Rebirth #easter #love #sacrifice

It was a chrysalis; a pod that holds a baby butterfly. I looked up in the tree above.

“You fell didn’t you? How can I get you back?” There was no answer, no help.

I carried the chrysalis to my cave and put it in a very safe place. “What should I do with you? Should I bury you? I can’t.”

For 3 days Judah paced and mumbled in his cave. He couldn’t eat because he was sad about the small creature who had died.

Then on day 3, he heard a tiny voice. “Hello.” Is anyone there?”

“Hello” I saw the pod changing colour and I was afraid. “How can I help?” I said rather loudly.

“I must be hanging from something or I cannot come out the right way.”

I looked around in my cave. Then I grabbed the stub where the chrysalis had been attached to the tree. I let it hang down between my teeth. “Okay.”

I spent many hours as my wings little by little came out of the pod. When my eyes popped open, I saw something large and sharp. “What are those?” I tried to sound calm.

“My teeth.”

“What do you use them for?”

“Eating.”

“Like small creatures?”

“I eat many things.”

“Um, Mr Lion can you put me back where I came from.”

“The tree was too high. I can’t do it.”

I was too tired to argue. Maybe he would give me time to fly away. It was not easy, but I kept unfolding and drying my wet wings. I finally climbed on his big nose. I waved a wing at his eyes. “Hello, I’m Bethany. Can we be friends?”

“Oh yes. You are so beautiful. I would like to be friends very much.”

“Do lions eat their friends?”

“Never.”

***

“My God my God why have You forsaken me?” Mark 15:34

Many of us feel forsaken during these days of CoVid 19. God has not closed His eyes to our suffering. He’s right there.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. His heart broke because our sins separated Him from the love of God  (for those 3 days.) Why would he do that? Because He loved us and wanted to free us. Judah the lion didn’t save the cocoon to then eat the butterfly. Jesus didn’t die for ours sins to then condemn us to eternal hell.

No one expected that in three days he would rise from the dead.  He is very much alive and we can be redeemed because sin has no hold on us in Christ. Just like Bethany the beautiful butterfly was reborn so can we be reborn in Jesus.

“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.” Matthew 28:6

So rejoice-  Easter is the promise that death could not hold Jesus. It cannot hold us either.

 

 

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, (nor CoVid19) neither angels nor demons,[b]neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~Romans 8:38 & 39

 

Be suspended in the rays of Easter’s hope. Be loved by the one who died on the cross for YOU!!!

 

 

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I Want To Die… #devotion #prayer #Covid19

A wave pushes me under

look in eyes of anathema

there’s never been love’s glow

my spirit is weak

I tremble alone

you hand me the knife

“Do it. “

die- get it over with

there is one

heard my cry in the wilderness

***

The words pour out. One woman echos the words of thousands of other women as the hour is sounded.

“I WANT TO DIE…”

She is weary from hope. Desperation claims her breath, anguish has consumed her life force.

The will that remains is for an end – death.

I cannot reach a hand of hope to hers. I cannot touch her heart with my tears, but there is one who can.

His name is Jesus.

Two thousand years ago this humble servant walked dusty roads to love the lost, heal the lepers, free those in bondage, die for the sins of the world.

 

“As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy and dark day.”

Ezekiel 34:12

Jesus came not to be served or elevated to a kingly throne “but to seek and save the lost.”

A woman lonely, distressed with a disease is emptied of hope. She hears about Jesus and believes that his love will save her.  As she barely touches the hem of his tunic, she is healed and saved..

This nameless women cry in the night. He holds bottles filled with their tears. “Lord heal me, Lord save me, Lord forgive me, Lord LOVE ME.”

This day as you look at Corona Virus death tolls look to the shepherd who knows your name. He hears your cry, knows your fear, and with grace and mercy longs to rescue you!!!!

 

Restored #forgiveness #poetry #uganda

They curse the dry unyielding ground

stubble from impotent crops remain

toppled huts call out in anger

“we will never be whole again

they have maligned our children

destroyed our spirit”

only bitter weeds grow strong

***

lovingly they pour water on hardened ground

fingers soiled with ancestral dirt

music filters through new huts

golden maize dances to life’s song

children’s laughter reaches blue expanse

“we are known as the place of the light”

Pasqual’s face radiates hope

***

The LRA displaced the Acholi tribes in Northern Uganda. Not one family was untouched. “I was abducted as a child.” “My wife was raped at 9.” “We ran over the bodies of dead family members.” “Our village was destroyed.”

For the Acholi there are two choices – bitterness or forgiveness.

In no way is the forgiveness easy but only through it can life begin fresh and new.

Only in love can a new song be written in the heart of these strong people.

 

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:31 & 32
Poets United has an awesome community of poets/writers. Read the words of these fantastic folks here.

 

Sigh #poets #photography

flower

grappled with your verse

making much sense

turned them over in my head

all the things that you’d said

your blue was grey

my yellow faded away

we loved the same

I caressed your name

lost in your prose

how you did it who knows

“we never met” I sigh

 I live between your lines

***

two women poets

changing seasons kept  apart

loved the same man

The Gift Giver #Christmas #giving #generosity #children

 

Generous the soul that gives

what little he possess

in such a manner shed a light

gave life’s gift away

***

~Some stories are easier to tell in prose~

There was a boy neither old nor young he had two little sisters.

He wasn’t strong nor was he weak but always a protector.

There came a season barren, cold his family had but little

warmth  they always had, the holidays were special .

I’d known this boy about  a year

a leader one day it was clear.

His challenges were plenty

disability one of many

bad was the year and business worse

 our family agreed these children had worth.

Mine gathered from under the tree

they’d learned kindness and generosity

we took these gifts that Christmas Eve

Six children danced with joy and glee

That little boy looked to my son

 eyes full of glimmers and fun

 what he loved most with to play

 A big heart he gave this thing away.

I remember Leon at this season

knowing his struggles had a reason

 

And with Leon, we celebrate the greatest gift giver of all times…

” For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6

 

Wishing a Merry Christmas to Family and Friends near and far!!!!

 

A Gift to U #uganda #christmas

 

The gift I send is love

you cant pack it in a box

or wrap it up and send it on a plane with a friend

1000 beads cant take its place

red, green and silver ribbon can’t outshine its beauty

it can’t be sealed in ziploc bags with a kiss

village children won’t make it in class

it can’t be hung on a tree

this kind of love was born in a manager

gave up all priviledge

scratchy hay against a baby’s skin

no kingly courts celebrated His arrival

He was despised, rejected

few heard the songs sung for Him

centuries cant outdistance the meaning

sacrifice became love

love became a free gift

it is what I send to my friends in Uganda this Christmas

and to you!

 

In October I started putting together a package of christmas gifts and crafts for 100 children. Love was placed in ziploc bags. A package went in luggage with a friend who went to Uganda in November. There was plenty of time for the children to receive their Christmas goodies. “The airlines regrets to tell you that your luggage was lost in transit.” I hope somewhere children are able to enjoy the crafts and gifts that were inside that lost luggage.  The best gift is the love I can send to my Pawell, Lacor and Gulu family – each of you is precious and loved beyond measure by the King.

 

 

 

And I can… #poetry #art #love #uganda

 

you ask me what I do

so many hats sit in a corner

I point…

some are dusty

others can no longer be worn

I’m tired…

paper leaves scatter

rose petals crumble with age

misunderstood…

children I have loved

stories I have told

one heart…

no value a head shakes

pennies fall from my pocket

hope hangs …

trial and error

at times I want to give up

but one word…

inspires me to try

ignited and refreshed

by LOVE!!!

 

 

I dedicate this to my dear friends / family in No. Uganda. Your love is not based on aquisition of things, a degree, a profession. It is given freely. That is the kind of love that God has for each of us.