Quite the Character

Her commitment to character astounds me.

some secret six year old desire to be a shape shifter

gracefully slithering into different disguises

walking to her craftily composed epic soundtrack

in the playground of her imagination.

Designing new shapes and lines with eyes of intent

and a tongue out to the side.

Always singing a new song that makes us lean in to listen.

Two years now of inventing her own character

No chance in a trick-or-treat of meeting her twin on the streets

originality the name of the game.

Last year, it was Sylon, the ninja princess,

yielding her sword of truth and quick-moving hands,

fighting for justice in hot pink and glitter.

This year Frostina, an icy heroine,

who can freeze objects as well as time,

fighting for justice, caped for battle,

and missing her two front teeth.

Known for her one-liners and endless energy

a world where everything is more than it seems

a folded blanket could be the roof of the fort

a marker, paper and glue keys to a storybook world

and a towel the cape that makes you fly.

She inspires me, challenges me, and makes me dream.

And I dream of what You will do with all this

how it could last and grow with her height

Until she falls into Your arms instead of ours

holding onto her gift of imagination

shape shifting into a new heroine for You

fighting for justice with a sword of truth

that's really a leather bound book

in her quick-moving hands.
Still designing new shapes and lines with eyes of intent
and a tongue out to the side.

Always singing a new song that makes us lean in to listen.

Still known for her one-liners and endless energy
and living in a world where everything is more than it seems
where Your Son is on the street corner waiting to be fed

Your Spirit is in the storybook truth, sticking in her mind like glue

and You are the purpose that keeps her flying.

And at the end of her life, all who knew her,

especially You,

would smile and say,

"Her commitment to character astounds me."

"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." Epehesians 4:14-16

"Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius."

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

"He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the LORD." Psalm 40:3

"My faith is not what I write about or what I paint about, but it is the light by which I see."Flannery O'Conner

Over Pressure

I've decided to break up with Pressure.

He's messing with my head

keeping me from You

and sucking all abundance from this life.

Addition and subtraction of You vs. him

and I've been letting him win the equations.

But we have a history

he's clinging on like a stalker in the bushes

a voice in my ears

a vice grip on my head.

But I'm trading Him in for Privilege,

the honor of trusting You

with the Christmas train whistle bearing down

high pitched and squealing like a tea kettle,

the calendar moving and clicking by too fast

like a broken, flapping film strip,

and everyone's looking for me to fix it.

To give them the big ending to the movie they demand.

And they all want something different.

He's clingy, suffocating and persistent,

bearing down on the palette until it's all blended to goopy brown

never letting up until I'm all dried up.

But Your kind of pressure is liberating

breath-taking, and brings the brightest colors to my brush

leading me to higher ground, untouched.

So I'm trading Pressure in for Privilege today.

seam-ripping through this elastic prison

out in the open with You

because no matter what Pressure says

You got this.

"Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. poor Christians." 2 Corinthians 8:2-3

"Talking is a hydrant in the yard and writing is a faucet upstairs in the house. Opening the first takes the pressure off the second.” Robert Frost

"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." James 1:1-3

“Pressure is a word that is misused in our vocabulary. When you start thinking of pressure, it's because you've started to think of failure.” Tommy Lasorda

"The pressure never let up;
all the juices of my life dried up.
Then I let it all out;
I said, "I'll make a clean breast of my failures to God."
Suddenly the pressure was gone—
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared.
These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray;
when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts
we'll be on high ground, untouched."

Psalm 32:4-6