Soy Beautiful

This is my personal challenge for men to look beyond the outward and towards what is in the heart of a woman.   The greatest gift a woman can give to a man is her love, but men seldom dig beyond the layers built up by time and, sadly, past experiences. But  the man that perseveres has won a thing of value indeed.

You require my hair be perfectly groomed

And my attire be perfectly styled

That my scent be a pleasing perfume

In order to find me worthwile

But what of the things that are stored deep in my heart

The smiles reserved for times of delight?

The treasures I choose to reveal and impart

Unveiled from obscurity to shine wonderfully bright?

These are the things that make up my being

And are far greater than outwardly show

The things that require more than just seeing

But searching and digging for invaluable treasures below.

You ask that I shine bright by your side

And envy and pride to your attention I bring

I ask for something far reaching and wide

I ask for the heart of a king.

If your heart is noble and true

And my true beauty your attention enthralls

Then I give my permission to woo

And in return I promise to give you my all.

A Lament

Awakening to find not all is lost

That life, that love while dreamt in innocence 

Still can burn bright and hope outweighs the cost

Of somber broken yesterdays' offence

Take off the garbs of death and cold decay

That hinder and impede life to the full

Put on the robes of promise to display

Tomorrows dreams, obtained for once and all.

Sing out! For comfort comes to those that mourn

And blessed be those who are pure in heart

True joys to recompense and to adorn

With treasures firm that do not fall apart.

So grieve and mourn but not for wasted breath

But bid farewell to all that does oppress.

Pearls of Wisdom

God speaks to us in many ways. Yes, it is true. We all have the capacity to hear, we just need to tune in.  Lately, I have been feeling that God is challenging me in one area: faith.  What is faith? Do I have faith? If not, how do I acquire it?  The dictionary definition of faith is as follows: the complete trust or confidence in someone or something.  Based on this, and stripped of all pretense, I can honestly say that I do not have faith.  Oh, I believe, but I don't live my life with complete trust and confidence in God. So what to do? Hebrews 11 describes faith in this way, " Now faith is the confidence of what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) I've heard this verse many times but I have just caught on to something new. Do you know what precedes faith? Hope.  Hope is the beginning of faith.  Hope says it can happen. Faith says it will happen. Years ago, God showed me that he was going to teach me to trust. I was uncertain about this. I always thought that you either have trust for someone or you don't.  How can you possibly learn trust? Well he told me how. With the moving of a little pinky. Then the moving of all the fingers which leads to the moving of the hand. Then the moving of the elbow, which leads to the moving of the entire arm. Pretty soon my whole body would move in trust. The same with faith.  And it all begins with how I think. If I have hope, my thinking would be more positive. And the more positive thinking I have the more positive energy I put out. This in turn results in positive outcome. Now, Jesus said if we had faith like that of a mustard seed, we would be able to move mountains. I want that. I want the kind of faith that can heal the sick and  set people free.

Now allow me to tell you a story about an earring.  I have a favorite pair of earrings and I love them. I always do a check throughout the day to make sure they are still secure in my ear.  You see, I have a tendency to lose an earring. Never both always just one.  Well today I lost my earring at work. My favorite pair. I retraced my steps I shook my hair out, I did a little jiggle to make sure it wasn't caught on my clothing. Nothing.  But I decided to do a little experiment.  I decided to envision myself finding my earring and rejoicing when I did.  Again I retraced my steps and shook my hair and did a little jiggle. Nothing. A couple of hours pass by and as I was leaving the department for a bathroom break, I started thinking on one of the parables of Jesus. Specifically the one in which he likened the kingdom of heaven to a man who found a great treasure and rejoiced over his find. In my mind I was thinking this treasure was a lone pearl. Well for whatever reason I readjusted my jacket and what should pop to the ground? My earring. I did indeed rejoice. Not just for finding that which was lost, but for finding my treasure,my faith. Perhaps it is not to the stage where I can move mountains, but it is greater than it was this morning. Who knows what possibilities lie within tomorrow?

Grace Abounds

If Grace would shine its blessed light on me

And all the treasures from my soul expose

Then trial and tribulation would not be

A source of sorrow but of sweet repose.

And joy eternal to my calming heart

Whose yieldings to the mercies from above

Would drive out apprehension and impart

The victory in life decreed by Love

But Grace and Love and Mercy do abound

To reach the furthest corners of my soul.

I have the promise of the solid ground

To which I stand, endure and am made whole.

Let hope prevail, and darkness turn to light.

To run the race and do away with night.

SIGNS

Compose

Isaiah 7:11

New International Version (NIV)

 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

God has placed it in my heart to fast.  Now, I have fasted in the past but without very much success. It is different this time. This time I know that it is time. My heart is ready for it. I have chosen to follow the Daniel Fast (more on that later).I hope to be able to share some of the things God reveals to me with you. Which leads me to this posting. I have chosen to make Isaiah the book of my fast and have already started reading it.    I have yet to begin my fast but God has chosen to speak already.  Upon reading Isaiah 7:11, I felt that God was speaking that verse directly to me. Ask me for a sign, for something only I can accomplish. Now, there are some people who know exactly what to ask for. I am not such a person. I simply am not in tune with my heart enough to know what to ask for. At first. Thinking on what this journey would look like, I knew it would be a time of mourning and sacrife. But does it have to be? Then it hit me. Joy. Let joy be my sign. Why not? It is the complete opposite of what I am expecting, after all.  We shall see. Now the next

question is,  "A sign for what?"  That I do not know. Yet.

The Treasure Chest

At first you used it properly.

It was the storehouse for dreams and vision.

Innocence lay undisturbed, unaware of the shadows creeping at the edges.

But then life happened.

Mercilessly modifying it from treasury to vault,

A locked box.

The dreams were smothered beneath a cobweb of dejection,

Desperate for release,

For light.

And stacked beneath the cares and worries of the world

They lay forgotten,

 A memory of a lifetime ago.

The chest grew rusty and aged from lack of use,

Its once radiant exterior growing dull.

 Its true intent fading into the furthest corners of the mind.

Yet desire echoed out her voice,

Begging to be heard,

To be remembered.

And the locks wrapped round the box were loosed,

Unveiling the intention, the purpose.

Original design too powerful to destroy