patience and understanding

patience and understanding go hand-in-hand. one without the other is just not possible. especially patience without understanding. so many times we all struggle with patience and we hope that we can have more patience. but its so difficult to pin-point how to have more patience.

maybe count to 5 before speaking. maybe count to 10 before reacting or getting angry. maybe take deep breaths and keep our mouths closed while driving in traffic.

but a great awakening comes when we realize that just by adding a bit of understanding into our minds and hearts in those moments of impatience (and outside those moments), our patience automatically increases.

when we try to understand someone more deeply before reacting or responding, this results in patience.

when we take a moment to think about someone's past or maybe what kind of day they've had, we are automatically more patient when speaking with them.

when we think understand how frustrated everyone else is on the road and how they have important places to be too, then we start showing patience on the roads and let others take our place in front of us.

its another lesson on seeing the glass half full instead of half empty. let's try adding some understanding these days instead of continually trying to increase our patience.

your yoke

Your yoke is what you offer me
is it a yoke of slavery
of course it's not, you must see,

A yoke is there to lighten the load
life as we know it is a long tough road
and so some help is what we need.

And that's really what you always give
a helping hand to help us live
victorious partnership,without yield,

So take the yoke, i must, we will
both up and down and up the hill
two together plowing the field.

light

there is a light
that shines so bright

so deep and strong
and ever long

that those that see
will always see

all that comes
within its sums

so much that they
and come what may

will always know
the light that shows

the depth of grace
seen in His trace

that ever glows
and always knows

the truth of sight
that comes in the light.

in the fire

its those times of being in the fire when we realize what we've really asked for. did we ask for the fire? probably not. who would ask to be burned? to be perfected and shaped and molded through a heat unimaginable to be able to withstand? no one. and if anyone does, it must be because they are crazy.

but nevertheless, the fire comes. sometimes it comes without warning and because of no certain reason. but sometimes it comes because we asked for it. not for the fire, but we asked for something and that certain something is perhaps one of those very things that can only be gained or obtained through fire.

and it's in those moments when we realize that thing we asked for last week or last month or last year is one of these hard things that comes when you pass through the fire--and maybe one of those things where you have to stand inside the fire a while before you can get it. and then the question comes...

why did i ask for it? what was i thinking! is this really worth it?

and that's the question that is only answered after you come through the fire and make it out of the heat of life. but the point remains, you are in the fire. i am in the fire. we are in the fire.

whether its now or later...we are all in the fire at some point. the real question that we can ask when we hit the fire is to ask for help. and help will come. and my guess is that this help is part of not only coming out of the fire, but also obtaining and gaining that initial thing we asked for.

a beckoning...speak

a quiet beckoning in my soul...
speak
please speak

with so much noise around
yet my ears are not satisfied
my soul not satisfied

oh i need you to speak

to hear the voice that i know so well
to feel that peace of the hum of your words
to see you move and shift life to share your quiet whisper

this is what my soul is beckoning for!

let my eyes open
my ears block out the other noise
my thoughts to only hear the beating of my heart

that i may hear the true voice
of the one that speaks
not to make noise

but to quiet my soul
to quicken my heart
to question my thoughts

to light the path
to lift the spirit
to lavish me with love

oh speak
oh please speak

i am listening.

poured out

in the presence of many, we are welcomed to share
our gifts, our love, our hearts moving
there is nothing sweeter nor more real or more natural
than to take myself out of myself and just put it on the table
to lay it out there with the intent on sharing with others
with strangers, friends, sisters, brothers, family
to open up what is inside
what has been given to me, what i have acquired, what i know, what i have
and be generous
beyond money
generous in vulnerability, in time, in love
that's the real deal
that's what really sustains us as a body
as one unit
as one community
and that's the challenge
am i just in myself today
or am i open, poured out, spilling, overflowing, cut open, laid out, freed out
for the sake of others

(inspired by a great night of sharing with friends)

commands the angels

When God commands the angels, what does it sound like?
Does he speak softly like a whisper
or with strength as the thunder?

When God commands the angels, what would His words be?
Would they be a general idea that the angels understand
or so specific as to tell the future?

When God commands the angels, is it in voice or song?
Does he speak with words or melodies
or speak from spirit to spirit without sound?

When God commands the angels, how does he choose?
Does he choose the highest angel for the greatest tasks
or the lower angel to show his depth of sovereignty?

When God commands the angels, how do they come?
Do they come with humble strength ready to act
or do they come with anticipation of what the next move will be?

When God commands the angels, there is one thing that we know...
That they listen and obey.
That they follow through and make it happen.
That they act with His strength and power.

Oh, that He may command me as an angel...as a high priest...as a daughter.
And that I may listen and obey.


(Inspired by the angel Gabriel's visit to Zechariah in Luke 1 and the curiosity of God commanding Gabriel and telling him what to do and say to Zechariah.)