PANIC

Purple and orange, red, green and violet,

streaked with magenta and dotted with blue-

that’s how it feels when the panic takes hold,

order and peace leave, and chaos rides high.

Answers are pointless for questions fly fast.

Hard on their tails comes the quick rush of fear.

Red hot, the breath comes in shivering gusts,

or dark blue, paralysis takes up the slack

New thoughts and feelings surge into my head.

Yellow and crimson the fear and the dread.

What do I do now? How can I cope?

Help me, O please someone, come to my aid!

Into the maelstrom of colour and chaos,

a sliver of silver comes piercing the fray,

straight through, so balanced, shining and placid,

giving an aura of order and calm.

Coming so swift like a shaft from above,

giving a focus away from the mess,

speaking of certainty, solid and true,

sent by the One who knows every trial.

September 2016

HOPE

Father, I saw You, You danced with delight,

the Three interweaving as One.

It was not till much later I found out that day

You had glimpse of Your prodigal son.

He turned in his heart for one moment to You,

sitting a while in Your Presence,

and You sang over him in your pleasure and love

at his turning again towards You.

That son I see now, mired again in the mud,

and my heart starts to question within me.

I remember the way that You danced and I find

my weak faith again growing stronger..

September 2014

The Life We Lead

It’s what we nurture in our hearts

That really matters;

It’s how we see ourselves and those

Important to us.

We say we trust in God and love

His word above all,

Yet often we ignore His call

And struggle onwards.

We love our spouse and want to show

Affection always

But bedtime finds us cold and dull

Or hot and angry.

Our children beg our time to play

Or listen to them-

We keep on promising but then

Never deliver.

We know our lives are full of stuff

That kills our spirit

but we’re too tired or busy to

notice the warning.

Our focus soon homes in on ‘self’

And it’s survival,

Ignoring all the hurts to those

Around who love us.

One day in later years our life

Has room for others.

We look around to find ourselves

Alone and empty.

WITHOUT YOU

 

Without You in my life, what would I strive for?

A shivering wreck, trying hard to impart

a polished impression of making the grade,

of holding it all rightly together,

still pressing on through ‘daily improvement’

towards a known goal of ‘perceived happiness’.

My days would be predictable constants

of shattered pieces meeting and parting

in the kaleidoscope of human life,

sometimes achieving a pretty pattern

filled with dim light and half-glowing colours,

more often jarring with discordant shapes.

My mind would change from one day to other,

sometimes all grey with bleak indecision –

the path so unclear, the future now dim;

at other times, a clear shape would form there,

resolving into a bright coloured pattern

that I would grasp, eager to follow.

My soul, in it’s sure ‘self-regulation’

would flit from plan to purpose renewed,

ever seeking improvement, refinement

by it’s own efforts, never accepting

that nought of any eternal value

can be accomplished whilst at odds with You…..

Jan 2013

A few thoughts on the Promises of Jesus

I have not written this. It is the work of my husband, who has a greater gift than I….

A few thoughts on the promises of Jesus

Read each of the verses several times over to get a feel for them and use the brief notes as a guide.

When you have finished, pray about what you think God is saying to you, using your own way of expressing yourself. There is no formula for praying, just say what you want to say and spend time considering what God might be saying to you.

Matthew 21 v.18-22

…. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

I believe Jesus acted out this dramatic incident to teach the disciples how important faith is in the christian life.He is saying, don’t limit God to what you think He is capable of or willing to do. View your request to God in the light of who He is, the eternal Creator of the world. Believe in Him and trust in Him completely (Proverbs 3 v5-6)

John 14 v12-14

…. he will do even greater things than these…

… and I will do whatever you ask in My Name….

… you may ask Me for anything in My Name and I will do it…

These are very powerful words Jesus is saying and again He is demonstrating that faith is the key to the kingdom of God. He obviously wants us to ask and receive so that we might be fulfilled and so that God’s will and purposes might be done.

This is the extent of the relationship God offers to us in Jesus Christ His Son. It shows us the extent of His love for us in that He adopts us as His children and gives us the rights of heirs.

AS in all relationships, it is two-way. God is not offering us a formula for prosperity. He is offering us a partnership with His eternal life that also needs our commitment and obedience.

John 15 v7-8

… ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.

This takes us deeper into our relationship with Jesus. He says it is as we abide in Him and as we are joined together with Him that nothing shall be impossible for us. This is a subtle distinction. We are no longer asking selfishly for what we want to make out lives comfortable or easy, but together with Jesus we are seeing the eternal picture and boldly asking for that which will bring it into being.

John 15 v16

… then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My Name …

This faces the fact that when all is said and done, it is God’s love and mercy to us that brings us into this relationship with Him. Jesus says, I have chosen you. It was Jesus who died for us on the cross so that our sins might be forgiven. Everything we have and hope for is from the love of God.

Here Jesus is saying that as we move into this relationship with Him, then God will more and more give to us what we ask for.

John 16 v23-24

… My Father will give you whatever you ask in My Name..

… ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete…

Jesus is looking ahead to the times after He has been crucified and had risen from the dead, when the power of sin had been broken and the power of the Holy Spirit had been given to those who believe – that is, to us..

He shows us a new, dynamic relationship that is possible with God. In this relationship nothing shall be impossible to us as God longs to give to us with open arms.

Ask, Jesus says, so that your joy will be complete. Here we see a situation, not of formalised prayer, but of a loving partnership where we are working with God and being totally fulfilled as we do so.

John 16 v26-27

… in that day you will ask in My Name …

…the Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me…

Jesus is showing us the extent of our relationship with Him and with God. He says He will not need to ask God on our behalf since we have free access to God at all times, and God loves us.

Understanding the Bible lies in understanding what God has done for us. Look at what Jesus says in

John 16 v13-15

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you in all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will only speak what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to Me by taking what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is Mine and make it known to you.

As we come to Jesus in simple faith and accept Him as our Saviour, He gives us the Holy Spirit. This is the miracle of the christian faith – God in us, through us, with us. What we cannot do on our own, God can do through us through the power of His Spirit living in us.

Read these scriptures over and over and ask God in faith to do what He has promised, that is , show you His truth and the way forward for your life. Follow this pattern.

View from my window – March 2015

I rose, untroubled, from a peaceful sleep,
opening the shutters on a cloistered world.
Clouds had flowed down from snow-clad mountain sides,
enveloping the slumbering village.

The stand of poplars there beside the path
show in relief against the misted hill;
lights glow around the long and empty road,
houses seem to blend their walls and roofs.

A passing cloud obliterates the hill
behind, but creeping slowly on its way;
sounds seem absorbed into the fabric
of the gauze, yet dog-barks echo loud!

My heart is stilled; my spirit soars on high;
I look back on a hard and troubled week;
I thank the Lord for helping me to cope;
I start another day to walk with Him.

March 2015

The Dry Stone Wall…

Hewn Stone
Each piece is hand-picked… Each piece is specially chosen –
to fit in its place
to progress the whole project
to support those and
to be supported by those stones around it.
Each piece may experience
the blow of the hammer to shape it to better fit its position and purpose.
Some pieces (for instance the millstone) may become worn out over time
in the work they are fitted to do.
Some pieces (like the end upright) may be the one upon which so much hangs…
Only the master knows…..

MOTHER

As daylight stretches out its long, cool bands,
streaking the clouds with promise of new light ,
she sits alone by the window,
wrapped in her robe and her thoughts.
Memories scroll on the screen of her mind,
recalling her children, the pain and joys,
The lonely vigils in the night,
the sometimes thankless tasks.

The noontime sun burns harsh upon the land,
leaving no place to hide, no shadow for relief.
She sits alone by the window,
wearing her shades and her smile.
Thoughts come unbidden of sorrow and loss,
and myriad times when her joy was so full
she thought her delight could not end,
the future secure at last

The sunset thrusts high in the western sky,
turning grey clouds incandescent with red.
She sits alone by the window
clothed in her shawl and her peace.
The glow reflects from her cheeks where the tears
left their streaks as she pondered the present
when all is not well with her kin,
and wounds will take long to heal.

But in it, and through it, beyond and above,
there is One Who sorts all, in love.
Sep 2014

TRANSITION

The day is young;
the night is dark;
the rain is pouring down.
I sit and wait.

My Saviour’s near.
I call His Name;
I wait for Him to come
and sit with me.

I know He’s come.
He said He would
if I would ask for Him
and sit and wait.

His gentle peace
surrounds me here;
my anxious thoughts are stilled;
I turn to Him.

His Father, God,
supplies my needs
while Jesus gives me strength
and purpose true.

That other One,
the Spirit bright,
glows in my weary heart
and bids me rest.

Now daybreak comes;
the light appears;
the rain has stopped for now.
I stand to serve….

THANK YOU

Father, thank you that you sent your Son.
How strange it must have felt to be apart,
and yet a part of one another still,
walking this earth, confined in human flesh.

Jesus, thank you that you left that place
where you Three always lived in perfect love,
to feel the hatred, know the pain first-hand,
give everything so we could join You there.

Spirit, thank you for your daily work
in my weak life, so prone to wander off.
You draw me on with comfort or rebuke
towards that day when all will be complete.

October 2014