I have been waiting all winter for these days. The time when the ice on the lake in our little town begins its receding has come early this year. What a beautiful day to stand in the sun warmth and see the ice actually melting!
Has God been waiting and watching me, preparing the way for that same ice melt in my heart?
Ice Leaves
The heat of the sun
Brings ice sweat melting winter
My heart warms also
--Bettie Gilbert
In the winter of my soul, I find in the hardness a place of false rest. If only I didn't have to look at the tender places, where hurt and healing rest side-by-side, maybe I would be able to ignore the process that seems to take far too long for my own wishing.
But the process requires a scorching and a melting to clear away the dross and the chaff that has accumulated in my soul.
Heat Burns
Don't sweat the small stuff
Watch as heat burns daily chaff
Purifies my heart
--Bettie Gilbert
Through the life-long days of
whatever Season you find yourself,
there is ONE who sees your heart.
He will never
leave you abandoned
scratching to find your own way.
He waits for the ice to melt
and for the heat to soften our hearts
touching us there
with His Love.
And He says,
"I cared for you in the wilderness,
in the land of burning heat."
Hosea 13:5 NIV
These poems are part of the challenge for Ronovan Hester's #Haiku #Poetry where the prompts for this week are "Sweat&heat" over at his site: Ronovan Writes. Check out some of the wonderful offerings there this week.
I am also linking today with these great bloggers:
Meg Weyerbacher, #TeaAndWordTuesday
Jennifer Dukes Lee, #TellHisStory
These poems are part of the challenge for Ronovan Hester's #Haiku #Poetry where the prompts for this week are "Sweat&heat" over at his site: Ronovan Writes. Check out some of the wonderful offerings there this week.
I am also linking today with these great bloggers:
Meg Weyerbacher, #TeaAndWordTuesday
Jennifer Dukes Lee, #TellHisStory
Your Haiku's are great! Lots of hardness in my heart too. So glad God can come in and change it!
ReplyDelete#TeaandWordTuesday
Hi Julie, Glad to be your neighbor over at #TeaAndWord today! Yes, isn't our God amazing the way that He steps right in and brings His Beauty? --Blessings!
DeleteI agree with Julie Loos. God is so awesome!
ReplyDeleteHi Kimberly, I appreciate your visiting here so much! Our God truly is so awesome! May you be blessed today, my friend!
DeleteWarmed by your words, Bettie. Here in icey Maine with our weeks and weeks of winter yet, it's good to celebrate the God who sends the snow from His store house, but also reminds the trees to bud in their season!
ReplyDeleteDear Michele,
DeleteYes, this is surely a different year for us here in Wisconsin! We are usually buried under snow still also, so I feel for you in your deep snow cover there. I am so thankful that our God has set the Seasons in place, and His Timing is best, however late or early it might feel to us! Although those trees and their buds are a very welcome sight, when they do come! --Blessings to you!
Bettie, I truly like your haiku.What a great reminded that God can and does melt our icy hearts and warms them with His love and care. The Hosea scripture passage goes so well with your words. Thanks for your encouragement tonight. Blessings to you, dear sister/poet/friend! xoxo
ReplyDeleteDear Gayl, Your encouragement means so much to me, my poet/sister/friend! I am so amazed at the ways that God is speaking to me as I join in with these poetry challenges. And I am so thankful that God finds such creative ways to melt our hearts, and to show us how He cares for us. Many blessings and hugs to you too! xoxo
DeleteBeautiful, touching words, sweet friend. Sending you love and hugs!
ReplyDeleteThank you Cheryl! I am always blessed when you stop by with your encouraging words! Love and Hugs to you too!
DeleteHi Bettie,
ReplyDeleteI love those words from the verses in Hosea! Melting takes a little time, doesn't it, to get to what's underneath it -- whether it's the ground under the ice or our hearts :) and that slow process always God's work to develop and bloom in a warmer season of our souls. Love your words here! xoxo
Hi Valerie,
DeleteYes, isn't that a wonderful and comforting verse? Especially during the waiting time, when the melting becomes a slow process! I am looking forward to those warmer blooming seasons, too! Thank you for your encouragement, Dear Friend! Blessings and Hugs to you! xoxo
Thank you for this beautiful offering today. I love your haikus and have also read Gayl's. What a treat. The words from Hosea really fill my soul today. Knowing God sees me, loves me and will never abandons me speaks to me. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteI am grateful that you were blessed here. I have become so thankful for the way God uses this simple form of poetry! Isn't it fun to read all of the different varieties? He has such a beautiful way of letting us know that He is with us, and that we are not abandoned! Blessings to you also!
DeleteWhat a good reminder about how we have to wait for the ice to melt. Speaks right to a situation I was trying to control. God is the only one in control and I need to trust in Him and wait in His timing.
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda,
DeleteThank you for stopping by! I sure appreciate the thoughts that you bring of waiting for the ice to melt in a situation. It is so tempting to think that we can control it or hurry it up, isn't it? I will be praying for you, even as I ask God to help me, to find the trust that comes in waiting on Him. --Blessings to you!
I love your haikus and your other poetic musings, Bettie. I especially love the "Ice Leaves" haiku. It so warms my heart to see the snow melting and it getting closer to Spring, but I also think of how the Sunshine of God's love melts the ice in our hearts. Thank you for this encouragement. We had a beautiful day of 69 degrees here in SD yesterday, but tomorrow and Friday we're in a Blizzard Watch and a possibility of up to 12 inches or more of snow. Oh, how I long for Spring, but I so appreciated yesterday. How nice that you have a lake in your town. Do you live next to it or nearby? Love and hugs to you!
ReplyDeleteDear Trudy,
DeleteThank you for your sweet thoughts! I am so blessed that you found warmth in your reading here today. How often I long for more of "the Sunshine of God's Love" that you spoke of. Especially while we wait for spring, right? I know you appreciate these warm days also, so I will sure be praying for you all in the blizzard headed your way! We live nearby to the lake; I am so thankful that I took many walks to go see it, in all kinds of weather, when I was able to. Nowadays, the walks must be from the parking lot, and not through the neighborhoods. But in the winter when the trees are bare, I can just catch a glimpse of the shimmering water from my front deck! I hope you stay warm during these next few days my friend! Love and hugs to you also! xo
I need God to come burn away the impurities in me too, friend. This is beautiful. xoxo
ReplyDeleteDear Meg, Isn't God's Grace so big for us? I am so glad that He knows how to bring out the truest heart in each of us. xoxo
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