Thirsty

Panicked, his eyes began to search the landscape, looking for something to quench the dryness in his mouth.  He felt thirst from the tear ducts of his eyes down to the cracks in his heels.  He was dry... parched... and longing for something to quench him of this feeling.  

Exhausted, he dragged his feet across the ground, feeling as if he couldn't go one step further.  He could feel the heat coming up from the ground through his shoes and into his body.  With dizziness taking over his ability to walk straight, he decided to sit down on the ground.  He leaned up against a stone circular wall.  With his hands barely holding his head up, he breathed slowly as he tried to make a plan of where to turn next.  Leaning his head back in exhaustion, he all of a sudden realized that what he was leaning against was not just a wall, it was the surrounding wall of a well.  With every ounce of hope, he pulled himself up to look over the well wall to see what lay deep down in side.  Leaning over the edge, he peered down into the darkness, but he couldn't see anything.  Defeated, he plopped back down onto the hot ground.  

Just minutes later, a man approached the well with a bucket.  "It's empty".  The man looked down, surprised to see someone sitting there.  The man with the bucket smiled and lowered his bucket down into the darkness.  A few seconds passed and the man began to pull his bucket back up.  To the tired man's surprise, the bucket was full... overflowing in fact, with water.  It glistened as the sun reflected off the surface of the liquid.  Once the bucket reached the top of the well wall, the man handed it over to the man resting on the ground.  "He who believes in me will NEVER be thirsty."

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty"  John 6:35

image by Christians @ Deviant Art

Since Before Your Birth

Dear Friend,

          We've never met, so I hope you don't find this letter weird.  I've known you since before you were born.  I knew your parents and so I was very much looking forward to your arrival.  I guess I was just writing to let you know that I love you.  I prayed for you as you were being made in your mother's womb.  I knew that you would be beautiful, smart and kind... I knew that you would sin... but most importantly, I knew that you would love.  

          I'll wait for you until the day when you are ready to meet.  Just call on me, and I'll drop everything to be there for you.  You are so precious to me and I can't wait to be apart of your life.   

                                                           Love, 

                                                              God
 

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16

Her Gifts

I see her gift of service,
As she reaches to help another.
Her heart breaks for the lonely,
She puts her needs behind all others.

I see her gift of leadership,
Strong yet gentle to those below,
Always looking for new challenges,
For ways in which she'll grow.

I see her gift of wisdom,
Seeking the Word to guide her way,
While she doubts her knowledge could be enough,
Her heart won't lead her astray.

I see her gift of discernment,
I pray she sees it too.
She knows what feels both right and wrong,
But the veil still blocks her view.

My friend, I see your beauty,
Even when you feel it's lost.
God gave you so many gifts,
And it started with the cross.


For my dear friend MLS.

Mess

She yawned, jaw wide open as far as it would go, and then she reached her arms to the ceiling in a stretch, hands in tight fists.  With heavy eyelids, she scrunched her forehead in an attempt to make the headache go away.  She felt like she had been run over by a bus...  What a mess my life has become...  she thought to herself as she pulled herself out of bed.  Pushing through the dirty clothes all over the floor, she reached the bathroom door.

Frozen, she stared at the reflection looking back at her in the mirror.  Tears began pouring down her face.  She wanted so badly to see someone else in the mirror; she didn't even recognize this person.  Who is that stranger?  While some would say she is pretty, she could no longer see the beauty that was buried deep down inside.  Her heart was pure, but she had let her outside become so filthy.  Layer after layer, she had covered herself with masks so that she could fit in with the world,  slowly covering over the once radiant beauty beneath.  She was living a life of sin, filling herself up with things to satisfy the immediate, and surrounding herself with friends who lacked the integrity that she had always looked for... What have I done?  I've worked so hard to be myself, that in the process I have lost myself...  She pressed her lips together tightly in attempt to collect herself and stop the tears.  Turning away from the mirror, she counted to five as she took a deep breath... in... and out...  She wiped her face with the sleeve of her t-shirt and pulled her bed head back into a ponytail before looking back into the mirror...  Today, I want things to be different, Lord.  It's time to clean up this mess. 



Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  James 4:8