Anxiety

The panic awake

Followed by a listless day

Suggest the return of anxiety

But how and why?

Is this nervousness because

My first book will be off the press soon?

And saying I'm a writer

Will soon have something to show with it

Today

I woke up this morning

And so have another day

With You, Lord

And with the people around me

A life that is getting busy once more

And so is in need of balance

To keep me grounded

And enjoying what surrounds me

Writer Moving Forward

The manuscript is together

And ready to be sent away

To begin the journey

Toward publication

Book two reinforces 

The emergence as writer

As the process connects

The many stages that are part

Of the whole endeavour

Old Fashioned Ways

Letters

As a form of communication

Begin by spelling words

One letter at a time

A seemingly slow process

Until words become sentences

And sentences become paragraphs

With the mechanics of spelling and grammar

Transforming it into a conversation

Over miles

And over time

As the mail service cooperates

Telling Your Story

To retell Your story, Lord

With drama and interest

And yet

With accurate facts

The challenge that drives me onward

To keep on trying

How do we keep it interesting

And yet true to the details we know?

I've explored this challenge for many years

As sunday school teacher

And as the children's story teller

In the worship service

But now I need to write it down

To use simply the words on paper

Without the voice or the light in my eyes

To capture attention

But perhaps

An illustrator will come on side with me

To provide the visual impact

Family Letters

Time and space separates us

But does that have to make relationships

Unworkable?

Perhaps they can be rebuilt

Through an old fashioned method

Quickly losing popularity

That could use a revival

As I learn to put words on paper

Day by day

Ideas

Percolating ideas come up for notice

Before retreating to the background again

To be reshaped by time

Experience then colours the ideas

As it reworks them

Focusing them to a finer point

That finally hits the mark

Expansion

Finally the writer is trying to emerge

As I sit at my desk each morning

Considering what words

Will find their way 

Into expression through my journal

That records a quiet life

Which walks past deer while the sun rises

Or gets passed by drivers

On my way to the library

And as the writer finds a foothold

My circle of family

May enlarge as I now have the means 

To keep in touch

Thank You, Lord

Spring is growing within me

Even as the snow continues to fall

Piling higher as the plows move it around

But You supply life

And all we need for this life

Leaving me to choose joy or something darker

And as spring grows within me

I choose joy

Catching Up

Suddenly I'm trying to catch up 

With people

Putting words on paper

And sending them forth

To family and friends

A break through the isolation bubble

That has surrounded me for years

Snail mail revival

As I begin to put words on paper

On a near daily basis

Snow

Winter arrived late

And long struggles through the snow 

Are still fresh 

In the memories of my muscles

But the cardinals flash

A brilliant red

And the deer graze in the soft light

Of early mornings

In the peaceful quiet

Of a country road in the city

I must venture forth

To find the restoration in moments

Second Chances

Second chances come frequently

But sometimes the pain runs

Deep

A river of lava far below the surface

Radiating damage

Offering little hope for renewal

As the lava erupts gas

And searing heat

That endangers life

Yet hope hangs on

That an opportunity will emerge

To try again

With Love

Paper pieces await

Assembly into a gift

Scattered across the desk

Circles, squares, words

To be glued and layered

Onto a card 

For a special occasion

Life Embraced

Life is a joy

When the moment is captured

By living

Expectation retreats

Dissection of "what could have beens"

Are put to rest

And this moment embraced

Not Good Enough

He wandered in 

Begging for food

But refusing

What was offered

My annoyance surfaced quickly

When he continued demanding

Help

While continuing to refuse

The help that was offered

The logic eludes me

And my annoyance rises

As it feels we're being lied to

But why am I annoyed?

Because I reach out to help

But won't help on his terms

When he's refusing

Fresh baked homemade bread

Because he's "on a diet to lose weight"

And yet he says he must have food to eat

When he takes his medicine at 4 p.m

Mortgage

Many small

(And not so small) payments

Result in a home of one's own

Teaching discipline as it's

Gained through patience

And hard work

Going day by day until the

Expense is gone

Your Word

Your Word Lord, has become so varied

As many people have worked to understand 

And make it understood

Commentaries, translations, paraphrases

And yet the true understanding

Comes from You and Your Spirit within us

Thank You that we can know the truth of You

That leads to belief in You

And a lifetime spent walking with You

Growing closer in love

Winter

Snow fell once again

But life doesn't wait for melt

So digging filled time

Words

Some people just leak words

Always coming out of them

Drip, drip, drip

Or rushing in a torrent

While some people need

Silence

A space for the soul

Clearance for the imagination

Quiet

Rest

Restoration

Winter

Snow settling on trees

As it drifts downward to earth

Filling dawn with joy

Language Woes (Why?)

Why are some things so difficult to learn?

I enjoy languages

I enjoy studying languages

I enjoy working with languages

But my mind freezes 

If I'm called upon to use any language

In conversation

That's not english

Why?

I have been looking for a breakthrough

In this area for years

And feel no closer now

Than when I renewed my efforts in french

More than twenty-five years ago

Music

Music surrounds us 

And plays with our hearts

Music fills us

As we ponder the questions before us

Music flows from us

As we move forward into answers

Music delights us

As a springboard into life

February 8, 2016

Enjoying Your coincidences Lord

Even yesterday as an unexpected variation

On the church service schedule

Has me now slated to lead

Next week's service downstairs

When I go with the flow of what is

Rather than what I think it should be

Life gets interesting indeed

Through coincidence Jerry came to church

With us because she was working Sunday mornings

And through her we met the Karen community

Through coincidence I began writing

After many years of simply dreaming

And through coincidence

I could soon meet Syrian refugees as well

Even as Missionfest will raise money for

Somali refugees in Kenya to

Enable them to begin their own businesses

Rejoice

Lord, this is a new day

And You have made it

Thank You

It's amazing and yet over it hangs

A cloud that people aren't happy with me

Or my choices

Yet others encourage me to keep going

But this life is a gift from You

And You lead in so many ways

By 'coincidences' that cross my path

And stories that fill Your Word

By invitations that come our way

And adventures of our choosing

Through it all you guide

And I will rejoice in You

Your Story, Lord

We have Your story, Lord

Written in the pages of Your book

Yet the excitement is often missing

When we remember it

And it becomes distant, cold

As we look for the intellectual knowledge

That misses the heart entirely

Help us find the connection

Back to You

Through Your story

Refugees

Reaching out to refugees

Is a constant endeavour

One family gets settled in

To a new culture

Or returns to an old culture

When the problem fades away

Only to be followed by someone else

Refugees here in Canada

Refugees in other countries

Somalis into Kenya

Karen into Thailand

Syrians into Europe

The numbers swell due to 

Natural disasters or war

Then shrink as home returns to safety

But many wars are ongoing

Leaving refugees in need 

Of a permanent new home

Lord, may our love be ongoing

As we meet and work with those forced

To find a new country

Lamp

A new bulb

After days of dimness

Illuminates the space on my desk

The warmth of light returns

As this second light

Fills in the lack

Caused by the distant ceiling lamp

Story II

Lord, Your story fills a book

Then overflows it when the details

Light up our hearts and imagination

But so often this story

Remains unpacked 

Stuck between the pages of the Bible

Or

Stuck between the sentences of a sermon

How do we move it onto centre stage

To breathe life back into

Our time on this earth

Story

Emerging into the light

After a long stretch surrounded by darkness

Dazzles me

Excites my heart

Gushes forth into adventure

As knowledge gives way to

Story that surrounds me

Immerses me

Enlivens me as I walk with You, Lord

Resistance Is Futile

Your quiet voice guides

As Your power provides the means

To move forward into the next adventure

Even when we fear what is ahead

Changes

Challenges emerge as

Hope radiates strength to 

Applying dreams to life

Now--yes, beginning now

Growing into new

Endeavours

Step by tiny, little step