When deep calls

When the call sounds
It's deep and it's wild
It's a call that whispers
It's a call that resounds

It's an offer of mercy
It's the free gift of grace
It's the joy of forgiveness
And a glimpse of His face

When that call sounds
My heart echoes and it cries
It leaps at the timbre
And all else it denies

For to be near You is my "most"
It's the "all" of my heart
It's colour and meaning and life and... it's breath
God, keep me close - I could never live apart.


"Deep calls to deep. All your waves have gone over me..."
"Set me as a seal upon your arm, upon your heart. For love is stronger than death..." Song of Songs

Choices

Go to a debate about the Bible and attend talks....  OR .... spend an hour in worship and intercession with other passionate people before the Throne. 

There is no choice.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God.

Keeping it real. Some things can't be substituted.

how easily

hello - I say
not now, the news is on
and I feel like putting down the phone
later, we're busy
is dad free
no, he's watching tv
and I am left wondering at the ease of which a conversation ends

before it has started

# IValueWhatYouHaveToSay
@ IAmInterestedInMyChild

let me put down the phone, turn off the computer, unplug the tv
let me live in TODAY 
in THIS place You have granted me to unfold
the patterns of the days of my life 
ENGAGING with the precious people surrounding me

amen. let the lights turn off. 

Things

Last night my small girl said: "Mommy, sometimes I like things more than Jesus. But I want to like Jesus most.'

The battle for the human heart rages!

No junior Holy Spirit

Hmm. Wonder why we water down what we teach our kids?! If God is real (and I know him) then I can't be satisfied with giving my kids a junior version of God. He's just as interested in their "small" circumstances as my adult circumstances. 

Oh Lord, be the centre of OUR lives. And MY family. 

A children's revival in the bible?

Have you ever read this verse before? 

Matthew 21:15  But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant,
So who was crying out in the temple? Crying out Jesus' praises?  

It was the children. Hmm. Sounds like children knew Him personally. 

Mark 10:13 & 14  And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. B
ut when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

Jesus came for the children... let's be literal here!

Luke 1:16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,
Jesus spent time with little children... and they knew him more than those who were supposedly wise and understanding (and older). 

Luke 10:21  In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

And the children participated in whatever happened together with the men, and their wives. No separate holding area for kids!

Acts 21:4  And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And uthrough the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, vaccompanied us until we were outside the city. And wkneeling down on the beach, we prayed 6 and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

The children even prophesied - 4 unmarried daughters meant that the oldest could have been no older than 18, and the youngest possibly younger than 10. 

Acts 21:8 
7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted xthe brothers2 and stayed with them for one day. 8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of yPhilip zthe evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, awho prophesied

Our mandate is clear

Ephesians 6:4  Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

John wrote to the children too....

1 John 2:12  I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

1 John 2: 13  I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.  I write to you, children, because you know the Father.

The children knew God Almighty as a Father!  And John reassures them. And then he teaches them how to know a good person from a bad one...

1 John 3:7  Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.

John teaches little children how love is shown...

1 John 3:18  
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

And he reassures them that God is greater than their fears

1 John 4:4  
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

An admonition to children: 

1 John 5:21  Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

John rejoiced in some of the children of his fellow Christians: 

2 John 1:4  I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

Whew. Let me get this right then. Children were part of worship, in the temple, around Jesus, involved in praying and prophesying, taught, discipled, leading and integral to Christian life. 

The challenge is on!

I pray that I can teach my kids all this so that they are alive now, and not lost when they are teens. I pray that I will echo John: 

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

A box of brownies. Really.

Yes, really. A box of brownies. The picture shared with me by a lovely young girl at a weekend conference this weekend. And while I was wondering "why brownies?" she continued with an interpretation of the picture she had seen. 

"I saw God giving you a big white box of brownies. And then he said that you needed to stop and savour each individual brownie on its own. Not just munch and then put down the box. Each brownie has been specially and differently made, for you. Take the time to enjoy the flavours and patterns and tastes."

So I took a deep breath and stepped back from some hurried plans, and enjoyed the moment, then headed to the pause area to get some lunch. And lo and behold, I was offered a piece of brownie by the person on my left. I chuckled to myself and made sure I ate it slowly. Then the lovely lady on my left brought me a cup of coffee - and another brownie. By the end of lunch time I had a sugar high, and had got the point!

It's time to stop and savour what you bring my way, Lord, instead of rushing through life at high speed and then disappearing off to the next thing. 

Noted!

Liefdegroete

The greeting that brings love
Liefdegroete

And then there are the greetings that open up the past
And a host of hellos and goodbyes
Flood memory
Of joy and tears
And years shared or missed in between

I don't want to go there
Back to my young adult self which raced and adventured and won
And lost
To have to remember the goodbyes again

I am too fragile today

And so a friend I made so recently
Sends "liefdegroete"
While I weep for the friend of my teens

Because having not yet said hello, we have already said goodbye

And.
That is the way it is.

(To the tune of the song you wrote for me when we were teenagers. In the year before I lost a mother, my song was "some day... one day."   Friend, I wish we had a "today".  But these moments I'll grab with you... oh, I hurt. ) 

Softly ...

Softly turns the light
Soft the cheek aged and worn
Soft the hands that lie on a blanket
And soft the breath that ends it all

To wake at last
To turn into the light
To become firm and young
To smile in indescribable joy
At the One who comes with delight
And is the All of all

"For now we see as though through a mirror, dimly, then we shall see face to face. Now we know in part,  then we shall know fully, even as we are fully known." 1 Cor 13:12

For Debbie's mother, who has lived fully, loved wholeheartedly and is loved by many, not least the One she loved most. And is now home!

Up side down

Upside down kingdom
A king who came to die
Rich who serve the poor
Prayer that moves heaven
Truth that brings healing
Worship that echoes love and
Words that speak a world into being
And I stand in the midst of it all
Amazed

That in my perceived world of power and IT and games
The truth is an upside down kingdom
The truth is that I am not insignificant
My voice moves His heart
My hands change the fabric of this daily life
Life is marked by the tears and joy of the God
Who rules an upside down kingdom

This is the upside down kingdom
This is a King who came to die
We are the Rich who serve the poor
We pray the Prayer that moves heaven
We know the Truth that brings healing
Our Worship echoes love, and
Our Words speak His kingdom into being
And We stand in the midst of it all

Amazed

Bunnies

Bunnies hopping past, leaving gifts
Symbols of life but in reality of gratification
The cross stands empty while the world looks for eggs
And the words of the Creator echo in the stars
IT IS FINISHED
While for mankind it has only begun
Our search for meaning and our search for gold
Our cry to be powerful, in charge, large
We self-actualise and internalise
AND HE OPENED HIS ARMS AND DIED
Why don't we realise

We are DESIRED by God Almighty
LOVED by the Son
PURSUED by the Spirit

THAT GOD SO loved THE WORLD
open our ears
THAT HE GAVE
soften our hearts
HIS ONLY SON
may we see
THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM
this is who we are searching for
WILL NOT DIE BUT LIVE
we are dead in our sins and our attempts at salvation
HIS NAME IS JESUS
move us from death to life

At the well

Running, I stumble and... I fall
Because I've heard your voice, I've heard you call

My heart cries out
YOU... have chosen me

YOU... have called... me.

Broken, yearning, I'm lying at your feet
And then you lift me from my weariness and defeat
My rags are removed and you clothe me in white.
I am your bride, LOVED... in whom you delight!

So I'll pour out MY passion
I'll POUR OUT my praise
I'll delight in YOU... Jesus
With every breath, all my days.

> For Mary, for Martha, for the woman at the well. For the women who need to hear His voice calling their name. 

Stop for the one...

"Bevan's dead" dropped like a stone into the pond of my heart
Ripples of devastation and grief overflowed like tsunamis
Washing away preconceived ideas and some hopes of healing
Scouring my thoughts and then draining away to leave empty land

And in the barren place that I found, I wept
For you, my friend, and my tears were as silent as the world you lived in
Full of motion and colour and vibrance, silenced
And you are gone, no longer here

My voice is choked by the tears from my heart that fall like rain
Yet when I cease my inner wail of loss (oh, how your mother weeps)
I can hear the faint notes of hope, and if I LISTEN I can hear worship
Pouring out, splashing forth, rising, welling up, crying out

And you are in the light, the hope, the joy, the dance
As sound explodes in your ears and your hand is in His
How faithfully you served and loved and gave, my friend
To the very last breath, and to this world's end...

> In memory of Bevan Heyns. My friend. Who breathed out here, and breathed in there! To Bevan, whose body is whole, and who has come home. Not here, but not gone. I may have interpreted for just one person for 3 years, but how rich I am because of your friendship and what you gave back to me.

What a thought! And what a love...

Between tear and sky

They call you a tiny twinkle somewhere deep in my eye
That blinks in that space found only between tear and sky
Your footsteps and laughter echo in my heart
And in my dreams you are always a part

In a moment of hope your marvellous life's beat began
With laughter and prayer and us holding God's hand
Then you slipped away quietly and I mourn your loss
My tears are silent and my emotions are tossed

My child, I did not hold you or hear your first breath
As you came into life it seems you fell into death
Yet I know that one day I will have the joy
Of hearing your voice and touching you, my girl or my boy!

That moment of meeting holds out such life
It means I can travel through this grief and inner strife
My pleading is silenced and joy wells again
Your name is written in His book - Amen. 

....  
For a dear friend who has more children than she can hug in the here and now. The prayers and hopes and dreams of a few sweet days are before the Throne, and Him who holds a small person until that day. 

"And there before me, I saw the Throne..." 
"He who promised, is called Faithful and True."
"For He so loved us..."
"For I have plans to give you hope and a future."