Decision

Choose Joy
Choose Life
Choose Love
Choose Right
Choose Peace
Choose Light
Choose Hope
To God’s Delight
When in repentance faith you choose
Life saving grace belongs to you
And in your heart you’ll know the truth
By His sacrifice he first chose you

Lost and Found

Have you ever given up a dream
Released it like balloons on a string
And watched it slowly float away
Beyond your reach your hopes betrayed

And wondered why it could not be
The fulfillment of your destiny
As the vision only you could see
Became clouded by reality

So in regret you mourned the loss
And imagined what you thought it cost
The hope you had, exchanged for doubt
Not knowing it was all about

An open door to what could be
When if by faith you’d just believe
God knows your thoughts, your hopes and dreams
And if you seek Him you will see

Beyond imaginations view
Into His perfect plans for you

The Lights In Her Eyes

 

The anniversaries of two events that changed my life forever happened between November 23^rd and Christmas of the same year.  My daughter was born the day before Thanksgiving and not quite three weeks later my husband, her father, passed away in a tragic accident. 

I don’t really remember much about the 6 or 7 days following the accident except my wonderful family dropping everything to be at my side for the memorial service.  I didn’t want to travel with the baby so my best friend flew out to stay with me and my sisters and Mom returned to celebrate the holiday with their young children.  Christmas Eve night came and went with the presents still wrapped and under the tree. Christmas night promised to be just as uneventful but as we sat in the living room talking, the Christmas tree and window lights suddenly popped on.  They were on a timer and someone else must have been turning them off for me each night because I never even saw them.  My friend jumped up to turn them off but I told her to stop when I saw my daughter smiling and looking at the tree.  The lights reflected in her wondering eyes and just for a moment it was Christmas.

We have come a long way since then and this season always brings with it, the memories, both joyous and sorrowful.   We will be celebrating her birthday on Thanksgiving Day this year and, as always, I will thank God for her and all He has brought us through.


Happy Birthday, My Girl.  May God always give you something to wonder at that will bring a light to your eyes and smile to your face even through the hardest times.

Songs From A Grateful Heart

If I sing How Great Thou Art
While waves of doubt flow through my heart

Or sing about Amazing Grace
But in the mirror my shame I face

Or if I have no words to say
But only tears come when I pray

Or passing through the fires of fear
I run instead of drawing near

Your gentle spirit deep within
Reminds me of forgiven sins

And a new life that’s begun
Because you freely gave your Son

I know that I can rest in You
And find my peace in hope renewed

If on your promises I’ll stand
And come to you Just As I Am

Room at the Table

Divorced was not something that I had ever imagined being and the aftermath not something I would ever have expected.  The pain of rejection, failure and guilt mixed with the feeling of somehow being out of place and time, took my breath away.

 I had a good friend that I could cry to but who never let me give up. She kept reminding me that God would always be there for me.  I knew it was true but it just didn’t seem as real as the pain.  One day I was suddenly overwhelmed by the smallest thing.  I wanted my children to come to dinner at my new apartment but I didn’t have enough plates.  It touched off a flood of emotions and I found myself at my friend’s kitchen table sobbing once again.  I couldn’t even explain why. 

 After I pulled myself together we took a walk and stopped at a garage sale.  I only had $2.00 in cash on me so I wasn’t really expecting to buy anything.  I noticed a cardboard box under a table that was marked “$1.50 for all”.  I pulled it out and opened it.  My friend thought there was a spider in it because I let out a little yelp.  It was a box of dishes but not just any dishes.  They were exactly like mine.  If I had won the lottery that day it would not have meant as much to me as that box of dishes.  The pain wasn’t about needing the dishes but about needing to know that I was loved and not alone and someone understood my deepest fears and emotions.  He really was and would always be there for me.

 Whenever I use those dishes I think about the comforting words of the 23^rd Psalm and the verses that say that “He prepares a table before me…..  He is a loving God that longs to comfort and provide for us in the midst of our deepest sorrows.  We have a standing invitation and there’s always room at the table.

Only Human

We work to meet your every need

And build your faith each day
When life is hard and things go wrong
We sometimes lose our way

We know our weakness shakes your world
That’s why we try to hide it
It’s often just beneath the surface
Though our smiles deny it

To never dim your faith with doubt
Because we fail to trust Him
We put our best faith forward
Thinking it’s a fight we must win

His word reveals the battle’s His
And we can just let go
He understands our fears for you
And teaches us to know

That In our weakness He is strong
His love for you is true
He holds each teardrop in His hands
Because sometimes Mom’s cry too

57 Reasons I Can't Quit Now

No Regrets
You Wanna Bet
Just wait til you turn fifty
Through everything you’ve ever done
You suddenly start sifting

Counting failures, broken dreams
And things I could have done
Excuses, blame and rational
For me the battle had begun

The past was not my enemy
And failure not my foe
My fears would cause my sure defeat
If I could not let go

Fear there was no time to start
Or no time to finish
That the passions in my heart
Just could not be replenished

The past has been defeated by
The knowledge that God’s near
And when I give them all to Him
His perfect love casts out my fears

Now anything is possible
My hopes deferred set free
I can’t go back I can’t remain
The future holds my victory

For Boston

What do you write when there are no words

When you long for the sorrow in your heart to be heard

What do you say to those in pain

When only their broken hearts remain

Will they hear that the hope they’ve lost is not far

If they fall into Your loving arms

Or will bitterness and hate increase

The power of this evil deed

In helplessness I’m on my knees

Only You can meet their needs

Please take my prayer to Your heart

And with all others offered, start

To heal and comfort, protect and keep

Them close to You in perfect peace

How Many Times

How many hopes will come and go

How many times will the world say no

How many places will fail to be

The home that only my heart can see

How many people will turn away

How many dreams will end today

How many trials will come and go

Before I find my rest in hope

How many times can I forget

How many needs that You have met

How many times can I run to You

And ask forgiveness when I do

How many times can I seek you Lord

How many times find truth in Your Word

How many times feel You close to me

Knowing that You will never leave

How many stripes did He take for me

How many sins would You have seen

How many ways to eternal peace

If Jesus had never died for me

How many times will these questions be

Answered with Your Love for me

Seven times Seven through eternity

Grace sufficient for all my needs

How many times can I praise your name

My all in all, my everything

The Ties That Bind

They say there is a tie that binds
Beyond all distance and all time
Weaving through our hearts and minds
Keeping love through pain that blinds


When choices separate our lives
When hopes and dreams aren’t realized
When truth is lost to desperate lies
And faith becomes a hopeless cry


The ties can fray and even break
They cannot stand beneath the weight
Unless three strands are used to make
A cord unbreakable joined by faith


Through anger, bitterness and fear
The comforts of His strength appear
To heal our hearts and draw us near
Bound by His faithful love so dear