Lapis Lazuli Love

All week long I cried out to You
But You were silent. I
Craved sanctuary,
Desired wholeness
Envied luxury. I
Faltered and fell,
Grieved at my
Haunting mistake.
Idled in self-defense,
Juggled confession and cowardice,
Kissed pride and kicked pride until
Lament seized my soul,
Mended me and made me
New. Now I splash in the
Oasis of your mercy, I sense a
Plan in the pain, a
Quiet in the question, a
Redeemer for the renegade.
Selah
Still waters invite me to
Touch the green grass at river’s edge, to
Unbuckle my load and lay it down. And as for the
Vagabond of yesterday, that flirting, accusing rogue, to
Wave him on, and
eXchange a thousand trophies for a single tender touch from You, to
Yield to your silence, and to lay myself down in your lapis
laZuli love.

by Pam Mytroen

I'd forgotten I'd written this poem until yesterday when I stumbled across it in St. Peter's Messenger magazine. Fun surprise. It is about a time in my life when I made a big blooper. I felt horrible about it but was too stubborn to accept God's mercy. When I finally did, I felt like I was curled up in his lap surrounded by his deep love. I wrote this acrostic style poem inspired by the acrostic on the Hebrew alphabet in Psalm 139.
God's love reminds me of the beautiful lapis lazuli stone. It is a semi-precious mined stone known for its deep, infinite blue.

All I Need to Know - Lynda Schultz

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)

“Be still” — that is perhaps the hardest instruction that anyone could give me. So many things in my life happen far too slowly for my convenience. Mental, emotional, and spiritual stillness are just as hard as their physical counterpart. You would think that after so many years of walking with the Lord that I would have learned by now that He comes at exactly the right time, that my fussing and fuming only spoil the atmosphere of awe, of joy, of peace, of grace, that should be the aura of the believer. “Be still”

“…know” — certainty, the conviction that rests on faith, that has been proven by experience, that feeds the stillness that God requires. How quickly I forget what I supposedly “know” in the face of the circumstances of the day. Perhaps it is in the stillness that I allow myself to remember what I know—that God reigns and that He never abandons His children, that He never comes late.

“…that I am God” — Moses heard the great “I AM” statement and that was enough for him and for Israel. That God is, and that we know Him by faith and know Him in the experiences of our lives, should promote that stillness that needs to characterize our lives. He knows us perfectly, we need to know Him more perfectly every day. That knowledge grows in the stillness.

And when we are still and know, and reaffirm in our own hearts that He is God, we will become the instruments that exalt Him among the nations and in the earth. That is our end, our mission, our joy.

Reflecting - Lorrie

"To be significant, work must be personally meaningful. Speak only for yourself. You need not try to comment on the world, or on all mankind. Try, rather, to make a simple and honest statement about a single idea with which you are familiar. If you succeed in this, your specific comment is far more likely to contain a general element of truth. As I am neither a deep thinker nor a profound one, I make no attempt to be profound in my work. I can offer only a personal response, and if that response arrives at something basic, it will evoke a response in someone else."
From Applique Stitchery by Jean Ray Laury


Whether our art is writing, painting, stitching or gardening, the personal response Laury speaks of is crucial to authenticity. Imitation might be the highest form of flattery but lacks the twist of originality that reflects the creator's personality.

When I live my life as a personal response to God's presence and truth and allow him to work as he will, my life will be a unique creation that I pray will "evoke a response in someone else."

Letting Lucy Lead by Marcia Lee Laycock

I’ve just returned from four days on the road, traveling to various communities and speaking to Christian women’s groups. Three of those engagements were in a large city that I’m not terribly familiar with. So I took the time before leaving to check on the internet for the locations of each event. Using an internet application I was even able to find out exactly how long it would take me to get from A to B. I printed out the directions and maps and felt well prepared. Just to be safe I also took our trusty GPS along.

For those who might not know, GPS stands for Global Positioning Satellite. It truly is an amazing little gadget. You type in the city and address and a screen lights up with a map and your position is monitored as you drive. Then a friendly voice tells you where to go and when to turn right or left. As I turned it on before leaving for a venue that was in the very heart of the city, I thought there would be no way I could get lost or confused. Famous last words!

You see the map and directions I had copied from the internet did not match with what my GPS was telling me. To make things worse I was heading into the downtown core at the height of the morning rush hour. The traffic was bumper to bumper. The radio had told me there was a city-wide teachers’ convention on that morning so the traffic was expected to be even worse than usual. Great, I thought, and my information is contradictory.

As the lilting GPS voice (I call her Lucy) directed me to turn right, I glanced at the written directions I had printed out. Turning right didn’t make sense. I turned left and ended up where I didn’t want to be. Then I remembered my husband telling me about the training given pilots in the military. They are taught how to fly blind – literally. The cockpit is covered so they can’t see a thing and have to rely entirely on their instruments to take off, fly and then land the aircraft. The number one rule is, believe what the instruments say. Don’t rely on your own understanding.

So I turned left and found myself heading into what looked like a residential area. That made me nervous. But Lucy said turn left, so I did. Then left again, and suddenly I was at an intersection. Left one more time, and Lucy triumphantly announced I was “arriving at destination, on right.” I looked up and sure enough, there was the hotel where the meeting was being held. Letting Lucy lead me had proven the best course. There was no need to worry.

Sometimes it doesn’t seem to make sense to follow what God wants us to do. Logic can dictate a different course of action and we often worry. But God’s ways are higher than ours. Like Lucy, He is able to see from a clear vantage point. He knows the beginning and the end and the winding route in between. He knows exactly the best route for each one of us.

Proverbs 3:5&6 says it best – “Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”
God will always get us to where we need to be. No need to worry.

Marcia is the winner of the Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone. visit her website - www.vinemarc.com