Saturday, June 25, 2011

A June Song

Oh, how my Father sings to my soul!
I have so much to learn, yet He lovingly portions His lyrics 
to fit the symphony of my understanding.
I listen to the crescendo of the Holy Spirit's leading.
The music is deafening to my surroundings.
Distractions know not the chorus, yet my soul leans towards the music.

I close my eyes...


...and hum...






"Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts." Colossians 3:16


Until next time,
The Carpenter's Daughter

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Breathe

Fear is a coward.

It crouches in the corners of Uncertainty.
It only knows fragile places,

and takes advantage of the softness therein. In doing so, it creates hardness. It breaks your knees; bones growing back stronger, only to be broken once more. You set your jaw in defiance, because Fear will no longer dominate...

...you swear it.

Then you fall again. This is where Despair ruins your footing. You can feel it pounding on your chest. It screams emptiness into Soul's cavern. You hear the echos. They bounce off the walls of Uncertainty.




But there is a Wind.

It winds its way through the crevices. You cannot breathe at first, but then you know...

...this is the first time you have breathed in a very long time. Maybe the first time ever.

Holy Spirit.

 You pant. You long. This is where the dry places are filled. This where you will find the strength to stand up, because...

...you are held by the Wind.


Everything beats on the door of your soul. Fear cowers, Despair screams, Uncertainty looks you square in the eye, but you hold your footing.

You are held.

Enveloped.

Breathe.

Breath upon breath...


Breathe.

There is singing on the other side of this. There is laughter. There will be joy in such abundance, that  Fear's storm will be stilled. It will only feel emptiness, because it's grip has been loosed. It will know total abandonment.


The Comforter has come.

You are not orphaned to Uncertainty.

You can breathe in the storm.
 


Until next time,
The Carpenter's Daughter

The Message
The Spirit of Truth
"If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you. I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!  "I will not leave you orphaned. I'm coming back. In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you're going to see me because I am alive and you're about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I'm in my Father, and you're in me, and I'm in you." John 14:16-18


"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will"
Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)

"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."
John 14:16-18 (KJV)

Monday, June 20, 2011

I Wonder...

He sits on the porch, hammering away. Nails, clumsily digging their way into the heart of the wood.

"Look, Mom. I did this without nailing my hands, or my feet!"


I wonder...

Did Mary hear those words? Did she hear six-year-old Jesus say the very words that I just heard? Did she shudder to think that nails would scar those precious hands and feet? What would she have said to her little guy, hunched proudly over his project...

...working just like his earthly dad?

Beaming with pride, and innocence.

Did she look into his eyes and say, "Good job, Buddy!"

Did she tear up, or hold her eyes steady...

...reassuring.

This mom wonders...



Thank you, Daddy, for taking those nails for me. I never have to wonder where my security is fastened.

Instead,

I wonder...

...in the majesty of Your GRACE.


Luke 2:19
"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."


Isaiah 53:5
"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."

Until Next Time,

The Carpenter's Daughter