Today wraps up 31 poems in 31 days, or OctPoWriMo. It has been a fun event, getting me back to writing again, and a bit of a challenge, too, as I reckon it should be. It is hard to say how well I’ll do after this month; the holidays and all are upon us and I tend to fall out of the writing-mode. Maybe this year will be different!
Come drink
Living waters
Whosoever desires
Eternal life freely given
By faith
When I sat down this afternoon to see what (hopefully less difficult) prompt OctPoWriMo had in store for me today I was a little apprehensive; if you read yesterday’s post you know I had some difficulty with it. Today I was pleasantly surprised to find a thought that gave me no difficulty in finding inspiration for! You see, I would be writing what is basically my story in poetry form.
The idea was to capture a moment that you were proud of or shocked that worked out. I can tell you without hesitation I have nothing to be proud of on my end; I am only bearing witness to what happened to me over the course of a couple of years in my life. If you’re interested, you can read more on my About and Maybe I Should Have Started Here pages.
Numb
I’m stunned
Did I hear that right?
I would never walk again
DazedGod
Please help me
I can’t live this way
Have mercy, prove them all wrong
PleaseTime
Passes
Waiting, beseeching
Faith that this isn’t His will
PraySlow
Progress starts
Unsteady movements
God is listening to us
PleadHe
Has answered
Supplications made
I can walk; thanks be to God
Praise
I can and will not try to take credit for the healing touch I received from God. I am merely thankful that I received it.
(This is a “Crowned Oddquain”, a form I just learned {thank you, Sister J and Paloma}of and wanted to try out. You can read more about the form HERE.)
After misreading, or just totally confusing, a prompt word yesterday, I came back this morning with fresh thoughts (and the right prompt) to this week’s challenge from Haiku Horizons – “follow”.
I will follow You
trusting You along the way
eyes set on the prize
The haiku is a bit of a paraphrase of biblical teachings from 1 Corinthians, Philippians, and 2 Timothy where the Apostle Paul speaks about running the race, staying the course, to obtain the prize: eternal life in perfect fellowship with God.
I know the difficulty of staying on course in this life, with the many pitfalls and potholes along the road. I can’t imagine the hardships Paul endured during his ministry and yet he never lost faith; if you’re not familiar with Paul’s life take time to read about his journeys in the book of Acts and you’ll see what I mean.
Though I doubt I’ll ever endure nearly as much as Paul did, I’m confident that God will bring me through whatever I do face. He’s the same, unchanging God today that He always has and always will be. And He treats us all the same, not holding one as better than another. The only difference being those that accept Him and those that reject Him.
The Three Day Quote Challenge is long over but, as I said before, I have so many quotes, both from individuals and Scripture, that I love I’m going to continue writing about them sporadically (at least).
Today is like to share what I call my “life verse”:
John 6:12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
“Life verse” may not be the best way to describe it but it’s a term I think many can relate to so I’ll use it. Let me explain why this verse is so special to me.
Several years ago I was wrestling with God over my calling to the ministry. I had a lot of excuses, too, in my “fight” that I tried to use: my disability and chronic pain makes me unreliable at times, I’m not that learned, I have no formal education/training to be a minister, and those were just my starters; I had a lot more.
During this time I was reading the Gospel of John; I don’t remember now if I was studying or just reading devotionally at the time. When I came to this verse in the the sixth chapter it grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. I read it over and over again, by itself, in context with the text, and couldn’t get past it. I searched every cross reference I could find, through commentaries, Bible encyclopedias, and every resource I had or could find to see what I was missing here, why I was so “stuck” on this verse. Nothing helped, shed no light on it. Eventually I tried to just go on and leave it alone – but it literally kept me up at night, knowing there was something there that I wasn’t seeing!
After a few mostly sleepless nights, I returned to this verse and my search for its meaning to me. I prayed fervently for insight from the Holy Spirit, certain He would reveal to me what I needed to see. And He did – after s few more days of searching and petition.
In a topical Bible I had, that I forgot I even owned, I finally found a hint; this verse was listed under the topic of “God’s Economy”. I remember the feeling I had: a warmth that crept up my back, up my neck, up the back of my head, tingling gently as it went (though I recall it vividly it’s not easy to explain how I felt in words). Then a light went on: This verse was telling my my position in God’s economy! I was sure (and, really, I had been, to be honest, for a while) that God was calling me to a life of ministering His Word to His people. And I announced that call within days afterwards.
It’s been a little over five years now since I finally accepted God’s call for my life. And many things have happened and changed in that time, trials and triumphs both. I have learned much since then; I have much more to learn. My ministry has changed and is continuing to change; anything that is alive must change, I think, or it will die off. I was scared to death when I began this journey and I still have some anxiety, not knowing what God has planned for me next. Looking at the shifts in my place in His economy over the past few years wows me and makes me eager as I am anxious to know the next step on this journey. But I trust Him explicitly and know if I follow obediently all will be well.
It’s still an amazing thing, to me, how the Spirit can use the smallest, almost obscure thing (me and this one verse, for examples) to guide and show someone where they are supposed to be. Of course that person has to be open to His prompting or they’ll not even hear the “still small voice” at all, let alone the call to action.
Trails … are part of this path of life we will all encounter , no matter the road we take.
of myself I can do nothing without God
Linked to and inspired by CDHK special ultra-short haiku/haibun challenge (go HERE for more information).
This week’s haiku promt from Haiku Horizons immediately drew my thoughts to mankind’s relationship with God: it is broken from the start. But by His grace, our relationship can be healed, completely mended, through Jesus.
a tear in my soul
the curse of father Adam
mended by Jesus
Rom 5:12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Rom 5:13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.
Rom 5:14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.
Rom 5:15 But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this other Man, Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.
Rom 5:17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.
Rom 5:19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.
The weekly prompt from Haiku Horizons this week is skim, and it is a good one for me at this time. Someone recently said that haikus are often mini-chapters of our lives and, for me at least, that’s usually the case- a snapshot of life if you will.
The following is what the prompt produced for me, today, at this moment:
Life is in chaos
Upheaval abounds all ’round
Barely I skim through
Highs and lows, peaks and valleys, we all go through them throughout our lives. If I’m completely honest, I’m not a huge fan of change in any sense: it doesn’t matter if it’s perceived as good or bad, none of it is fun to me. Thankfully the situation we are in or facing now, especially if we see it as “bad”, is as sure as the season to change. We only need to hold onto our hope of a better day that is coming to get us through the valleys of life.
This week’s prompt from Haiku Horizons is “birthday “. Having just had mine the thirteenth of last month, getting older and the path that I’m traveling on this side of eternity have been on my mind of late so it’s a very timely prompt for me.
Another year gone
Three hundred sixty five days
Closer to my home
One of these days, and we know not when, we are all going to come to the end of our life’s path and I’m ready to meet my Lord when that day comes. The Bible teaches we will all give an account on that Day of our life and decisions, whether you believe that now or not it is true. The New Testament repeatedly warns us to be ready: Are you ready? Your answer depends on your standing before God and the one question that you’ll be judged by: Did you accept His Son, His grace, by faith, to cover your debt? Nothing else will matter.
Potholes in the Road of Life 