Taleé

All she wanted was to be someone she can love, someone she can accept.

But when she looked at her life to see what it was, 

all she saw was what it’s not. 

She looked to see what she had achieved, but all that was in front of her 

was what she'd not.

And when she thought upon the place where He is, 

a shrewd voice told her, 

“That’s where you’re not.”

She looked in the mirror and feelings of disapproval and rejection 

slapped her gaze away from the very sight she once saw as 

radiant and complete.

Disquieting was this voice she did not know, 

but she listened anyway.

“Don't forget these things: what would've... could've... 

what should have been...”

“Am I a man,” 

she heard in a whisper more powerful than the screams,

“that I would leave you to

check out other options, or want something 

bigger and better, 

something newer and greater? 

I see you, 

and I'm keeping you. 

I know your end from your beginning.

Do stay, My fair one; 

remain in My 

Love.”

“Someday,” 

she said to herself, 
“I will see clearly,

beyond the dust

of this familiar mirror,

and see myself for the first time 

again.”

May Be So

What if being stuck is part of the process 

to learning the sounds of silence

Maybe there would be more sitting and 

less squandering 

more reaching and less running away

What if learning is 

a matter of the heart 

instead of the mind

Maybe sleep would be more sound 

and 

the questions left alone

What if the nothing

that is being done

really is 

as worthless as it feels

What if 

it’s not?

Sensibility

She opened her window to let the sweet smell of rain fill the room. 

She didn’t mind hearing the drops hit the trees before they fell to the ground, because it reminded her of an audience clapping after a performance at the symphony. Maybe this time is was the minstrels themselves applauding their long hours of work and celebrating the fruits of their labor.

Without realizing, she soon tuned out the jubilation and drifted into mindless activity. Then, just as suddenly, a bright flash shone across the sky. Following was its boisterous companion, which announced its attendance and commanded her attention once again. The hairs of her neck rose to see what all the fuss was about while her heart remained the only moving muscle in her body.

She breathed in deeply and exhaled consciously, growing in disappointment as she made her way to undo what she thought was a lovely idea just minutes before. She hopped to her feet, shut that shutter and locked it twice, moving swiftly to avoid another jolt. 

In spite of her haste, another part of her slowed down. And in those slow-motion moments, the world around her began to match the pace and peace of the voice coming from the depths of her self. 

He spoke to every part of her reality with just a few words…

You want the scent, but are you willing to hear, too? 

It may be surprising, and sometimes you won’t want to hear it, 

but will you shut it out all at once? 

Will you also shut your eyes from the light? 

Or will you let Me remove scales with beauty so bright? 

When I rain down, will you hide from Me? 

Or will you embrace Me and all I have to pour out? 

Know the scents. Know the sounds. Discern and listen.

Taste... See... It’s true: I am very good.

So will you shut the window, or will you take in what I am giving out?

Cost of Living

No one asked her if she wanted to be born. 

No one asked if she was going to be able to pay her way through life. That had already been considered. Just as the first man was chosen and created, so was she. 

Jehovah knew the needs of the first one He created. He met each one of them before He brought him to life, and then He taught him how to live on the land: in perfect communion with Himself. 

Generations later, she stood on the same earth, breathing the breath of the same God. She knew the footprints she left would be as different from the first man's as the impressions on her fingertips. But what they would share would be an incredible neediness and a brutal dependency for survival.  

The One they knew as Mighty and Powerful, they would first learn to call Jehovah Jireh, Provider Who will never fail. 

Is He not the same yesterday, today, and forever?

Is His word not the truth and His promise that which remains?

God is not a man, that He should lie,
 

nor a son of man, that He should repent. 

Has He said, and will He not do?

 Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Numbers 23:19

Be Careful Little Ears...

A person who asks questions will usually hear answers.

But who will give the right one? 

And whose response is most important to the one who asks?

An ear can hear many things at once, 

but a heart and a mind can only listen to one thing at a time.

Choosing to listen requires tuning out everything else that is heard.

Listening is active. Hearing is passive.