Getting Back in Focus

I borrowed a poem from another blog to post today.
I haven't been posting lately, because I've been a bit bogged down.
All good things, and important,...but throwing me off course a bit nonetheless.

When God has given us some tasks to do,
But life comes along demanding time too,
It sometimes seems hard to keep our goals straight
The urgent takes over. We miss out on the great.

Lord, keep us always attuned to your will
Teach us to manage our time well until
When we finish our day we'll know we have run
The race as you've called it, and your plan's been done!

H Harrison

Here is the poem posted by M. Hernandez at www.thoughtsselected.blogspot.com
that helped me today to come back into focus on what is important.

Don't Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won if he'd stuck it out.
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow;
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

---Author Unknown

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."---The Bible

On Sleeping In

Isn’t it amazing how when you give yourself permission to sleep in, lo and behold, you wake up early, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed?

Lately I have been feeling exhausted; too much on my plate, some of which has been causing me to feel overwhelmed. Last night I decided that what I really needed was some good old ‘down time’ and extra sleep. Did that happen? No! It seems that when we need to rest, the problems that make us tired tend to wake us early.

So, I got up. I did have a lovely quiet time sitting in my favorite chair reading and meditating. That in itself brings rest to the soul. The material that I read spoke well to my anxiety; so, although I did not sleep extra hours, I do feel more at peace.

Welcome, new day! I am ready for what you have to offer.

AUTUMN YEARS

Fall is here
In all her glory
Beauty reigns
Upon the earth.
Purpose finished,
Life is ending
Yet rebuilds
For future mirth.

I now face
My autumn years
There’s beauty too
In growing old
My purpose here
Still clearly calls me
Not to let
My path grow cold.


Life began
As tiny seed
Spring arrived,
The time to grow.
Summer came
And beauty blossomed,
New life floats
As fall winds blow.


I was planted
In this world
Pruned and tended
By His hand
Nurtured by
Life’s varied moments
To fulfill
The Gardener’s plan.


Soon the seeds
Will all be covered,
As snow blankets
Earth’s domain.
I in turn
Must seek the guidance
Turn life’s autumn
Into gain.

A Personal Look at Romans 8:38-39

I am a conqueror
because of and through
the power of Jesus Christ,
who loves me.
Nothing at all can separate me from his love!

So when I feel attacked
unloved
unappreciated,
I need to rebuke that thought.

Death won’t separate me from his love,
but neither will life
with all its stresses,
its victories, its defeats.
Nothing in life will change God’s love for me.

Angels won’t separate me.
They wouldn’t want to!
They are here to protect me,
to keep me connected
to God.

But demons,
that’s another matter!
They try their best to persuade me
that God doesn’t love me,
that I don’t matter to him.
They use every trick in the book
to make my life look bleak,
to tweak my anger,
to riddle me with guilt,
to make me cry foul and seek revenge,
to harden my heart in unforgiveness,
but
they cannot separate me
from God’s love.

His love,
shown to me by Jesus,
the way he cared for the people around him;
his healing power,
his attention to provision for their needs,
his loving discussions with his followers,
his stilling of their fears,
his confrontations,
his exhortations,
his prayers for those he loved,
his implicit trust in sending them out on their own,
his extension of the Holy Spirit
to us who believe.

This love is
available to me.
Always!

Nothing can separate me from his love.

Life's Autumn

As I face the approach of Autumn, I welcome what God will show me in this new season. No doubt I will see an abundance of His creative beauty. But just as in nature Fall is a time of letting go, I too must experience the release of certain habits and patterns of living. Decomposing leaves build new life into the soil. Even so I revitalize the fabric of my life by letting go of the past. There may be dead issues, thoughts, and feelings to clear away. Yet after a time of rest and cleansing comes the vibrant hope of restoration and new life.

I’m ready for this autumn experience. Teach me, Lord, to experience with joy the seasons of my growth.

Elusive Ambiguity

It cascades
Drifting through unconscious state
Throbbing in the mind
Tenuously gripping
The vestige of reality
Raging
Caressing
Fluid
Erratic
Defiant in denunciation
Murmuring soft melody
Intimate
Aloof
Harsh
Placid
The essence of necessity
Unencumbered predator

What nature’s phantom this?

A veritable duplicity

Late Summer Kaleidoscope

Sitting on my deck in an attempt to shake off my morning haze and clear the sleepy cobwebs from my brain, I was sipping my coffee and enjoying the comforting warmth of the sun, when the peaceful silence was pierced by a raucous call. With the effect of a second alarm ringing through my drifting thoughts, I was suddenly attentive. A blue jay?

There he sat, jaunty head cocked, calling sleepy ones to rise. Brilliant blue assailed my eyes as he rose effortlessly to greet the sun. Another movement drew me, and there where he had flown, lingered a crimson cardinal, offering up his sweet “twit…twit” like a soft caress upon the breeze. It was a sound I had not identified as his before, I being more familiar with the bolder descending call for which he is well known. I watched in wonder as he in turn lifted off to circle round the yard a scarlet spot of joyous freedom.

In rapt wonder, I lamented their departure, but no; they both circled back to the fence behind my yellow daisies, just beginning their fall display. Another jay dropped by to join them and as a trio they danced from fence to flower to cedar and back again, it seemed in gleeful play. One of the jays landed on my hanging white petunia, dangling for a moment before discovering the presence of some tasty morsel, and seating himself within the planter enjoyed a prolonged feast.

Like sapphires and rubies displayed upon an azure spread, in the midst of the glint of gold and pearl and emerald, my humble deck became transformed into an exotic café for those brief moments, a site adorned with nature’s jewels in the sun, a veritable kaleidoscope of colour.