life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “thankfulness”

24 Apr 2013

in everything give thanks.

He who takes a review of his blessings, looks upon himself as a person engaged for God… He dedicates himself to God.
– Thomas Watson

Recommended reading
One Thousand Gifts
Ann Voskamp
http://www.aholyexperience.com/


A Thousand Beautiful Things
Annie Lenox

Every day I write the list
Of reasons why I still believe they do exist
(a thousand beautiful things)
And even though it’s hard to see
The glass is full and not half empty
(a thousand beautiful things)
So, light me up like the sun
To cool down with your rain
I never want to close my eyes again
Never close my eyes
Never close my eyes

I thank you for the air to breathe
The heart to beat
The eyes to see again
(a thousand beautiful things)
And all the things that’s been and done
The battle’s won
The good and bad in everyone
(this is mine to remember)
So,
Here I go again
Singin’ by your window
Pickin’ up the pieces of what’s left to find

The world was meant for you and me
To figure out our destiny
(a thousand beautiful things)
To live
To die
To breathe
To sleep
To try to make your life complete
(yes yes)
So
Light me up like the sun
To cool down with your rain
I never want to close my eyes again
Never close my eyes
Never close my eyes
That is everything I have to say
(that’s all I have to say)

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Posted in attitude, awareness, beloved, Blessing, commitment, Faith, find art at pinterest, Letting Go, Life, Love, soul and spirit, success, thankfulness | Leave a comment
18 Apr 2013
1 Comment

tears of God

Instead of explaining our suffering, God shares it — because He knows mere answers are cold and His arms are warm.

And the cold and the bloodied and the messy are held.

And through the washing tears of the world, we see and taste the tears of God.
– Ann Voskamp
Read full article http://www.aholyexperience.com/

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Posted in awareness, beloved, Encouragement, Faith, Gospel, healing, Hope, Imagine, intimacy, Love, Reflection, soul and spirit, thankfulness, touch
14 Apr 2013

joy in heaven

Brennan Manning
writing of grace
in his human broken frame
a ragamuffin
full if love and scars
he is now home with our Abba

God brought him to me
through Wyatt
in Florida
a weird and wonderful guy
who also brought me to
Henri Nouwen
and
John Eldridge
Wow!
that was a very strange and beneficial encounter

The words and calling
of Ruthless Trust
The Ragamuffin Gospel
the truth resounding
The Furious Love of God
Abba’s Child
The Wisdom of Tenderness
Above All

I read every word of his
I can get hold of
each echo in my heart
We are here to help each other
from one ragamuffin to another
Yes, he lived his calling
in a brave and wonderful way
finding intimacy and true relationship
through imperfection
just as I have

there is great joy in heaven
as he goes home
I am sure he is enjoying
the band greatly

4/13/13

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Posted in Becoming Yourself, beloved, courage, dark, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, forgiveness, Freedom, Glory, Gospel, Gratitude, Grieving, healing, home, inspiration, intimacy, Letting Go, Life, Love, Peace, People, Reflection, Respect, soul and spirit, Tenderness, thankfulness, truth | Leave a comment
12 Apr 2013
1 Comment

here to help each other

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Why doesn’t anyone tell you? That whenever you want to stick your head in the sand — is when you need to stick your hand out for help.

That fear only happens when you try to go alone. It’s why all the angels always come with light and say do not be afraid. It’s why He says I am always with you and I won’t ever forsake.

Burden is only a weight when borne alone. When the burden is borne together, by a Body, the burden becomes bond — soul strengthener.
– Ann Voskamp

Posted in action, Adventure, awareness, beloved, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, friendship, Gratitude, Love, People, Relationships, thankfulness
03 Apr 2013

the only real question

The question is not
How am I to love God?
But,
How am I to let myself be loved by God?
– Henri Nouwen

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Posted in awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, find art at pinterest, Life, Love, Quotes, receiving, soul and spirit, thankfulness | Leave a comment
01 Apr 2013

absorbing grief

Have you sat with grief?
Have you let it wring you dry?
Leave you swollen and exhausted
in it’s wake?
Allowed the pain from the inner depths of hell,
deeper than you knew existed,
to ooze out,
bubble up into your heart,
so that your tears could begin
to wash you clean?
So it can absorb into your highest self,
and make you all you can be?
Have you asked yourself
the questions with no answers?
can you allow them to just co-exist with you,
knowing for sure that life is good,
finding space for gratitude
even in the unanswerable?
Have you walked, and talked,
with death and your losses?
Your innocence murdered
by anger and hate?
Precious time stolen
by monsters and ogres?
Heart trampled
by words of violence and sarcasm?
Are you familiar with vulnerability?
With allowing your deepest feelings,
painful feelings,
raw feeling,
real feelings,
to come out of the grave
where you try to hide them?
Exposing your wounds,
old and new?
I know how hard it is,
I know.
I try to avoid it too.
I also know the truth.
It must be done.
It is the broken road to healing.
To life!
The more we feel,
the more we can feel.
Go deep, my friend
Open up wide.
Sit a spell and let it bubble.
Feel it all.
It will feel rotten for a while,
then comes the morning
you wake up good as new!
New and improved.
I promise you won’t regret it.
Just trust me on this one.
I am well acquainted with grief.
I am intimately familiar
with the process.

AL 4/1/13

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Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, courage, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, Grieving, healing, Life, Love, thankfulness, Uncategorized, Vulnerability, Winning | Leave a comment
29 Mar 2013

nothing but love

God is love; sin is denial of love:
denial of God’s love for us,
of our love for one another,
of love’s power over all other powers.
We deny the Lord, we say “I do not know you,”
when we substitute deserving or order,
efficiency or security for love.
Our denial of love can only lead us
to violence, to evil, to harm.
Ah, how we wound each other
trying to be Safe.

But in the face of our violence
the Gentle One comes to show us the way,
the way of love, the triumphant way of love.

His friends misunderstand him,
fail him, deny and betray him;
and he loves them,
and gives himself to them.

People accuse him and humiliate him,
assault and arrest him;
and he loves them, and heals them.

They judge him and condemn him,
attack him in a mob, beat him
and torture him to death;
and he loves them and forgives them.

He will not deny them love.
Nothing can overcome his love.
In the end their righteousness fails;
their evil and its power,
even death and its power
are swallowed up in his life-giving love.
This is resurrection.

He has already won the victory
and we are still fighting him.

We wrench ourselves away from God
and one another, but love still holds us anyway;
our rebellion comes to nothing.
Even our deepest evil is overcome,
and we are left helplessly, completely
and purely beloved.
In the end we are left with nothing at all
but love.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

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Posted in Becoming Yourself, beloved, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Gospel, Letting Go, Life, Love, Poetry, soul and spirit, thankfulness, Uncategorized, Winning | Leave a comment
24 Mar 2013

as You are

May I know You in intimacy
So that I walk only in Your love
May the stone of my heart
Melt like lemon drops
May the jagged edges of my soul
Become soft like the clouds of the spring sky
May the thorny barbs of my speech
Melt into honey as they touch the air
May the harsh judgements of my willful mind
Become mushy like the mud of the spring snow
preparing for the new growth and rebirth of love and hope in this
amazing watercolor world
May I be a part of new and abundant life
Melting and becoming everyday the hands, heart and soul of my savior
May I truly be
light and salt
in this hard, jagged, barren world

As You are
So let me be

AL 3/23/13

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Posted in awareness, beloved, Blessing, Change, Choice, confidence, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gospel, intimacy, Life, Love, Relationships, soul and spirit, Tenderness, thankfulness, Uncategorized, words | Leave a comment
19 Mar 2013

winter. spring. winter

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, but there’s six inches of snow in the yard and it’s still coming down. In the woods where days ago there were pools there are now piles of snow. We are ready for spring to come, but it comes in fits and starts. As a little girl once said, “I’ve figured out the seasons. It goes summer, autumn, winter, spring, winter, spring, winter, spring.” Of course all the seasons do that. This is just the Vernal version of Indian Winter. We notice it most in spring because we long so deeply for renewal.

Sunday is Palm Sunday, and as Jesus enters Jerusalem we’ll celebrate him as a king, shouting praise. But before the service is over we’ll be shouting, “Crucify him!” Winter, spring, winter…. We are saved, but we are still working out our salvation. We are one with God and with all Creation, but we trust our oneness only in fits and starts. We who are made new still long for renewal. We believe; God help our unbelief.

Neither we nor the Church nor society are “getting better every day.” Some days we get worse. But Jesus understands. He knows his disciples will deny him, but says, “Listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your sisters and brothers” (Lk. 22.31-32).

Neither our inner nor our outer lives are one smooth, simple arc like a hit baseball. The path is rough and winding. We rise and fall, dip and swing, lurch and stop and lurch again. Stuff happens. But through it all, Jesus walks with us and prays for us. The Spirit bears us on. Spring is in us still, working its life-giving magic, producing renewal. It just doesn’t come all at once, forever. The Beloved breathes in us, and even in our failures and desolations we are becoming more fully the beloved people God creates us to be. Under the snow the crocuses keep pushing up; the buds still swell on the trees.

Even when spring reverts to winter in your soul, shovel the snow, but keep the faith. We are being transformed, from one degree of glory to another. We are being re-created. The world is turning, and our inconsistencies can’t stop it. The Spirit is living and growing in you. Wait for the Lord.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

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Posted in Becoming Yourself, beloved, commitment, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, Life, Love, Patience, People, Seasons, soul and spirit, Spring, thankfulness, Trust, truth, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
14 Mar 2013

words that capture the feeling of spring

Goods

It’s the immemorial feelings
I like the best: hunger, thirst,
their satisfaction; work-weariness,1
earned rest; the falling again
from loneliness to love;
the green growth the mind takes
from the pastures in March;
The gayety in the stride
of a good team of Belgian mares
that seems to shudder from me
through all my ancestry.

by Wendell Berry
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Change, connection, find art at pinterest, Life, Love, Miracles, nature, Relationships, Seasons, soul and spirit, Spring, thankfulness, Thoughts | Leave a comment

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