Rock Higher than I

Sep23

There’s times when life’s burdens,
Feel like dozens of boulders on our souls,
We keep praying, we keep believing,
We reach stretched out on our tippy toes.
Regardless of how tall the mountain,
How steep or impassable the road,
There is a God we must cling too,
Our God is capable of toting any load.
Let me reach for Him in the morning,
This Rock, stronger, higher, more righteous than I,
Let me cling to the Rock all afternoon,
Long past the sun sinking in the sky.
For Jesus is my Rock Everlasting,
My Rock, larger, better, more true than I,
Lift me to to the Rock of Salvation,
So I may build my life on the Rock, bigger than I.
dfav 9/23/16

—Donna

Cottage By-the-Sea #16, 9/16/16

Sep16

Abba Father,
You know the hairs upon my head,
The number of days confined to bed,
You know every word I ever read,
The good and ugly of what I’ve said.
Even if I wanted escape from You,
Couldn’t forget what You say and do.
Yet I blow it all at times beyond belief,
An anger burning deep with no relief.
My mind sidetracked with destructive thoughts,
Pouting hasn’t given the release I’ve sought.
This world only had one spark,
Jesus Himself the light in the dark.
Having now seen man out-of-control,
Sends me running back to Christ’s fold.
Lord, help me please not to lazily sin,
To allow Satan such an easy win.
Even if some wounds are hurt and raw,
Forgiving then forgetting is the call.
Until then when I reach Your side,
May I one day have nothing to hide.
Amen -dfav 9/15/16

—Donna

Ugly Coming Out

Aug24

Woke up this morning,

Tired and in pain.

Sometimes this all,

Drives me insane.

Tried working through it,

Prayers to keep my cool,

Patience and persistence,

Get my teen off to school.

One by one it unravels,

Tears now burn in my eyes,

When is enough enough?

I’m screaming inside.

Am I merely existing?

Would you call this a life?

Every moment I fight for,

Wrapped up in strife.

Please, refrain from a platitude,

Don’t drum up a line,

Let me be where I am,

Even if I should whine.

What’s it like to be me,

I get you can’t understand it,

Just give me the courtesy,

Of trying a little bit.

Can’t do more right now,

The pain calls me to sleep,

Thank God He’s my Shepherd

And I one of His sheep.

dfav 8/24/168

—Donna

Won’t Matter?

Aug23

Don’t think I understand,

All I feel, what I hold in my hands,

Dare I to dream if my life’s soon to end?

Why bother to get better, is it a sin?

Does anyone have answers?

I’ve questions, that’s for sure,

Why is this happening to me?

I’ve no idea anymore.

As tough as this is I admit,

I want to go, You won’t set me free.

There’s always this hope,

You gave Yourself for me.

Quiet my thundering heart if You will,

Clear away the blinding cloud cover

Let me know the simple truth,

Maybe it won’t matter when this life is over.

If I knew there’s a reason,

But, all I do is lay here and rot,

I can’t see it, not any more,

Is my future ended with these dots?

dfav 8/23/16

—Donna

The Gospel via the Arts

Nov9

See the Dancer,
Upon the stage?
She is Ruth,
Waiting for Boaz,
Their story live,
From Bible page.

Hear the music,
Rainbow bursts,
Against the sky.
He’s the Musician,
Bringing notes,
To color first.

Watch the writer,
Fingers fly,
Characters live,
Inside her head,
Redemption sought,
For sins gone bye.

Observe the artist,
On the beach,
To capture the Divine.
Two sets of footprints,
In the sand,
God within reach.

Listen well,
The Poet’s lines,
Explain salvation,
How one believes,
Without altering,
Truth thru time.

Pay close attention,
Preacher’s sermon,
Heed his words,
God’s provision,
Gospel shared,
Disciple learnin’.

Pay heed to actors,
Screen or stage,
Who share stories,
In theatrical ways,
And all who work,
To bring life to page.

Different methods,
More different still,
What reaches one,
Doesn’t another,
Let Truth be told,
It has God’s seal.
dfav 11/08/15
—Donna

How Great It Is (Reflection on Deut. 4:7)

Sep15

Naive or misguided?
Misled or conned?
When was freedom,
Ever easily won?

One war or two?
Revolution or world?
We believed then.
God willing, we’d win.

The Israelites prayed,
God, set us free.
And He heard them,
Freed’em from misery.

Before them God went,
Cloud and fire,
They panicked, gave up,
Demanded an idol.

Reminds me of the USA,
Lost in a wasteland,
Unsure who we are,
Risked enough, gone to far?

The world’s looking now,
What will we do,
Put our head in the sand,
Bow our heads, fold our hands?

Deuteronomy 4:7 tells Israel,
They were blessed to have,
A God who was near them,
When they prayed to Him.

Couldn’t that be the US again,
If we humble ourselves and,
Truly pray to Him?
Can we be humble again?

73% of American’s say,
They are Christians but,
Biblical truth in laws,
Aren’t reflected at all.

Let me encourage you,
Who write and craft,
To give witness for God,
Create truth on His sod.

Genesis says He made,
Adam in his image,
So our creativity call,
Comes from the God of us all.

Now is our time,
To help reignite America,
First to much praying,
Then to much working.

Encourage wrongs righted,
And laws rightly fixed,
Our leaders to lead well,
The truth always tell.

Our God will be near us,
He’ll be part of our hearts,
Let’s turn America’s direction,
Work for everyone’s salvation.

Can we be again,
An example of God’s blessings?
I commit to praying we can,
Will you pray with me we can?
dfav 9/15/15
–Donna

A Lot of Questions Prayer

Aug14

Why is offending someone so easy?
Hurting someone as common as a sneeze?
Saying “I’m sorry” such a difficult thing?
The slightest hurt so offending?
When did raising self-centered children become okay?
When did God start owing us only great days?
When did violence solve every problem?
Rioting become the way to further resolve’em?
How can we look at nature and deny there’s a God?
When did man create life from sod?
When did we speak a universe into existence?
Create everything from nothing without any resistence?
Why is following God said to be a crutch?
But, consulting a psychic; not so much?
When did outward beauty become the “for all”?
While inward beauty counts little, if at all?
When did my prayers become one question after another?
Marriage not solely between a father and mother?
When did God’s Word become pick and choose?
When did that become a win not a lose?
Lord God, can you hear my prayer?
Oh Holy God help us out down here?
Please.
Love,
—Donna

Look to the Fields

Jul29

Photo by Martha Gaston Taylor. Used by permission. Photographer retains all rights public and private. Blogger used PhotoGrid to collage photos and add text.

Look to the fields!
Nearly ripe for harvest.
Look to the fields!
A harvest of fruit awaits.
Look to the harvest!
A bounty awaits there.
Look to the fields!
Prepare to get up & go.

Work joyfully in the fields!
The soul fruit is ripening.
Work joyfully in the fields!
Hearts are ready to sweeten.
Work joyfully in the fields!
Souls awaken for harvesting.
Work joyfully in the fields!
The harvest is waiting right there.

Harvest! Bring in the harvest!
Pluck them one at a time.
Harvest! Bring in the harvest!
Row after row to be saved.
Harvest! Bring in the harvest!
Bring all who believe.
Harvest! Bring in the harvest!
Now why you’ve got the time.
d.f.a.v. 7/28/15
—Donna

A Prayer When the Tears Come

Jun19

O Abba Father,

Nine people died in a Charleston church,
One man pulled the trigger, caused this hurt,
But something tells me we’ve not realized,
Hate kills more than the taking of lives.
It steals the soul,
One bite at a time,
It turns good, evil,
Hate takes control,
Overwhelming good.

How far the bottles of our tears must go,
Our ignorance turned arrogance You must know.
Man’s evilness is overwhelming,
It’s as if we’re over here cheering,
          Push the envelope,
          Test the water
          Grab the fruit!
           Just a nibble!
          Grab the fruit!

Every place that man might be.
I wonder in my sorrow why we don’t see.
Sinful blindness doesn’t excuse our behavior?
Our selective hearing shames You our Savior.
          You won’t die.
          God doesn’t care.
          You can’t pray here,
          You can’t pray there!
          Christian? Not anywhere.

God, You haven’t died, You are alive,
Your presence hasn’t taken a nosedive,
We’ve shut You out without a doubt,
Mockery comes because without
Your God has failed!
Your God is gone!
Or is He asleep?
Your God don’t care,
Your God don’t care.

Then in some way I can’t explain
I feel Your presence, You call my name
As long as I can trust in You,
We’ll be alright, make it through.
           Hang in my children
          Trust me to provide
           Don’t give up your hope!
          Don’t throw away your vote!
          Hang on my children, hang on!
                  d.f.a.v. 6/18/2015
—-Donna

One Day

May5

One day,
When I have time, I will—
Learn to totally enjoy cooking,
With fresh herbs, vegetables, fruits,
And all those unusual foods I see at the grocers.
Now I’ve watched enough Food Network,
I’m overwhelmed with urgency to fulfill this dream.
But, I can’t.
I didn’t count on one day being consumed by disease.

One day,
When there’s no time clock to punch—
I’ll let the creative, artistic side of me,
Rule my days and nights.
I’ll draw and paint and create as the mood strikes,
With no thought to the clock or calendar,
Or paint stains on my hands and clothes.
But, I can’t.
I never counted on my body giving out like this.

One day,
When I won’t have a “to do” list of must-be-done’s—
The Bible will be easier to sit and absorb,
Every day I can give it my complete attention.
Stop to see what the original language meant,
Understand who was who beyond the Bible’s pages,
The day-to-day of when it was written.
Only now I can’t—
Medication has muddied up my mind.

One day,
We dreamed of traveling—
A cruise to Alaska and on a Disney ship.
We’d go across country in an R.V.
See plays on Broadway and visit D.C.
My hubby and I would be grandparents together,
Embarrass our daughter renewing our vows after 50 years.
Only one day is lost—
Because I won’t live that long.

Today,
I look back and understand —
That time doesn’t wait for us,
It passes whether we use it wisely now or waste it.
But, I took care of eternal business,
God and I know where my eternal home is.
I have loved my family as best I could.
My one day—
Is the one in which I pen this, and I am still alive.
d.f.a.v. 5/3/15
—Donna

fvbf

Christian poetry & essays about one woman's faith walk.

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