Cara Colleen

Isaiah 45:20-25 (New King James Version)

May 12, 2007 on 8:30 am | In Writings | No Comments

²⁰ “ Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together,
You who have escaped from the nations.
They have no knowledge,
Who carry the wood of their carved image,
And pray to a god that cannot save.
²¹ Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the LORD?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.
²² “ Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
²³ I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.
²⁴ He shall say,
‘Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
²⁵ In the LORD all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.’”

Re-Center My Soul, Lord Jesus

May 9, 2007 on 11:31 pm | In Poetry, Writings | No Comments

Re-Center My Soul, Lord Jesus

My day is filled with this conversation or that piece of paper
Emails bombard me, the phone interrupts me,
Everyone needs something as quickly as possible…
Then five o’clock comes and I fight traffic to get home,
By six if I’m lucky.
Only my evening rapidly crowds in on me with
Dinner, laundry, dishes, cleaning, homework for school,
Until my bed clamors for attention.
Recreation seems a thing of the past.

Weekends are not much different really.
I wake up determined to accomplish… something.
More cleaning, dishes, emails, homework, yard work…
Shopping for groceries, the house, the car.
I wonder when I’ll get to stop doing all the things I have to,
So I can stop and stare at the sky, or shut my brain up
For just a moment of still, quiet rest without guilt.
I snatch minutes here and there—
Doing cross stitch at lunch, playing flute at church,
Making time late at night to write as I haven’t done in
So… very… long…

I keep thinking, “Tomorrow, I won’t let myself get so frantic to finish,”
Then, “Finish what?”

There are so many things in process that getting to the goal
Seems an impossibility to me, and I am suddenly overwhelmed.
This frenetic pace of my private life is somewhat silly.
What’s the rush? Someone’s deadline?
My own artificially imposed timetables create
Stress on top of stress until, like an overworked muscle,
My whole self cramps into painful immobility.
I am forced to stop, to breathe, and to contemplate who I am.

I have this crazy mind that wants to take EVERYTHING in.
I want to learn; I want to do; I want to know; I want…
More than is humanly possible for one person.
When I am realistic about what my limitations are
Versus all that I know I am capable of accomplishing,
I have to silence all the clamor of my inner child to “do” and
Remember that all I am required is to “be.”

Someone had a vision of me long ago—
A tiny bird cupped in the strong, gentle hands of my Father,
Held close to His heart like a beloved treasure.
Then He held out his hands and the bird was a broken heart.
He molded the pieces all back together until I was one—
United, healed, whole, strong, and resting in His hands.

It is difficult to halt the habitual frenzy and return,
To the core of who I know I am deep within.
The choices have become so diverse.
I keep trying to do it all and do it all well…
I can in spurts and short sprints with the ticking clock,
But inevitably, I lose momentum and motivation.
The whirlwind must give way,
Because, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”
The green pastures and still waters offer relaxation.
“He restores my soul” if I will quit struggling.

My day is still the day He made and gave me life to live.
In the center of me…
He…

Holy Father God Most High, please reign in me again.