(source)

Enjoy Friends!

Starla

She asked me to sing with her at her school talent show.

We put these two songs together because every time

I sang the one I ended up in the other.

I have said it a few times myself.

God will never give you

more than you can handle.

and yet somehow saying it

hearing it

never feels HOPEFUL

listening to a pod cast

speaker says “ever hear that phrase?”

Its not even true…

My ears perk with interest

2 Corinthians 1:8 8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

Amazing what truth really says!

Even the Apostle Paul knew the truth

that at times we feel so utterly burdened beyond our strength

and isn’t that the point

That we be buried in them

YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE IN THIS LIFE

knowing that we can have no confidence in our own arm

our strength will never be enough

that the only way to crawl through it

to find relief is on our knees

knowing the ONE who can lift our burden

when we learn to cast it upon Him

at the end of our rope

JESUS

Now I think about this phrase, God help us!

Perhaps we say such things -believing the lie of it

because to say it, while patting another’s shoulder

when they are burdened

helps us feel less obligated to help them in true community

with our hands and feet, our time and money

Talking to Tina brings another angle

The guilt and condemnation that comes with this phrase

“You will never be given more than you can bear.”

and yet inside we feel weak and helpless

but we should be strong!! right? …wrong

When we are weak He is strong!

My heart is grateful for this truth

the subtle twist of thoughts and words of the enemy

leave us clinging to our own grip

but truth sets us free to hold the hand of God

Lining with:

STARLA

on a Sunday morning

embarrassed

angry

and ready to explode

I made way to the ladies room

to pray it off

Passing smiling faces

and warm hello’s

I curtly smirked

and headed for the door

I hid in a stall

God help me I’m angry

Lord I forgive him

I let go, wash it away

I stand before the mirror

my eyes speak a thousand words

angers gripping hold

like a ghost

cold

distant

repressed in the soul

I went to seek a sip or two of coffee

begging inside that the heat for it

would make me warm with Christ love

but no…. still bitter and bitten

Then like an angel

she speaks to me

eyes locked “how are you today?”

My heart crying out

I think she must have heard me

certainly HE did

I muster the common phrases

I’m good …like I’m fine

when nothing better comes to mind

and I wince when I speak

and she holds my gaze

just a pause of grace

I filled with courage like a full bellied cloud

and the words just fell like spring rain

“he corrected me in front of everyone I’m angry and embarrassed.”

and a flow of release broke over me

this joy of relief ……..

I had let it Go

I released the grasp of control that held me within

and God let me Flow in Him that morning.

A beauty created in me

He gifted her with song and depth

quietness and honesty

artist urges and a desire for Him

http://thesonnyday.wordpress.com/

Here you’ll find her artsy flare

her piano tapping and photo capturing ways

Today she graduates the 8th grade

I wonder where the time has gone

She is from him and I

met through a prayer in a park one Sunday afternoon

She is from little trailer on the other side of town

her room filled with stuffed friends and princess gear

She is from pretty little dresses and dainty princess shoes

then her cousin taught her to army crawl and wear camo proud like him

She is from piano lessons started at age 7 or was that 8

still taking them and writing her own songs now

She is from “Sunsets were painted just for you!”

because the Lord loves you so

She is from Sing a New Song to Jesus

when you sing for Him you can never go wrong

and now leading worship at the piano

while singing for the youth group at church

She is from little Christian school readying her for after Jr. High

strengthening her back bone in Christ, planting feet on Solid Ground

She is from an almost completely all girl class since 1st grade

This year most those girls including her were on the Show Choir team

She will be moving on to the Big High School down the way

She is from singing bible verses

and her and I being the radio four years in the old traded in car

She takes her brother on walks and sings to him

She plays games, reads his Action Bible to him and builds him forts too

Next year entering High School

God why has all the time gone so fast

I just know that when she does leave home after only 4 more years

You will have something very awesome in store for this gentle hearted girl.

My body has been housing my feelings, sealed tight to keep in the storm.

-http://janaecharlotte.wordpress.com/

Read this line and it ripped at me

begging for form it came to call….

I am a walking store house for storms

Fear cups my mouth should I speak

so that would be why keys are tapped

and paper is wetted with ink

scrolling the lines of my journal

are notes of grace and also notes of scorn

sights seen from inside my hearted walls

walls thick with pulsing

as blood rushes in anger , sadness or pain

There is the home of FEELING

that is when I climb like a ladder out of those walls

into a housing all together different

called the thinking mind

This is the place where I find ice

where condensation freezes for all time

where compassions and sympathies are froze

in neat little objective compartments.

It is from this place that is see my own indifference

It is from here that I know my own selfishness

It is from here that I must fight for release

This place draws me when fear invades

I must bend low in humbleness to seek after a heart of FIRE

Blazing Wet FIRE BREATH of CHRIST

……expressed Condensation

Starla

There is one in tears

love dripping from the heart

sadness in the midst of possibilities

and yet there is continued life…

Where is thy comfort God?

There is one in pain

walking a rugged road

sleeping on couches

driving fully loaded

Hope is near for You live in him …breakthrough

Will that heart find rest Lord?

There is another

tied up in knots

rushing here and there

losing the littleness of things

the crumbs falling behind

Create a slowness of breath to breathe deep…

When does the rollercoaster end?

There is another who fights with the wind

finding flight in entertainment

missing the togetherness of now

Thank you for the ones who reach out…

Who will speak to this ones soul?

So many…

I see also ….

BLESSING

The one bringing home a new daughter

who just found out

she is now theirs

adopted at 15

God your grace is real!

Help Us Lord

not to miss a single drop

even when the storm is hard

and loud , cracking at every step

let us be like this flower that has

found it’s way around the heavy load

to stretch up into the SON….

Your Grace is sufficient!

Linking with:

like the fire of love

Even when you feel yourself icing over

barricading yourself into a igloo of isolation

That fire of Love

that fire that burns to the deepest parts

that only comes from the call of Christ

the still small voice calling out from the deep

to say “ reach out” be not enclosed in a tomb

Rise to life like your Savior who sacrificed

The only way to the other side is through

whether a valley

or a mountain span

it is always walking through

and it is never as bad as it seems

it is always better when you give

when you let go of the need of right

you learn so much about yourself

and those your walking through with

I find it interesting that the enemy

spends much time breeding discord in the relationships

that God has made you a part of

he seeks to destroy the two by two’s

Eccl 4:12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

and sever the cord

hang on and believe

it really isn’t easy to break it

when your on your knees

Starla

words spill over

eyes dart crossways

hands speak tones

The body reacts

while the voice goes silent

all of us here on this earth

when things happen

that we don’t understand

we sail in like a comet

or we orbit like the moon

misunderstanding happens

when we miss understand each other

I’ve been watching questions

trying to catch them

they are like curve balls that are hard for me to get

I put the mitt out and learn to connect

but I don’t know what to do with statements

like arrows in the night

ones that I cant see

it’s head dipped in solvent

some kind of solvent

expectation, maybe assumption, perhaps presumption

not sure on my part or theirs

whatever it may be it

stung when it just grazed by

then silence falls &  burns

The swirl of after thought

is what trips me up

“In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.” – Henry David Thoreau

Silence can be seen as anger, rejection, even as being ignored.

Perhaps it is the silent after math that is most confusing

because the statement hit me – it hurt

and that I understood.

Later I found out … my silence hurts too

like ice walls and barricades

too cold to touch for fear of instant frost bite

and now that too I understand. 

misunderstanding…

how different two views can be of the same exact space

and how forgiveness is needed for such simple differences of sight

Starla

Linking with :

Prov 28:23 He who rebukes a man will find more favor afterward than he who flatters with the tongue.

I had an interesting conversation this morning that brought this verse to life for me. I was in the middle of reading my proverbs–and I hadn’t had anything stand out to me for Monday Motto yet, but after that conversation I continued reading and came upon this verse.
I have often thought of flattering as just saying nice things that you don’t really mean by insincere praise or attention ….but what if flattering is also not speaking the truth in the moment. Like when you know someone is not listening to what you have to say. So instead of saying ” I don’t think you are listening to what I am saying to you?” you stop talking and let the moment pass. You walk away from the conversation feeling like you weren’t heard and you have a little chip on your shoulder about that person.
To flatter is also to represent favorably; gratify by falsification. When we just smile and move on, or go silent and move on when inside we are hurt by being ignored or unheard are we actually flattering by representing the situation as a favorable (*smile) situation, or gratifying by falsification (people – pleasing) – instead of saying the truth of the matter .

–ARE WE FLATTERING?

I never saw it that way until today.

The world tells us to be polite.

It tells us as women that we should be nice

and we will earn the favor and recognition we seek from others.

BUT the bible tells us that if we want true favor

we will speak the truth!!!

Came across this again on Friendships of Love the old blog on blogger :

http://friendshipsoflove.blogspot.com/2010/06/monday-motto.html