I search within my heart, dear friend,

so this is the respect I send you,

that you may know that far or near

my loving thoughts attend you.

I give you this poem

to express to you

that in every single way

God bless you.

God bless you during happy times

and your successes,

for true joy can only come

when He blesses.

God bless you during sad times

and when troubles oppress you,

for sorrow cannot bring you harm

if this is His way to bless you.

God bless you throughout life,

so do not moan and groan,

because He blesses you,

so you are never alone.

His bright light will guide you,

and dark shadows cannot hurt you whatsoever,

because He blesses you,

so you are safe forever.

A Weed

 I am a weed

growing innocently and securely in the ground.

I am unattractive: misshaped, neglected, shunned.

My roots are fragile;

my stem is too short;

my petals are oddly shaped;

my leaves are of a strange colour.

One day so very long ago I entered a special garden

where they accepted weeds and half-breeds

and turned them into roses.

I stood shaking with anticipation.

The roses surrounded and informed me

that if resolution abides in the heart of a weed a rose can be made.

I trembled, a ugly weed among lovely roses,

wondering what I should do and become.

God overshadowed and shared with me

that He accepts and loves me just the way I am,

so I left that special garden with joy and praise in my heart

knowing God accepts and loves me, so I can do the same.

I went back to my home under the sun.

I am a weed.

I will always be a weed.

I am who I am.

Let me be me.

This is our story.

Our most desperate need today is not the accumulation of possessions

or the achievement of worldly successes.

Our basic needs are very few, and it takes little to acquire them.

We can survive on a small amount of bread and water

and inhabit the poorest of shelters.

We always have.

Our real need, our most pressing need, is for someone to listen to us

not as a patient, but as a human soul.

We need to ask someone why were we born? How will we live?

Why will we die? What happens beyond?

Who listens?

God listens, the Listener.

We have only to talk to Him.

Right now. Today. Tomorrow. Forever.

He understands our pleasures, our pains, our joys, our sorrows,

our sins, our crimes, our secrets, our terrors.

He will not turn you away if you are a sinner, the worst of sinners.

He has listened to us.

He will continue to listen.

While He listens we will solve our own problems.

Will he speak to us also?

If we ask Him to.

Will we hear His voice?

If we listen.

God Of The Impossible

Let me know God of the impossible.

With Him all things are possible.

The impossible is possible.

Impossible things do happen,

and with this knowledge I can produce a strong faith.

Cultivate my faith.

Conceive of greater and greater things occurring

because of my faith/.

Ponder bigger and bigger thoughts of faith.

Dream, reach for, and accomplish the impossible dream.

Stretch my mind further and further.

Think deep and far and high and wide.

Pray to God with all my heart, mind and spirit.

I can go as high as my faith, dreams thoughts, and prayers to God.

Break the bonds of my faults, limitations, and weaknesses.

Shatter the confines of the earthbound,

and soar the boundless infinity of heaven.

Go pass the point of no return.

Stretch my faith further and further.

My faith cannot be stretched further than God,

but my faith can stretch me to Him.

Stretch my faith to Him.

Let me know God of the impossible.

In the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

I watch the parade of humanity pass me by.

There, the young girl is working the street corner

to pay for her stupor high.

Down the street

an old bag lady, downcast eyes and gnarled fingers,

pushes her home in a rickety shopping cart.

By the bridge that overlooks the underpass

a distressed woman totters on the very edge of life,

her mind confused and torn by delusions,

cries out in her loneliness,

decides to end her pain.

A thief stalks the store fronts, his heart cold and uncaring.

A down-and-outer, his home a cardboard box,

gives me a toothless scowl.

Deep in the darkness of an alley

a junkie, eyes delirious and arms marked,

plunges the needle into his vein.

These are but a few of the denizens

that inhabit the labyrinth of society,

yet there are more, so very many more.

Who cares for them?

Who listens to them?

Who understands them?

God does.

God cares for, listens to, and understands His children,

and His tears flow into the gutters,

through the highways and byways,

filling the nadirs and zeniths of our cities and towns.

Do we care for them?

Do we listen to them?

Do we understand them?

Do not pass them by.

Peer into their eyes to see their living soul within them.

Acknowledge that we are brothers and sisters in a global family

living in a world community under the rule of God.

Only by the grace of God do we not walk their journeys.

It is part of our nature to criticize and judge,

but before we criticize and judge severely

let us consider that we ourselves are imperfect, have made many mistakes,

have lost the way, and will get lost again.

Take a look inside, and we will look at others differently.

Do not push away with contempt, but reach out with mercy.

Do not crush with clenched fists, but reach out with outstretched hands.

This is what life is all about.

Come along with me,

and we will look at ourselves and others in a different light.

 I continually suffer sorrows,

and some are easier to bear,

yet others are harder to bear,

but still they all weigh me down.

I choose to get back up,

to keep going on,

to honour God, myself, and others,

and everything I value.

It is easy to give up,

to crack, crumble, collapse,

but this is not my Father’s will,

and neither is it mine.

He is always with me

keeping me moving on,

and He is wherever I go

giving me courage, hope, and support.

My Father is proud of me,

He Who knows all sorrows,

for I bear my sorrows as best as I can,

and I carry my cross and follow Him.

I walk to the light to find Him there.

I walk straight through the dark to find Him there.

I walk the only road I know that leads me to Him.

and kneel in faith to touch His garment’s hem.

He sees me coming,

and with outstretched arms and hands He meets me,

and with a look, a whisper, a touch

He comforts my hurting heart.

to go back to the days of yore

what events would we experience again

and what events would we explore?

If we could have a second chance

to go back to the past

what mistakes would we rectify

and what mistakes would we lambaste?

If we could have a second chance

to experience life again

how would we rewrite our life’s stories

to learn better from pleasure and pain?

If we could have a second chance

to start our relationship once more

we would make amends and changes,

and we would always have rapport.

If we could have a second chance

to use the knowledge we have gained

we would be wise at last

according to what God has ordained.

We cannot retrace the steps of the past

that we have already gone through,

but today and tomorrow bring a second chance

for us to try anew.

a wee, naked babe on the threshold.

You grew to become a curious child,

eyes of wonder, pure as gold.

Soon you were in your youth

when you were determined and bold.

You matured into a mighty man,

rough, tough, and self-controlled.

I saw you go out, a staggering man,

a staggering man of old,

to make way for a new, wee, naked babe,

a new, wee, naked babe on a fresh threshold.

A babe follows another babe to welcome a new year.

Farewell to days of old, and greetings to days to unfold.

Time, moving image of eternity.

Sight to behold.

To trust means to have faith in someone.

Let us take our trust and put it into God.

We trust God when have the faith to accept that He sent Jesus Christ to die for us,

so that He could share abundant life with us,

and escort us into His eternity.

We trust God when we receive Jesus Christ as our Friend, Lord, and Saviour.

Let us walk in a manner pleasing to God because of our faith in Him.

Jesus Christ has helped us through our past problems,

And He will help us through our present and future problems too.

When we trust Jesus Christ love, peace, and joy abound.

Whatever our circumstances may be this Christmas and throughout the year

decide to give God the gift of trusting Him.

Receive His gifts of love, peace, and joy that come in trusting Jesus Christ.

Let us share the gifts of His love, peace, and joy

With people in our neighbourhoods and around the world.

God bless you and your family this Christmas and throughout the year.

Trust God and His goodness.

Reach Out And Touch Him

 Jesus Christ was born as a tiny baby cradled in a manger

in a humble stable in Bethlehem,

and that was the start of His effort

to reach out and touch me on my level.

Thirty-three years was the length of His earthly journey.

His journey began in the humble stable,

continued with His holy ministry,

led to a painful cross,

culminated in a open tomb,

and yet still His journey perseveres.

He promises to be with me on earth and in heaven,

so my Saviour is by my side always, forever

reaching out to me

as I struggle to overcome fear born of sin.

Because of my Father’s grace

He gives me mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation,

but He offers these gifts to you, too.

He stretches out His hands to you and me

to offer the grace of our Father who loves us.

He yearns to reach out and touch you on your level.

so you and I can reach out and touch Him, too.

with high waves that surge upon my soul,

pound upon my mind with furious force,

and urges my body to shake and roll.

But God is mightier than the waves of the sea,

for he reigns and controls,

and he keeps me from sinking and drowning,

because this is his goal.

He is exalted higher than the waves,

greater than their strongest surge,

deeper than their depths,

mightier than their surf.

The sea is in his all-powerful hands,

for he rules it,

and when he speaks it obeys him,

so it is still for my benefit.

The raging sea will not last forever,

yet while it rages

I can cling to his promises of love and concern

and know he will end the seas rampage.

Waves of trouble may sweep over me,

but I will not be swept away,

for he is holding my hand,

and safe and secure I will always stay.

The sun casts its last rays of light above the horizon,

and twilight befalls upon the earth in a sudden, swooping motion,

but I need to get home so I carry on.

I pass by trees, bushes, and underbrush,

and creatures scamper by to get to their dens.

The wild wind blows angrily hither and thither

as I climb knolls and trudge through glens.

As I continue on my journey the darkness intensifies,

and rivers rush by in their hostile rage.

Owls cry their frightening hoots,

and bats emerge on their frantic rampage.

The night gets darker and darker as time passes,

and I go deeper and deeper into the forest as i travel.

I am surrounded by anxious, gloomy sights and fearful, sad sounds,

and my feet stumble as i scurry along the gravel.

I yearn to get to the other side of the forest,

so i could reach the peace and safety of my abode,

but the journey is gruelling, harsh, and tough,

and my fear overcomes me and acts as a goad.

My fear troubles me,

but to conquer fear I whistle in the dark,

so when you are afraid and need courage you whistle in the dark too,

and your courage will be your bulwark and hallmark.

To whistle in the dark means to have courage,

and to have courage means to control fear when facing danger and pain.

Be confident, intrepid, persevering,

merciful, resolute, and humane.

With courage in my heart I finally reach home,

and with courage in your heart you can finally reach home too.

We need to be courageous, conquer fear, and whistle in the dark,

and to be courageous will make our goals come true.