I hurried down the street
the whisper of his grace
He makes all things new
In the midst of my failure
He raises me above it all
His grace makes small my mistakes
And His mercy overlooks my guilt
I am made new
He asks me to walk away from the mess I helped create
Draws me away by His great whisper
To leave behind the heap
That I am inclined toward
His healing grace a dart into my soul
And His breath washing me clean from enemy’s filth
But I want to go back
To the heap
To the muddy puddle
Forgetting that a King’s playground awaits
Energies directed and spent in focus of the smallness
I am owed by another
Forgetting the enormity of my dept wiped clean
by His breath on me
And the higher places to which He beckons
By the whisper of His grace
By the whisper of His grace
I am drawn into His space
Letting go of what I want to cling to
found recently in an old journal, written in March 2011
sometimes hope
sometimes hope
strings me along
asks for audacious trust
i find myself
reluctant to hope
a wispy cloud on the horizon
we’re told to hope
for things unseen
in the heavenlies and here on earth
i want to hope
but i don’t
i don’t want to put my heart on the line
sometimes hope
seems a mocking
cruel, disappointing, shallow friend
sometimes hope
calls us into a
vast wilderness of trust and faith
sometimes hope
burns brightly
sometimes barely flickers like a small flame on an old fire.
written for a friend, with echoes from my own heart.
follow
I follow Him who helps me exchange a path of fear and hesitation
for a road to skate down, Walter Mitty-style,
the sun beaming on my back.
I follow Him who makes breakfast on the beach,
feeding stomach and restoring soul.
I follow Him who welcomes this elder-brother,
three-year-old-tantrum-thrower
into the party,
out of the cold, into the warmth.
I follow Him who sheds His grace
on me even when I tell Him
I don’t like him much.
I follow Him who will one day make
everything right and good and
beautiful in its time.
I follow Him who will one day help
these dim eyes see the new city and eternal glory.
obedience + trust
I used to think trust was an emotion.
A thought. A pleasant little something.
Hot-oatmeal-in-your-tummy, warm fuzzies.
It sort of happened on a sunny day, when
Hope felt near and the horizon beckoned.
But now I know is it sometimes just
a raw obedience. One foot in front of the other.
Even when you don’t know how you’re going
to do that job. Or let go of that thing you want.
Or say that thing you don’t want to say.
The Sometimes has turned into a Season.
And a season into a year.
And a year into a lifetime.
I wonder if these steps, one tiny step after the other,
will take me right to Heaven’s door without a fulfilling of
what I see is best. Will I keep putting my feet forward?
Keep on the path in front of me? When obedience is raw,
weighty, and almost crushing.
Oh that I would carry the weight of trust
with the help of Him who has brought me
here thus far. That I would do this job, and let
go of that thing, and say that word. And let my
heart be beckoned to the next unfamiliar horizon.
Step to horizon.
Horizon to season.
Season to year.
one person
one person
tall but small
courage to shove the worry aside
block it at the door
no entering in
in life’s dark and rattling moments
You bring courage and put me where
and when
You want me
feeling unprepared and
awkward and inept
Your words flow
Your grace floods through
in my smallness
You give me with courage
and grace and truth
help me be small in worry
and tall in what is good
I am just a tall and small person
but willing
willing for You to move me
and use me and put me where
courage and grace and truth
will change me and
lend hope to those I touch
You are all I need
Unseen to seen
a burning gold strand
cuts across the dark scape
a glimmer in a sea of unseen
a glimmer of what could be
but is not
not yet
the dying yellow
fades into Winter’s grasp
but rises again
rises again in Spring’s
new birth
over and over
this green to gold
and gold to Winter’s
unseen but crushing cold
one day this green will
never again fade
but will rise
a burning gold strand
to a gold crown
set on a Head worthy
a Hope that will turn
the dark to light
the unseen to seen
Psalm 119:105
Stepping out
Stepping out into the pink-grey dawn
A new morning and a new day
Young and fragile as a newborn
But built for potential and strength
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Aspen trees swaying gently in the early breeze
Their leaves tinkering out a heavenward song
They greet me in the young light
And call forth my potential
Potential – what a strange word
A presence not yet present
A being not yet built
But all the plans and hopes and dreams
Fully there and ready to spring
Spring into life
Like this brand new day
Created to embrace the Sun in its rising
Beckoned to put sinews and ligaments to work
To work – to bring to life potential
To bring to life grace given in a needed moment
To give strength at a moment of weakness
Hope where a dark thought would reign
As the grey, fragile morning dawns
My own fragility comes to life
For one more day
Of potential, grace, strength, hope
And an embrace of the Son.
Hope and Help
Irresolute I find myself






