Sunday, December 24, 2006

Guessing Games



I'm guessing this is what You were like on Christmas Eve, too!
Only You were more excited about the gift You were giving us
all the pre-planning, angels in dreams, the timing, the moment
And what a moment it was . . .

"and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7

Friday, December 15, 2006

the Upside Down show




her favorite channel has a new show
The Upside Down Show
Two quirky guys from Australia who
bring a new style to children's television
as I sit her and listen to her giggle
and watch the reflection in her eyes
she is lost in a place where logic is challenged
and imagination is stretched like taffy at the fair
reminding me of my own red letter upside down show
when the last shall be first
and the meek shall inherit the earth
when reaching down to the least of these brings us up to You
and in your face questions leave a buckets of stones unthrown
when "eye for an eye" becomes "turn the other cheek"
and all it takes is a mustard seed
where sheep can have minds of their own
and where a tiny grain of salt is where the real flavor begins
as we face the end of December
I'm reminded how it all began
when a king was born in a feeding trough
in the most unlikely of towns
Thank you for the hope, the crazy ideas,
the riddles, the silence, the long walks with the guys
and for pulling the rug out from under humanity
Thank you for the true gift of the Upside Down Show

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Matthew 5:17

Saturday, December 09, 2006

What a Beauty


"Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I'm back home in the house of God for the rest of my life." Psalm 23:6

I was there when she took her first breath
Her first smile, her first laugh, her first step,
Here first word, her first cry, first fever, her first sigh,
I love to reach back while driving
She knows exactly what to do
She just sweetly slips her little hand around mine
"I love you too Mommy"
Four years old . . .
reading words on her own
writing letters I can read
coloring inside the lines
playing house with Barbies
why is it so difficult
. . . when it goes so fast?
I want to swim in every moment of her little life
like staying in the bathtub until you get all pruny
I want to guide her to You
like a horse to water or a bird from a cage,
I want her to know beauty beyond Barbie and dresses and pink
I want her to know the Beauty of You.
Until then,
help me to slow the clock
play tug of war with the calendar
chase her with You
and swim in the moments until I get all pruny
What a beauty