The Gift
He called me to make a joyful noise.
Why should I complain?
He is my listener
and He listens attentively.
He interprets this, my language
According to my inner spirit
I need never be concerned
about misunderstandings.
He enjoys the company
of conversation
And my gifts to him
when given in praise,
Are highly valued by Him.
When I decide to be true
to his calling,
There is harmony
Yes, I will make a joyful noise
And I will let Him
interpret the tune
of my Melody.
Yes
One answered "Yes"
Is all that it takes
Obedience, moving out
Recieves God's special Grace.
All that I am
Or hope tomorrow to be
Come with answers
Affirmative
As He speaks softly to me.
Prompted
Slight nudges,
Are His special way
To gain my attention
If I listen each day.
For God has a plan
In His service to Bless
With our Hearts
In His name
If we'll answer with
"Yes"
In Celebration of Easter
Rise, O Rise
Christ of today
Rise, O Rise
Christ of yesterday
Rise, O Rise
Christ for all Tomorrows
Rise
So I can see
You face to face
So I can feel
Your precious grace.
Rise and shine
On me
This Holy Day of Days.
I see who You were
I accept who You are
Rise, O Rise
Open the tomb today
Cast my fears and doubts away.
You have risen
So I could see
God's provisional plan for me.
Risen in my heart
Risen in my mind
Risen to
Raise me up
From and eternal grave
Into
Everlasting Eternity!
A New Psalm
My heart is joyful
When I hold out before me
The deeds of the Lord--
His mercy is abundant
His tenderness is gracious
And it is extended even to me.
When I fail
He shows me where I've succeeded
When I fall
He shows me where I've stood erect
When I sin
He reveals to me it's truth
And offers to me His forgiveness.
Oh, who am I before Thee?
Who is this creature
Who resists at times
The Creator's gentle touch?
Why do I turn from you?
Your compassion's they never fail
And they demonstrate your love.
Your love has touched me
And I will never be the same.
I am evolving more and more
Into the image of love--
Because I have set my face before Thee
You have reflected the light
Of your countenance
And I am washed in its Glory.
Oh, may I bathe in it's glow
My heart is anxious for the day
I will be perpetually in Your presence.
I had the privledge to pray with my son. What an incredible
experience. I am so thankful to the Lord for being able to participate
in this special moment.
Re-Birth
You gave me more than a new song to sing
My heart swollen with exhuberance
My soul so joyous,
I am weightless.
Praises on my lips
And hands extended high
to the heavens,
Offer Thanksgiving
For the miracle of Re-Birth.
Oh, when bowed before Thee
A Soul
A heart
A mind
A will
A body wholly broken and offered to
The broken Christ.
Whose own body was broken
In our place.
Resurrected
So, we can fully experience
The recalled life.
Recalled from total death
Oh, the comfort
Of your loving embrace.
As I look on in wonder
Observing the miracle of
An exchanged soul
For soul.
Working through its purification process
Has its visible results.
Forever changed.
Bond broken.
The Light of Life is visible
Through a veil of tears.
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Some of the following pieces came out an experience I had with a son
who has suffered with drug addiction. It has been a difficult road and
one that I truly had not expected to ever go down. This experience has
challenged my Love at new levels. Thank the Lord He is With Me and With
Mine.
We had exhausted all resources. Emotional, Physical, Financial.
I was drained and Even though I had prayed,
I was unable to let go.
Our dear precious son was literally dying before our very eyes.
We were powerless to stop the consequences of choices he had made.
So the penalty was great.
This liquid Horror was a living demon. Whose appetite was voracious.
When the boy finally called out for help, the demon had nearly won the
battle over his very life.
The word "Help" is a wonderful word.
It gave us permission to intervene.
There was still much pain to journey through.
Watching the boy struggle was almost unbearable.
The journey toward healing is difficult, but rewarding.
The prayer of Releasement was written
When I came to the absolute end of myself.
I had to express the hurt and my dependence upon God
To somehow step in and take over.
Afterwards, I really felt the peace that passeth all understanding.
I knew without a shadow of doubt that I had given my boy
to the God you holds the entire universe together.
He is the only answer, He is the only way.
I am so thankful that I have a Heavenly Father who knows what to do.
Praise His Dear Name!
Adolescents
They do not listen to
The voice of the present
For wisdom speaks
With an expression of experience.
They do not hold on
To voices
Put there by others
Like mine, whose past history
has it's unseen grip
There are many voices
the pitch and range of feeling
are determined by values taught
So deeply ingrained,
They have become a part of my own conscience.
The voices coming together,
Are like a bonding agent.
Helping me
To stick to what I know is right.
When I was younger
The sound was deafening,
It grated on me and I wanted to run
from the noise.
They do not have my voices.
I cannot reach inside myself
and extract this essence.
I cannot breathe into them
The value of their whispers.
They are on their own journey.
They have to decide
whose voices will be their guiding light,
Their influences
I can ask God to send
Special ones into their lives
To do what I cannot.
Spirit,
Oh, . . . breathe-
Oh, . . . whisper-
Oh, . . . Speak-
Oh, . . . Yell-
Oh, . . . SCREAM!-
All the voices,
Coming together,
To become
God's conscience--
--their guide.
To show them the way back,
Always back--
To . . . Himself.
The Prayer of Releasement
How lovely are your dwelling places, Oh God.
Your presence and your peace
Abide in the tabernacle of my heart.
You alone are the reason
For the aura of beauty
because you have cleansed every recess
You have purged my heart yourself
And illuminated it with light.
How could I ignore anything
That would pollute it's pristine atmosphere
I stand exposed
And am an unworthy vessel.
You knew me before time began.
From the distinguishing differences
As minutes became hours,
Hours to days,
Days to months,
Months to years.
Just as you are intimately aquainted with all
the varying degrees of emotion and struggles in growth,
So you are aware of
Mine own dear precious boy.
A boy who was and is beautiful to the eye.
He has his charms.
You were there when in innocent searching
He looked for Jesus in the clouds.
He shared his introspective thoughtful gaze,
"just thinkin' about Jesus",
When oh, so young.
My heart did as Mary's
I held those moments close and pondered much.
You know of his great capacity to learn
about the things that interested him most.
I was ill-equipped to truly have eyes to see
The dangers.
Oh, Lord, Hear my prayer and forgive this servant-
Who by her serving ignored a most serious uninvited guest.
Who came in without my knowledge and
Settled in.
I have cried out to you so often on behalf of this child
I am getting hoarse.
My tongue is dried up and I feel it adhering
to the roof of my mouth.
How do I beseech you on behalf of this child-
Flesh of my flesh
Bone of my bone.
This is the day of my trouble
This is circumstance of my need,
Now!
I am calling out to Thee--
Have patience with this young man
Who knows not what he is doing.
Have patience with this man
Who is but a child in many ways.
Melt his heart of stone
Take his resistance and show him how
To let go.
Send your Holy Angels to post guard
Over his Mind, Body, Soul and Spirit.
You saw him the day he fell-
The day all Hell rejoiced over his weakness
And insecurities
The very hour his character changed.
How precious are your words
Your statutes
Your guidlines
They teach and instruct
They are the full embodiment of wisdom
You alone know who this boy can be
You alone can save him from himself
The potential of the life's blood
That pulses through his veins
Through his limbs.
How can I sit and observe with
Hope and Grace extended
What my heart knows
Is so oppositional to what we have tried to instill inside.
Where the issues of life sing out
In agony
and in joyous expression.
Jesus, you are the only hope I have in this life-
You never gave up on me
You will never give up on my boy.
It's because you love him
That you died in his place-for him.
Help him to see you
As you really are.
Remove the barriers
The wrong words
the ignored cries
The empty stares
The judgmental comments
Help him to see You
Not these sorry little puny Christ's
who are not aware of the damage they have
Unwittingly caused -
Including my own carelessness.
I know you are not angry
I know you are saddened by what you see.
You know the prayer I have in my heart is
For the restoration
How will that come?
Time will reveal it's own truth
Meted out in the days ahead.
Thy Kingdom come
Thy Will be done.
Be it as You will.
Forgive my selfish groanings
As though I am the one living the
Sentence he was given.
Forgive my ignorant human emotions,
Whose mind screams out,
"I can't take this any longer!!!"
The hautiness to even allow the whisper
on mine own two lips
To mouth out in silence the sentence of eternity--
Should this precious souls spirit agree with Thee
And yet lack the tools to live -- Unbound.
Forgive me this selfish ideal
That has fingers that can
Take root in my heart and my mind.
So,
I have laid it all before Thee.
How blessed is the man whose strength is from Thee.
Oh God,
Make him like a whirling dust
Like chaff before the wind
Like a fire that burns the forest
And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire.
So,
Pursue my boy
Pursue him with a tempest
And terrify him with a storm.
Let him be humiliated and
Fill his face with dishonor
So that he may know You alone
Whose name is the Lord.
Truth springs from the earth and
Righteousness looks down from Heaven
To you alone, Oh God, do I look to.
Hear my words, I am pleading.
And know that my voice will not be silent
Until the day
You hush my cries.
--Amen
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