The Secret of His Presence

My thoughts this week

have been filled with eternity.

 A dear friend just left this earth,

and now there is a void in my heart

and in the hearts of all who loved her.


Are you missing someone dear?

Can we face sorrow together?

I Miss You

Your death leaves a hole

You have found the secret place

But my heart still burns

 --Bettie Gilbert

And while my heart still grieves,
there is a hope that goes deeper
than any pain could touch,
A waiting for the time 
our paths will connect again.

My dear one is at the feet of Jesus
Her pain no longer consumes
Her soul has found relief
And her body is set free.



Heaven of Love

The secret of God

Rests in His Heaven of Love

My soul burns to go 

--Bettie Gilbert 



I pray you find the comfort that Jesus brings
Sharing in our sorrows
And bearing all our grief. 

These poems are offered as part of the #Haiku #Poetry Challenge

placed by Ronovan Hester over at his site: Ronovan Writes 

where the prompts this week are "Secret&Burn." Find other great Haiku when you click over to his site.

I am linking today with:

Meg Weyerbacher, #TeaAndWordTuesday 

Jennifer Dukes Lee, #TellHisStory 

  

 

 

 

A Lasting Inheritance

Today would have been my Father's 95th Birthday.

Already, he's been gone to Heaven for 20 years,

and my Mother joined him there 7 years ago.

There are days still, when it feels like I could  

 pick up the phone

and hear their voices

checking in on my day, and my home here.

But their HOME has become so much more

than I can now realize,

FOREVER in the presence of Jesus.

Just one year before he left us, my Dad and my Mom

celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.

They renewed their vows, and we celebrated with them

a love that had stood the test of time.

I longed to give them a meaningful gift,

and finally knew what it would be when I heard this Michael Card song, popular in the '90's.

I hand-lettered the lyrics and framed it specially,

and cried as I let the words sink deep into my heart:

(Thank you, Joy Lenton, for your wonderful post about Advent and Home
over at the Godspace Community that stirred my remembering this week.)


But as this current Season of Transition continues
to bring thoughts of transformation and growth
to my mind,
the looking-back that came through that song
has brought an amazing touch of 
FREEDOM
to my life.

If you had looked at my life as it related to my Mother, 
and if you had known me during any of those years,
you would have seen that ANXIETY
was ingrained,
and WORRY attached itself
to any and every conversation
held with her.

I carried a hidden shame, knowing that
I was required to be the peace-giver
to still those worries,
and take care of the issues
that held her heart in fear.

I carried a hidden shame, knowing that
I could be passing along those 
same weights of anxiety
to my own children.


But just as surely as God uncovers the hidden weaknesses,
He will bring the healing that is needed for
those broken places to be made whole.
And when I read the Bible Verse
given to me today for my daily verse,
my heart leaped in HOPE
because it was the very verse given to me
as I began the journey to pray for those
generational chains
to be broken:


  "Instead of your shame

    you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
    you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
    and everlasting joy will be yours"

Isaiah 61:7 NIV 


Today, my Dad's Birthday,
Today, the day I start physical therapy 
for yet another painful area,
Today is the day I can see the double portion
given to me:

A lasting inheritance to rejoice in!
My Mother and Father are free
in their FOREVER HOME,
and I have been blessed with the 
EVERLASTING JOY
of 
JESUS LIVING IN ME.

My parents gave me the Gift of Jesus,
and 
He brings everything
that I could possibly need:
every healing and
every freedom,
These are my Inheritance.

Can you still your thoughts
and 
ease your burdens down
and 
listen along with me?

What if we could see
during this time of Advent,
and preparing for Christmas,
that HE who came to dwell with us,
is really our 
HOME,
our INHERITANCE,
far more costly and pure
than anything else
handed down through the generations?


Home by Michael Card

"Home is a comfort and home is a light
A place to leave the darkness outside
Home is a peaceful and ever full feeling
A place where the soul safely hides

And being at home should remind you that still
There's a place that's prepared just for you
And I think that my home is just heaven's reflection
As long as my home is here with you

Home is where someone is waiting and loving
And happy to see you again
That half of your heart that somebody else treasures
The one who's your forever friend

But it seems that He's told me, the life that He's shown me
Is a life mostly spent on the road
But when the world's empty charm has done all of its harm
I know that His love waits for me in your arms

'cause home is a comfort and home is a light
A place to leave the darkness outside
Home is a peaceful and ever full feeling
A place where a soul safely hides

And being at home should remind you that still
There's a place that's prepared just for you
And I think that my home is just heaven's reflection
As long as my home is here with you" 



I am linking this week over at these great sites:
#TellHisStory, Jennifer Dukes Lee 
#TeaAndWordTuesday, Meg Weyerbacher 
#LiveFreeThursday Suzie Eller