Words

I'm still here

Waiting for the right words.

They tend to come and go

Without telling how long

They plan to stay.

Sometimes, in despair

I force them.

That's when they come out all wrong,

Broken and disjointed

A marred reflection of my thoughts.

So, I patiently wait

Hoping beyond hope

That words spill out

And fill this empty page,

With life

And love

And joy

Creating but a glimpse

Of our saving grace,

Jesus.

Well, you know how it feels if you begin hoping for something you want desperately badly; you almost fight against the hope because it is too good to be true; you've been disappointed so often before.

—    The Magician’s Nephew // C.S. Lewis 

Trust

Come
Rest your head upon my shoulder
Lean in close to me
Let me feel the warmth of your breath
Against the cool of my skin.

Come
Draw closer to me
Bear all your weight upon me
Surrender everything.

Move in closer still
Till there's nothing left between us
No space, no doubt, no fears
Now I will show you what happens
When you trust me.

Completely trust me.

Surrender

Come

Shine Your light

In all these dark places.

Uncover

All that I have hidden.

Take back

That which I have held too close.

Wash these hands clean

Of all that is in this world.

Break down the wall

I have built

And kept

To guard my heart

To stop You getting in.

To let You in

Is a choice

To lay down 

What I once thought

Was rightfully mine.

And give back

What I now know

Is rightfully Yours.

This life

Created by You

Created for You,

Is no longer mine

But Yours.

On Love

"People don’t like love they like thatflittery flirty feeling. They don’t lovelove, love is sacrificial, love isferocious, it’s not emotive. Our culturedoesn’t love love, it loves the idea oflove. It wants the emotion without payinganything for it. It’s ridiculous."

 -Matt Chandler-

Hearts

Together

Our hands have made

These four walls

And called it church,

As if we could contain

The glory of God

Within the corners 

Of a building.

Stained glass windows

Shed light

In its dark places.

Magnificent heights

Turn our gaze

Heavenwards.

We stand

Reciting hymns

And written prayers.

Side by side we sit

In neatly arranged pews,

Sharing little more 

Than a smile and hello.

When we leave these walls

We leave church,

With full hands

And empty hearts.

And still we come back

Sunday after Sunday.

And still 

Our Heavenly Father 

Stands and waits,

Knocking

At the door of our heart

Because that,

That is what he wants,

He wants our hearts.

Today

Be still,

Slow down

Sweet heart of mine.

The light is not yet gone,

The day is still at hand.

It Is Well

The sun shines on this day

Sweet melodies

Echo all around.

Still waters

Reflect the brilliance of these hours

Summer's breath

Lingers on, full of promise

It is well with my soul.

Troubled waters stir,

Doubt and despair

Create chaos in this order

Fortresses are shaken.

Through dark waters

You remind me

Of your constant steady gaze,

And in this moment 

Still I can say

It is well with my soul.

You are

 All the colours 
Of the rainbow

After a long night's rain.

Stranger

Before we were strangers

We were friends

Maybe something more.

You knew me

And I knew you

Almost completely.

Spring bloomed

Full of promise

Together

We anticipated our future.

We walked together

In summer

Your hand took mine

I think that's when we knew.

Autumn leaves fell

Your words began to tell

Of all the reasons

This couldn't be.

Winter turned cold

Along with your heart

Two strangers we were

Our friendship torn apart.

Burning

This feels a little too familiar
Tear stained face
Hands clenched into fists
Burning heart
Trying not to let it tear apart.

Eight Years

Today we sat,
I sat next to you
And you sat next to me.
We talked,
I talked and you listened.
But mostly
You talked and I listened.
You spoke of life,
Eight years
And yet you have known more heartache
Than I ever have
In all my twenty seven years.
You wept
At the pain of your father's hands.
Hands designed to love and comfort
But in his brokenness
He hurt and wounded you.
And then he left,
Leaving behind a gaping chasm
Between father and son.

So I pray,
I pray that one day
You would know the deep love
Of your Heavenly Father.
That the sting of pain
Made known by your earthly father
Would be soothed and forgotten,
Forgiven
In the sweetness
Of the knowledge -
The depth
The height
The breadth
The weight
Of Jesus' great love.
For you,
His child
His beloved.

The End of Missing

"I like to see people reunited, I like to see people run to each other, I like the kissing and the crying, I like the impatience, the stories that the mouth can’t tell fast enough, the ears that aren't big enough, the eyes that can’t take in all of the change, I like the hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone."

- Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 

One Day...

Innocence Lost

You came in the dead of the day,

You came quick and fast,

We didn't have time to turn and run.

You came without warning,

You came with guns pointed,

We dared not put up a fight.

You came with hatred in your eyes,

You came full of evil intent,

We pleaded to a room full of deaf ears.

You came

And we lost our innocence.

Now in your hands

Our future is hard to see.

Will we witness the dawn of another day?

Will we hear the sweet sound of our mother's voice once more?

Will we know the joys of womanhood?

Will we raise a family of our own?

What once looked promising

Is now just a dream,

But still we hope.

So, hold us close

Father, we pray.

Let our hearts not turn to hatred

And decay.

But may we hold fast to your promise

Of an eternally bright future,
Spent forever with You.

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. St Augustine

Yesterday I missed you.

Today I miss you.

Tomorrow I will miss you.

I Miss These Two.

Walls

We built this wall to protect us

We built this wall to stop you getting in 

We built this wall to separate our hearts from yours 

We built this wall to create a divide.

We built it out of hatred 

We built it out of ignorance

We built it out of naiveté 

We built it out of evil

We built it out of lies

And then we left it there.

It's where our children grew up

And their children

Within the confines of these walls 

We passed down our beliefs 

And called them truth.

But the truth is 

When you replace  

Hatred with love 

Ignorance with acceptance 

Naïveté with knowledge 

Evil with good 

Lies with the truth, 

There is no wall 

There is no great divide 

There is no difference

But the colour of our skin.