Simple

Sitting drinking coffee
The taste, smell and relaxation.
Feeling it refresh as it fills the mouth.

Observing the good in humanity.
Customer service done right.
Each person polite, patient and smiling.
Taking the time to communicate.

Exchanging stories with charity workers.
One person pausing to help another.
Strolling along through the park.
Watching as the sun moves, altering nature's colours.

Reading a good book in a hammock.
Taking down crisp, sun-dried washing.
Watching and laughing as dogs play.
Venturing out, exploring new places.

Such simple moments in life.
To cherish them, do one thing.
Look up from your screens!
Stop. Leave the house and observe.

Treasure all these things.

In His Hands

Lord, who would I be without you?
How would I see the world?
What would fill my heart?

Time and time again temptations.
Time and time again questions.

Where should I find my motivation?
Why do I even gather with your people?
Will this questioning end?

        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To everything there is a season.
The season of questioning has finished.

Here I am with you, safe and loved.
Here I am my Father, saved by grace.
Here I am to worship, just as I am in you.

Thank You that nothing can clutch me from your hands.
Welcomed as one of your beloved children.

Little Things

Sometimes on the grey days and the black days,
we are prone to focus on the darkness.
But it is far better to look at the shoots and the stars.
Those little stars in the bleak blackness.

A call from a friend.
A walk with the dog.
A good book that makes you laugh.

All of these are can lift the weight off you.
Each little thing helps.
They don't have to be complex.

A hug rather than a worried look.
A small task completed for you.
A meal made for you.

Just little things, but they make life worth continuing.
Every little sensation.
A taste. A touch. A feel. A smell.

Thank You God for all the little things.
For even when there is darkness all around...
I will choose to fix my eyes upon the little things.
Starting with a breath and ending with a poem.

Autumn

The dark and the dull contrasts with

the vibrant texture of the leaves and their environs.

The earth heals from the trials of summer.

It changes its semblance, 

settling into the deep sleep of winter.

And it will rejuvenate, preparing to light up the eyes,

As it lifts the heart and the soul, with an array of colour.

But not just yet, for now I look upon it with passionate appreciation.

For this is when God tucks up his creation for its hibernation,

He instructs it to restore us with the sounds, sights, and the shear joys Autumn.

Thankyou God for carefully and thoughtfully, designing each season.

Especially for blessing us, with this time of Autumn.

Sunrise

The gentle awakening. A little nudge to the brain. "time we both got up." Says the sun.

Opening my eyes blearily, I begin to realise the gradual changes in the light,
as colours appear across the sky.
Blue, purple, pink, orange, yellow, all merging together.
They are enhanced by the dark, majestic eucalyptus,
and the soft ground with the dew still upon it.

The colours of the clouds alter to sliver grey and the sky grows increasingly blue.
The sun begins to warm the earth,
I become more aware of my surroundings.
I listen as all of creation rejoices at the new day.
At this moment I smile, watching my dog's exaltation as she bounds around,
pausing to sniff each smell that is of interest to her, relishing her freedom.

I thank my heavenly Father for the peace I experience at this time.
Here in this place.
In the dawning of the day.

"This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it"
Psalm 118:24

To my sister, who challenges me with love.

Comprehension

People are afraid of what they do not understand.

Some even avoid the unknown-

People that look and act differently to what they consider 'normal'

Music, listening to other languages, music, cultures, and accents and pronunciations, 

that they cannot understand, and so don't begin to make the attempt. 

Some time ago I became aware that I did this too. 

I then set myself a challenge to try the things that scared me. 

Try new things, talking to people different from me, 

embracing and acknowledging new ideas. 

I joined a Gaelic Choir, began to learn sign language and 

had more in-depth conversations with my sister (a Geologist). 

Doing these things has taught me that not understanding something 
can in fact be invigorating. 

There are two reactions- to wonder, say this is amazing, yet then just walk away.

Or to admire and to get inspired to discover more

about the astounding world we live in.

I once did only the former, now I rejoice in continuously doing the latter. 

Because I believe that we need to do a little of each, a little salt, a little pepper. 

We must investigate to marvel; to become lost in our admiration of, 

what I consider to be, God's intriguing and intricate creation.  

To rejoice in every sensation, uncovering each pattern within.

Now I challenge you readers, grow with me as human beings. 

As a tree sprouting new leaves from its nodes,

letting them develop into leaves, and from leaves to form branches. 

Go on... try something new, do something that scares you, allow yourselves to 

look beyond your own personal understanding. It may just be worth it.

Perhaps together we can create something unique.  

Diversity might then cease to make us tremble. 

Be brave... share with me in my delight. 

A Moment.

A cool breeze billows, enveloping all things.

The waves dissipate as they sink gently into the sand.

They collide with the rocks,forming intricate crevices in them.

The sun concludes its prolonged and solitary

journey down the sky and there it rests on the horizon.

The trees are as statues that bring honor to their maker.

These are the numerous observations of a moment.

What a generous God we have that

he provides us with such moments.

In this he shows to us one aspect of his magnificence.

Such moments as these are well worth the treasuring.

Just like our relationship with our creator,

well worth the treasuring...

The Restoration of Creation

When the Lord first created the world

he created the world's first and best masterpiece.

When sin was introduced by mankind,

the canvas began to wear.

As time progressed it faded more and more

and the cracks became deeper and deeper.

Then our saviour came and

his death and ministry started

to restore the canvas of creation.

When he returns the restoring work

will be completed.

Then all will be made anew.

At the very least it will be as good as it was

before sin arrived.

Old Books: An Addiction

As I stand beside my bookshelf and gaze upon my collection of aged novels

I consider which of these of whose scent to delight in.

As I open one of Charles Dickens' talented works;

a small and mostly unheard of book named 'The Chimes',

I consider those that have read the novel before me.

I think of the lives they have lived as I inhale the fragrant scent of the novel,

I note the difference between this compilation of pages

and that of other classic works,

works by authors such as Agatha Christie and John Bunyan.

As I inhale their gentle lemon-rose perfume,

cocooned in my many bedclothes and blankets,

I begin to read 'The Fellowship of the Ring'.

Embroiling myself in its pages, I continue my journeyings with

those nine courageous companions making their ways down

those treacherous paths to dispose of the one ring.

I simply cannot contain my admiration of Tolkien's superior

dexterity with the English language, it is singularly enthralling.

My bookcase is like the tinder-box of the literary passion within me,

as soon as I take a novel out of it the fire begins, and is rekindled.

And once it has begun there is no stopping it.

As I finish my chapter I take my last sniff and then...

And then something catches my eye and the fire travels across my vision

to my Ukulele.

I start to play, and the music embraces me like an old friend.

Then as my fingers remember where they should be,

I exchange one addiction for another.

I lose myself in its cluches.

I am absorbed in my music as my fingers remember their skill,

I am driven to a new fuel for my passion.

I am engulfed by it, as I fly on the wings of music.

I use it to praise my Lord and saviour.