Texas girl
It’s gonna rain Glory
Photo by Garon Piceli
It's gonna rain Glory, winds of this world are gonna blow away the chaff! He's a comin' to Reign, yes Jesus is gonna Reign! He is the Sun that warms the earth! He has put an end to sin and death! Oh yea, it's gonna rain Glory, Jesus is gonna' Reign !
That place where we bleed
It is an early morning rain
blue crystals falling from the sky
Oh all the words won’t come my way
the search for them makes me high
I saw you sleeping in the candle light
coming round to that place where we bleed
Oh all your thoughts won’t come my way
each idea planted like a row of seeds
It is an early morning rain
a symphony falling from the sky
Oh all the dance steps are ours
or at least to give a try.
The Reality of Inaccurate “feel good quotes” …
Photo by Bruno Pires
Sometimes as I scroll my Facebook and Instagram I see what seems to be a fabulous and profound quote…but then…but wait…I saw one that said, “rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine.” Another one I saw said, “Nothing is worth it if you aren’t happy.” Well, while this might sound like accurate loquaciousness in the emotional sense, it is not accurate in the journey of life, at least not in my experience of 64 years on the planet. A storm is defined in the dictionary this way, “a violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow OR a tumultuous reaction; an uproar or controversy.”
And happiness has nothing to do with some situation or someone’s worth…there are limitless relationships, and situations that are totally worth it and totally hard!
The Truth is that you are born into a storm, into a world of tumultuous reaction, uproar, and controversy. It is called a “Fallen World of Sin and therefore broken.” I see no way that a human being can “rise” above any storm on their own. See Romans 6:23.
Some might see my outlook as discouraging which is not my goal. However, if you believe God’s Word and you read and understand what occurred in Genesis chapter 3 then you will also understand that if you read the whole Bible there is good news and a solution to “THE STORM”…and He, Jesus, is the provider of Joy.
That is because happiness is an emotion in which we “experience feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense pleasure,” whereas joy “is a stronger, less common feeling than happiness.” (Dr, Hud McWilliams). We experience joy when we achieve selflessness to the point of personal sacrifice.”
In the storm of an abusive childhood, or a miscarriage, a broken marriage, a health battle, an addiction, a mental illness, financial destitution, a death of your most beloved, and on the list goes…there is not a way around this storm! This storm touches everything and everyone from sunrise to sunset…There is no place in scripture where it says that we, in and of ourselves, will rise above anything. “Jesus said, without me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5
Many places in scripture we are promised, by God, that he will go with us through the storm, the suffering, and His Spirit will not leave nor forsake us. It does not tell us that we will be relieved from the lonely unlit path of the storm or that we will not get hurt by the storm. Again, the promise is that God will be with us through the pain.
In a time when Bible illiteracy in and outside of the Church is evident, I believe words of encouragement need to be accurate more than ever.
2 Corinthians 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.“
Room Full of Mirrors
Photo by Bruno Pires on
She is standing in a room full of mirrors.
She is all the people she was taught to be.
A good little girl who prays and is kind.
A pretty girl as much as she can be.
A smart girl but not too smart for men.
She is all the people she was taught to be.
Yet somehow, she is none of these.
Mirrors are liars.
Mirrors crack and shatter.
She is a woman of humility and wisdom.
She is a reflection of her Maker.
She does not need mirrors anymore.
From the first conversation we were not strangers…
Photo by Nicole Avagliano on
From the first conversation we were not strangers…
A searing, a piercing wind blew my story that always follows me, into a million pieces…
A deep blue velvet stillness filled me and my heart’s fragility opened wide and I knew The presence of the Holy entered…
City Girl Angel
Photo by Keenan Constance
He said he could never forget his city girl angel
under the silver moon of the Lone Star state
A fast moving Angel with lightening in her eyes
she could never abide anyone being fake
She loves the deep blue sea and the endless Texas sky
She is not a big crier but doesn’t like goodbyes
Sunday morning Allelujahs clear through Saturday night
She is his city girl angel with honey in her smile
He said no one can forget his city girl angel
She is kind and funny and wild
So the night she died on that Texas highway
She simply smiled at him and took her flight
River Song
Photo by Baskin Creative Studios
The River Song shall make us glad
when the mountain’s snows melt above.
The swelling waters giving drink below
it’s melody quenching our thirst for love.
The River Song shall lead us homeward bound
where heaven and earth can never meet
Here we shall find His Kindness all around
it’s melody reveals the hope we keep.
So take me down to the River
Take me there where I may also sing
Of the beauty of your Holiness
And worship you as my King.
And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Romans 5:5 NLT
The Steeple Green
Photo by Pixabay
She ran away with fear and a string of lies
She idolized her anger but could not hide it in her eyes
She grew up kneeling upon the steeple green
She grew so weary of trying to be clean
One day on her knees again she heard The Holy voice
“Rise up, my daughter walk away from this noise.”
She stood up and cast those idols back to hell
And tore off the string of lies she had to tell
“I have made you blameless and set you free in life
why do you still cling to death which can never be clean?”
She cried for joy and danced before the LORD God
and chose life that day upon the steeple green.
To Him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy…to the only Wise God our Savior be glory, majesty, power AND authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. Jude 1:24
Racing me to Dawn
Photo by Pixabay
The heat hung in the air like wet cotton today.
The Texas dance of August has begun.
The manicured lawns will all soon be patched brown.
Even the humming of cicadas has gone still.
Venus burns ever so brightly racing me to dawn.
The majestic Oaks stand still as Centurion guards.
At my core the keen edge of Joy bids me come.
I reach for the poetry that fills my heart.
