I'd like to thank everyone who took action when asked. Not only did many of you take the time to read the poems and rank them, you shared with me your reasons, opinions and feelings about them. Thank you for taking your precious time to help me decide on something that means so much to me. There was no easy answer (which kind of surprised me) or clear-cut winner. Because of that, I chose not to enter the contest at all. KIDDING! Seriously, I have entered the contest and will let you know the outcome, as well as the results of the voting on this blog, as soon as I know the results of the contest.
Thank you, thank you, again and again, for your help and encouragement!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Action Requested
Okay, so I need your help with something here. I am going to enter one or more poems in a Christian poetry contest and I can't decide which of them to use. So, I am going to trust my one or two faithful blog readers to tell me which poem(s) to enter. Here's how it will work:
Read the three poems and rate them with #1 being your top choice and #3 your last choice. You can either respond by sending me an e-mail or by sending a comment (of course, I'd prefer a comment, but I know some of you are shy, so ...) to the blog. I really do need your help, so please take the time to read and rate the poems. I will submit the poem(s) based on the responses I receive. Please submit your responses by Tuesday, Aug. 26.
Thank you in advance! (And please forgive typos - I can't even keep my eyes open right now!)
Option 1: The Woman You Are
I am intimately acquainted
with each beat of your heart,
with the depths of your soul
and the woman you are.
I created you with a purpose,
goals you're meant to achieve,
things you're meant to accomplish
with the gifts you've received.
Though some may seem like burdens,
gifts that you'd like to trade,
winning's not all in the cards,
but the way that they're played.
Use your gifts for My purpose,
use your gifts for My will -
they are yours, with my blessing,
for your role to fulfill.
That stubborn streak they talk about
is persistence, you see.
You will need it, I know,
to do your work for me.
And the temper that you cry about
is the passion I've sewn
in the fabric of you -
it will help you go on.
You're aggressive, dramatic
and you overreact,
not to mention the things
others say that you lack.
You could stand to smile more sweetly,
hold your head a different way.
People will always try to change you,
always have something to say.
Don't you know that I created you
and I don't make mistakes?
Every gift I have given,
in My time, has its place.
You have all you require,
it's been given - it's done.
All your needs have been met,
every battle's been won.
Now it's up to you, Beloved,
to use what I've given you -
Use it well and be rewarded.
All I've promised will come true.
Option #2: The Daughters of Eve
The essence of me
that I carry inside
is the beauty you see
when I don’t run and hide.
It’s in every look,
it’s in all that I say
and the way I react
to my life every day.
In the way that I love
with my whole heart and soul
and invite you to learn
all that my beauty holds.
In the way that I offer
all the love that I know
and entice you to share,
to come bask in its glow.
In the way that my presence
draws you in from the start,
how it welcomes you into
the warmth of my heart.
It’s the trust I display
when I let others in,
how I freely give all
that I am from within.
It’s the power in me,
it’s my gift from above,
how my God crafted me
to distribute His love.
Most of all, it is God,
and His will, I believe,
that His beauty would shine
through the daughters of Eve.
Option #3: When I Say that I Love Jesus
When I say that I love Jesus,
I’m not saying I’m a saint,
‘cause I know nobody’s perfect
and can promise you I ain’t
When I say that I love Jesus,
I’m not trying to prove the point
that I’m the saved and sanctifiedest
holy roller in the joint.
When I say that I love Jesus,
He’s the Saviour of my soul,
I’m not speaking out in judgment –
that’s just not the way I roll.
When I say that I love Jesus,
I don’t mean to shut you out.
It’s just my way of expressing
what my life is all about.
When I tell you I love Jesus,
I’m not saying you love Him less
or that you can’t choose your own way
to make sure that love’s expressed.
All I’m saying is that He’s
my All in All, my truth, my light –
He’s my Father and He’s shown me
that I’m precious in His sight.
So when I say, “I love You, Jesus,"
why not think of it this way –
they’re the same three words that every
father’s little girl should say.
Think of this as practice for the election - let your voice be heard. Thanks!
Read the three poems and rate them with #1 being your top choice and #3 your last choice. You can either respond by sending me an e-mail or by sending a comment (of course, I'd prefer a comment, but I know some of you are shy, so ...) to the blog. I really do need your help, so please take the time to read and rate the poems. I will submit the poem(s) based on the responses I receive. Please submit your responses by Tuesday, Aug. 26.
Thank you in advance! (And please forgive typos - I can't even keep my eyes open right now!)
Option 1: The Woman You Are
I am intimately acquainted
with each beat of your heart,
with the depths of your soul
and the woman you are.
I created you with a purpose,
goals you're meant to achieve,
things you're meant to accomplish
with the gifts you've received.
Though some may seem like burdens,
gifts that you'd like to trade,
winning's not all in the cards,
but the way that they're played.
Use your gifts for My purpose,
use your gifts for My will -
they are yours, with my blessing,
for your role to fulfill.
That stubborn streak they talk about
is persistence, you see.
You will need it, I know,
to do your work for me.
And the temper that you cry about
is the passion I've sewn
in the fabric of you -
it will help you go on.
You're aggressive, dramatic
and you overreact,
not to mention the things
others say that you lack.
You could stand to smile more sweetly,
hold your head a different way.
People will always try to change you,
always have something to say.
Don't you know that I created you
and I don't make mistakes?
Every gift I have given,
in My time, has its place.
You have all you require,
it's been given - it's done.
All your needs have been met,
every battle's been won.
Now it's up to you, Beloved,
to use what I've given you -
Use it well and be rewarded.
All I've promised will come true.
Option #2: The Daughters of Eve
The essence of me
that I carry inside
is the beauty you see
when I don’t run and hide.
It’s in every look,
it’s in all that I say
and the way I react
to my life every day.
In the way that I love
with my whole heart and soul
and invite you to learn
all that my beauty holds.
In the way that I offer
all the love that I know
and entice you to share,
to come bask in its glow.
In the way that my presence
draws you in from the start,
how it welcomes you into
the warmth of my heart.
It’s the trust I display
when I let others in,
how I freely give all
that I am from within.
It’s the power in me,
it’s my gift from above,
how my God crafted me
to distribute His love.
Most of all, it is God,
and His will, I believe,
that His beauty would shine
through the daughters of Eve.
Option #3: When I Say that I Love Jesus
When I say that I love Jesus,
I’m not saying I’m a saint,
‘cause I know nobody’s perfect
and can promise you I ain’t
When I say that I love Jesus,
I’m not trying to prove the point
that I’m the saved and sanctifiedest
holy roller in the joint.
When I say that I love Jesus,
He’s the Saviour of my soul,
I’m not speaking out in judgment –
that’s just not the way I roll.
When I say that I love Jesus,
I don’t mean to shut you out.
It’s just my way of expressing
what my life is all about.
When I tell you I love Jesus,
I’m not saying you love Him less
or that you can’t choose your own way
to make sure that love’s expressed.
All I’m saying is that He’s
my All in All, my truth, my light –
He’s my Father and He’s shown me
that I’m precious in His sight.
So when I say, “I love You, Jesus,"
why not think of it this way –
they’re the same three words that every
father’s little girl should say.
Think of this as practice for the election - let your voice be heard. Thanks!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Unfinished Portrait
The artist sees the portrait in His mind,
but 'til He's finished, I will never find
the purpose in what was meant to be,
or the precious beauty that He sees in me.
The barren canvas slowly comes to life
with colors that reflect the shades of me.
How brilliantly He paints my soul in time
and bares the depths that only He can see.
People usually look back and reflect on life at the end of the year. Or at the beginning of the year. Or after some major, life-changing event has occurred in their lives. Well, I'm a rebel and I am going to reflect now. In August.
I have had one very eventful year. It's been emotional, draining, full of ups and downs and valleys and speed bumps and pot holes, along with the good, the bad and the ugly. I probably cried more tears, laughed much harder and gained a much deeper understanding of what it is to love and be loved than I ever had before. So far.
I have grown in ways that were painful, healed in ways that surprised me, and received gifts that humbled me. I have changed more in this one year of my life than I ever thought possible. For now.
With all the changing and growing and learning and loving and hurting and laughing and crying and healing I've done in so short a time (it didn't feel short at all much of the time), I have so much more of those things to do. And some of it will feel much better or much worse than anything I experienced this past year. You see, the Artist is not finished with me yet. Until He is, I stay on the roller coaster ride and do my best to trust that He has the completed me, the perfected me, in His mind and that He will reveal her to me according to His perfect will, in His perfect time.
but 'til He's finished, I will never find
the purpose in what was meant to be,
or the precious beauty that He sees in me.
The barren canvas slowly comes to life
with colors that reflect the shades of me.
How brilliantly He paints my soul in time
and bares the depths that only He can see.
People usually look back and reflect on life at the end of the year. Or at the beginning of the year. Or after some major, life-changing event has occurred in their lives. Well, I'm a rebel and I am going to reflect now. In August.
I have had one very eventful year. It's been emotional, draining, full of ups and downs and valleys and speed bumps and pot holes, along with the good, the bad and the ugly. I probably cried more tears, laughed much harder and gained a much deeper understanding of what it is to love and be loved than I ever had before. So far.
I have grown in ways that were painful, healed in ways that surprised me, and received gifts that humbled me. I have changed more in this one year of my life than I ever thought possible. For now.
With all the changing and growing and learning and loving and hurting and laughing and crying and healing I've done in so short a time (it didn't feel short at all much of the time), I have so much more of those things to do. And some of it will feel much better or much worse than anything I experienced this past year. You see, the Artist is not finished with me yet. Until He is, I stay on the roller coaster ride and do my best to trust that He has the completed me, the perfected me, in His mind and that He will reveal her to me according to His perfect will, in His perfect time.
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