People Pleasing

 Play the game

Be the same

The voices whisper again and again 

Keep up the smiles 

Try to be in style 

The lies continue to pile 

Spirit of people pleasing 

Ever teasing

Mind always reeling 

Coiling serpent stealing

Breath and life fading 

Emotions cascading 

The cry for freedom 

From this people pleasing 

Total surrender needed

Pride, shame and fear

Your time has drawn near 

Fear of man can disappear 

Fear of the Lord crystal clear 

That’s where to  aim that’s how to end the game!

At the crossroads of Hopewell Rd. and Bondesville

 

At the crossroads of Hopewell Rd. and Bondesville

 

                                                 

 On my commute to work one day I came down to an intersection I frequently cross.  This day my heart was battling to hold onto positivity. As I stopped at the light and looked up, the two crossroads stood out; Hopewell rd. and  Bondsville rd. I was overcome with the thought, which road will you take, The Holy Spirits whisper to me, will you go the way of hope or bondage? 

  At the crossroads, which way to go

 Familiar fleshly desires directing the show

Well acquainted sight and senses

Trekking along unawares ,

 

suddenly sidetracked into the trenches

Hearts bereft, disappointed and grieving 

Bitterness, anger and hopelessness receiving 

 

Now Ensnared, led by another’s will

This treacherous way to Bondsville.

Twisted vines becoming burdened chains.

Lost hope now enslaves.

 

At the Crossroads

 

Oh, to Hopewell Road the way is tough

To have faith and believe He is enough

 Higher thoughts point to heavenly truth.

This way with little Tangible proof

To wait for the possibility of more,

Will He bring back, make new, restore?

To have trust and confidence?

This hope belies all commonsense!

This the perspective away from hell

To Hopewell Road where one hopes well

 

Here at the crossroads which way will you go?

 

The day the waves came in and crashed upon my heart

The day the waves came in and crashed upon my heart.

it all seemed so unexpected.

Had the tide been turning, and I somehow missed the signs?

unable to catch my very breath, disoriented grabbing and pulling on anything nearby.

the pain seeping into the most inconvenient places

The questions leaving bitter taste.

 all rational thought dissipated.

the Anger, rage and shame never anticipated.

The day the waves came in and crashed upon my heart.

How to begin again the hardest part

To take stock and behold how the signs were there.

To take responsibility for my own trepidation and fear

But also, in truth some waves are not my fault.

Disappointment, desire and blame pieces of the assault

dusting off the salty remnants from the crashing surf,

dying to what was and understanding the hurt

Holding onto my saviors’ hands

Confident now in the weapons I command

No longer the same  the day the waves came and crashed upon my heart

What is your sound

August 2021...During a time of worship, I saw the Lord give me a tabletop harp, an oboe and bagpipes.

Later I looked up what they symbolize.

Harp= Music of Angels" a sacred instrument of healing. It has the power of vibration to touch us deeply on many levels.

Oboe= it is delicate yet harmonious. A distinct sound (I have a distinct sound that matters)

Bagpipes= instrument of power, symbol of mourning, freedom and strength. It is a battle sound.

What is your sound? 

We are all meant to have a voice, a sound in this world and sometimes it works in harmony with others, sometimes it is a solo and sometimes it creates dissonance. When we play our heavenly melodies and release our notes together with others in unity, we create a beautiful sound.

 Are you like an angelic harp with music that soothes and brings healing? Are you like an oboe, unique and distinct? Or like a bagpipe, strong and powerful, declaring battle. Sometimes we are a combination or in different seasons called to make a different sound. Get to know your sound and make a joyful noise with it. Learn to play your tune in the right times and seasons with the right instrument!

 

Reframing my perspective

 writing and painting from 6/2021 journal entry

Dead things fill my sight, heart numb and blurry, reframe with larger lenses, more definition coming into view, Now discerning shape and color. Reframe yet again and glimmers of hope begin to shine. Reframing, encompassing the bigger picture life more evident. Reframing our hearts... how often do we look from the lenses of death and bitterness, allowing emotions to make friend into foe, daily life into drudgery and worries into catastrophe. What if we were to step back from our narrow focus on what is dead and began to reframe it looking for the life and hope in the situation.

Shaking the Cobwebs

Shaking the Cobwebs

Vacant empty spaces 

filled with gossamer thread

vision obscured and dull

senses frozen in dread

lies spun and spiraled around

silky filaments binding with fear

The hour to move forward

the time has drawn near.

Power and authority given

to shake the cobwebs free

Breaking the enemies encasing

Invitation to clearly see

Life in the full bright and illuminated

walk through the woven maze

stepping over the debris

Declaring His goodness in praise.

 

To all the men who have been towing the line

 To all who are weary 

To all the men who have been towing the line

the Lord says..."Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest".

To those men who have been prodding and  pulling like the ox yoked by itself, the season has come to stop towing that line. The numbing and busyness is no longer the escape it once was. The burden has you at a stand still, frozen in step.

I hear the Lord inviting you  to "take my yoke upon you and learn from me," That this is a season to look back and see what you have been pulling, to see the cart full of dead and useless things. The Lord is inviting you to unburden yourself with him, looking at what needs to be let go of and allowing him to carry the burdens. For so many years you have towed the line trying to carry the load for your families and others but now is the time to learn For" His yoke is easy and His burden is light.” Jesus is calling to you to come and follow him, to trust your weary soul to him. Abba daddy wants to hold all that you have silently been holding onto or inside you, the pain, the misunderstanding, the heaviness, all of it. 

 The work you are being invited into is just this "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”