,

The difference is the same,

For I will hold on to your word

And praise your holy name.

So let the storms of life blow through,

Though I’m out on a limb,

I have no fear that I will fall;

I’m holding fast to him.

Hebrews 3:14

We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

Petition with Thanksgiving

 

I used to ask you everyday

For all the things I need,

But when I listened to myself

It sounded more like greed.

I’d say “please give this, My Lord,

Or “handle that for me”.

How selfishly I made demands

For what I longed to see.

But then I realized a truth

That I already knew,

I needed to ask you in faith

By starting with “Thank you.”

“Thank you for seeing me through this,

Thank you for helping here,

Thank you for taking constant care

Of those that I hold dear.

I know that I like to be thanked

For little things I do,

And you do so much more for me

For which I should thank you!

Now I still lift the things I need,

But lift them faithfully.

I trust you’ll do what’s best for me,

So I ask thankfully.

Philippians 4:6

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Psalm 43:3

 Please give me clearer vision, Lord,

Then turn my eyes to you;

For what does vision bring to me

If you’re not in my view?

Please help me keep my eyes on you

As I move through each day;

For if I’m focused on your face

I cannot lose my way.

Psalm 43:3

Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

The Valley of the Shadow

I struggle so from day to day,

It seems that I can’t win.

I think I’m making progress, then

I tumble back again.

I pick myself up every day

And start back up the ridge,

Longing to find an easy way,

Those obstacles to bridge.

But there is not an easy way

To face what lies ahead,

So when I tumble back again

I turn to you instead.

I know you won’t make smooth the way,

For struggle shapes the soul,

But if I’m struggling at your side

I know I’ll get there whole.

Although I’m battered by travail,

I’ll still stick close to you;

The valley may be just as dark,

But your love leads me through.

Psalm 23: 4

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

More Than Gold

 

Greater than all the treasures of earth,

Is the word of my Lord.

Valued above silver and gold,

The heart where it is stored.

Priceless beyond the thrones and thoughts

Of men of great renown,

Is the abundance of His love

That holds for me a crown.

Psalm 119:

127 Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold,

Life Imitates...

It’s just a tiny purple bloom

That I hold in my hand,

And yet it bears resemblance to

Something that’s far more grand.

For in her face I see the sun,

Her petals, its bright rays,

And her life is a reflection

Of old Sol’s cheery ways.

Thus can a humble lump of clay,

Formed by immortal hand,

Reflect, as well, the Good Lord’s Grace…

Here, joyfully, I stand!

The Blessings I Don't See

 

Thank you for daily miracles,

The things I never faced;

The brakes that never let me down

Before they were replaced,

The car that stopped before it struck,

Although I didn’t see,

I could have been hurt in the crash

That you never let be,

The elbow that did not get bumped,

The toe that wasn’t stubbed,

The finger that I didn’t slice

On that knife that I scrubbed.

I thank you for the many things

That I can see you’ve done,

But thank you, also, for the grace

Of those never begun.

They are the little spots of light

That brighten every day,

Problems I never had to face

Because you guard my way.

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.