Making Space

In Advent I am called more deeply

To a sense of attentiveness

To the world around me

And the soul inside me

No matter where I am on my journey

God shows me new things with new eyes

In the waiting there are so many gifts to behold

And in my life of prayer and contemplation

I am called to draw in deeper

When I can settle into the peace

And let go of the busyness of the season

There are gifts in the reflection

That allow me to see, to notice, to awake

In each Advent season, it seems

I need to make space in a new way

To reflect, renew, restore

So that I am ready to be led

By that little Child

What is familiar becomes new again

The singing of the hymns resound in my soul

The reading of the texts are understood in a new way

And there is an illumination of what is coming

But it requires silence and thought

Not rushing through the days

Not running to Bethlehem

But putting one step in front of the other

Being aware of the journey

In the waiting.  In the reflecting.

In the attentiveness in my heart

In the opening of my soul.

Touching What Is Holy

I can touch what is holy
And it is around me at every moment
For it is a natural course:
Loving ourselves, loving others
But also being deeply and profoundly
Loved by God.

Beloved.

"The kingdom of God is within you."
When I really concentrate on that love
That love that is so encompassing
That love that is so abundant
I am left in awe.

Allow me to be grateful enough
To be trusting enough
To accept this God-given grace
Because I then see and can embrace
Creation alive within each me and others.

With age comes greater gifts:
I long for simplicity and humility
I am not caught up with measuring up
At least not by the world's stndard

I have a greater gift now
In my ordinariness there is
A deep need for vulnerability
For breaking myself wide open

To embrace all that I can be
All that I can learn
All the ways I can serve
When I listen to that
Still small voice within.

Beloved.

Crossing the Bridge

I find that I can't cross a bridge
Just watching from the other side
I need to take a leap of faith
And take one step at a time
To being the journey.

Pressing on, moving ahead
Requires faith and bit of courage

But crossing the bridge
Moving from despair to hope
Is worth the peservance
To get to the other side

Life is indeed a journey
There dreams to dream
And a life to live
And wisdom to gain

And at the center of it
Is love to be shared
Through a heart of faith
Wth fortitude and strength

Crossing the bridge means
Forgiveness
Awareness
Awakening
Understanding
Freedom
Healing

To get to all you are becoming
And the life that's unfolding
At every moment.

Reach out your hand
Take the first step
Move the first stone
Cross the bridge

A Different Lens

If I just take a moment not just to look
But to really see through a different lens
I see new colors, no longer faded but vivid
I notice something different, because I am different

The world is not just black and white
But so many different hues and shades
And sometimes I think something should be my way
But taking the time for a different view brings light

When I put aside judgements or preconceptions
And just live for this precious moment I'm given
I can let go of things that hold me back
And have the courage to see in a new way

The old has passed away, the new has come
And there is precious grace in that knowledge
That letting go means beginning again
And taking a leap of faith

And seeing.  In a new light.

Just by changing the lens.

Courage

What does it take to be courageous?
Not afraid of danger or pain, I am told
I wonder if there is anything
Courageous within me.

But the examples are all around
In physical strength
And changed lives
In new perspective...
Even my own.

And I have been faced
Through suffering
With those that show me
Day by day
How they trying to get it right.

One breath, one step
In front of the other
Trying and striving
And leaning on the One
Who has saved us.

Lost and then found
Suffering and then healing
On death's door, and now alive
The old has passed away,
the new has come.

Courage.

"Be brave.  Be strong.  Don't give up.  Expect God to get here soon." (Ps 31:24)

Letting Go

It is amazing when you

Have the courage to let go

Of the things that have held you

Like a bird in soaring freedom

So many times

I have thought there were

Choices that belonged to me

But they were for others to make

And there is freedom in knowing

It is not in the rescuing 

Or sweeping in and fixing

But in one thing that matters:   loving

Not loving based on good works

Loving unconditionally,

No matter the circumstance

Or whether I thought choices of others

Were the best ones.

Because I can only choose

What is mine to choose--

And I am learning 

To let my judgements

Go by the wayside.  

And when I heal,

What I know is that

I am learning how not to react

But rather, respond, with love

And THAT choice is mine:

How to respond to the circumstance.

And when I can see that growth

I know for sure

God is leading me

Changing me

Growing me

Every day.

One day at a time.

On the Gifts of Being a Mother

When I first became a mother
There was only one thing I wanted to be:  Perfect
And I must say, looking back, I was far from that
But with God as my foundation the adventure
Was and is the most glorious part of my life.

I can't begin to express how being mother
Formed me into the person God created
It took a great deal of love first and foremost
Something most would say I'm good at.

But my greatest lessons as a mother
Came out of the struggle and the sacrifice
They are those moments that still
Sparkle in my memory.

Being a mother takes courage
Being a mother takes perseverance
Being a mother takes wisdom
Being a mother takes gentleness

And it also took a great deal
Of baseball practice and fishing
Of hockey games and reading
Of creativity and immense adventure
An amazing heaping of concern maybe
But a bigger dose of joy and laughter

When I became a single parent
I thought I had to be everything to everyone
And that took me down such a difficult path
Now I know I am only myself.

But when I look back to the joys
And to the heartaches
I see all the good that came
I think mothers are a priceless jewel

And the thing of it is that we are
As different as the colors of the rainbow
But we are all doing Kingdom work
Raising up the next generation

And by God's grace
Maybe these children in our care
Can see our faithfulness and love
Our hope and dreams for a bright future.

Because we have been pursued
By a God that will never let us go
Will never leave us alone
Will never forsake us

And we are planting seeds.
For the Kingdom.