Affectionate Hold

My heart has wandered in the dessert. 

Hungry and thirsty. Alone in the wasteland with cracked lips and dry eyes.

Wandering and wandering, looking to be satisfied by my own hand.

He came and led me, straight out. 

My heart has sat in the darkness of prison.

On the cold floor in the dark shadows. Irons holding me down in the dust.

Working hard, stumbling hard, to prove my own way.

He came and led me, chain free into the light.

My heart has been a crazy fool, partying it up on the street.

Starving to look good. Taking the pain for beauty sake.

Left alone to waste in my choices.

He came and led me, with daily bread and a stripped back.

My heart has sailed away to success and fame.

Climbing the ladders, receiving high praises. Feeling the thrill of something from nothing.

It crashed hard, No resources were left. Here today, gone tomorrow.

He came and led me, balanced  into the desired place.

Through it all Love is steady...even when I let go... Love, failed me not. 

"Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distress."

Psalm 107: 6,13, 19, and 28

"Let them thank the LORD for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man."

Psalm 107:8,15,21, and 31

Where is my heart today I must ask...

I will cry...

He will deliver...

I will give thanks...

His steadfast love fails me not.

Believe and Know

It is not enough to just believe in God.

I must know Him.

So much pain is all around. I have friends swelling with the uncomfortable blessings of child bearing, I have women in my circles with children needing restraint and education, I have sick family members, churches with bills to be paid, Christmas lists left unchecked because of the lack of resources, depressed loved ones, there are children dying, marriages suffering, older people are left alone for days, teenagers confused, and the eyes I see in the grocery are angry and hurting.

But a "God bless you!"
It stirs people. Even the Word says that He puts a longing for himself in the hearts of man.
Many have worked SO hard to rid our institutions, our communities, our homes, and our minds of God, but, let's be real...It has been work. It is so easy to prove God, but to disprove Him. That is work.

My child asked today how our bodies makes blood.
We talk about our heart pumping blood, but we don't think too much about our body producing it. And then to cover the topic of being formed in your mother's womb and having a blood type different from your mother... What a beautiful miracle.

He is so real.

I hope if you read this you will hear me. Don't let yourself for a moment lose out on the freedom in this life by just believing that God is real.
Commit to knowing Him.

"God is not a belief by which you give your assent. God becomes a reality whom you know intimatly, meet everyday, one whose strength is your strength, whose love, your love. Live this life in the presence of God long enough and when someone asks, 'Do you believe in God?' you may find yourself answering, 'No, I do not believe there is a God, I know there is a God.'"
-Earnest Boyer, Jr.