Pieces of a Stained Glass Window
My life is in pieces
Which you intentionally broke
Like pieces for a stained glass window
Shattered my once solid illusions
Broke up my long-held,
Wrong-held
Beliefs
I’m breaking up
Cracking up
Shattering
In a brilliant white light
I’m falling
Will you catch me?
How did I come upon this place,
This foreign land of foreign tongue?
Strangers, strangers, everyone —
I don’t fit in and don’t belong.
He sent me to a foreign land
To people that I did not know
His goal I did not understand
I had to plant new roots and grow
Doubts and fears — they crowded in.
My faith was fragile, but survived.
Mistakes, delusions, sometimes sin;
And still He kept right by my side.
My soul was bitter; my way was hard.
But oft’ a glorious light broke through.
He sent companions to my side;
His friends and mine His love showed true.
And now I know His purpose great
His plan He had to orchestrate.
This life is not for foolish pride,
But that His name be magnified.
Heaven is my real home,
“The only goal,” I said three times,
And sent my children on their way
With blessings in the Father’s name.
And so life’s circle has come full:
The morning, noon, then day is done.
The life that from the darkness rose
Goes back to meet the Father’s Son.
Behind the Scenes
———————-
Quietly, behind the scenes
God’s love is working
As we dream.
We fuss, we fret;
Still He directs
The drama of our life’s events
Like a conductor
Does He lead
With perfect timing
Meets a need
Never early, never late
Life’s music He does orchestrate
What seems to be a tragedy
Though deeply sad, can really be
A door to further growth, you see
Though painful, it will to Him lead
For the Children
There can be an ache inside
Truly cannot be denied
We try to hide the pain inside
But pretty soon the hurts collide
With others’, and the wound gets wide
I had two mommies, don’t you see
They really didn’t think of me
And no one ever thought of them
The cycle it goes ’round again
I only had a mom, you see
My dad and her could not agree
And so he left; they could not see
A way to be in harmony
I had two dads; ’twas really sad.
Wondered who my mother was;
I cried sometimes at night because
She never was
I had a mom and dad, you see
But dad was gone emotion’ly
He read his paper, watched TV
Didn’t have the time for me
Oh, who cares for the children?
Who really cares?
Dads and moms, they were abandoned.
Never learned to love, it saddened
Their hearts, but they could never see
What it did to you, to me
The only way to get beyond it
Is seek God’s way; you’ve got to find it.
Move beyond the pain and anguish
God’s way for life we must establish.
Forgive, let go, and let it show
God’s joy in time you’ll get to know.
The Gardener
I cling to clods,
I dally in dirt.
I dig up the sod
And wait for God
To perform the miracle
Of seed to plant.
I work in the sun,
The cold and the rain;
Inclement weather
I do not disdain.
From dirty fingers
I do not refrain.
I witness a miracle:
Every day,
The miracle of life
Is on display.
When it’s time to plant,
I do not delay.
Such wondrous things
Do I perceive:
The seed, the seedling,
The first new leaf.
Continually the new thing grows;
When it will stop, only God knows.
Amazing thing,
That on its own,
The seed into a plant has grown.
Oh, restless heart
When will you learn
To let the One
Who for you yearns
Abide in you
And you in him?
Oh, wandering soul
When will you turn
And let the One
Who for you lights
The way ahead
Prevent your fright?
Oh, anxious mind
When will you spend
Some time with Him
Who only can
Bring peace to thoughts
That boil and churn?
Oh, happy heart
That’s learned to rest
Upon the Savior’s
Gentle breast
The storm is stilled
The tear is dried
When in your heart
His life resides
One day I wandered down a road
Took the wrong way; didn’t know.
In life don’t we just do the same —
Don’t ask directions, go our own way?
On this road I met a man
He asked me, “Do you know the way?”
“Where’s your map and have you asked
The way, the distance, for the task?”
I pondered this inside my soul
I didn’t really have a goal
How could I know where I was going;
My goal, my purpose hardly knowing?
He gave to me The Book and said,
“This have I long and often read.
This will guide you, as you’ll see
If you but oft’ its words do heed.”
And in The Book I met Another
His heart most tender, like a Lover
And with His presence and The Book
My wayward travels soon forsook
And when I wander now and then
He gently brings me back again
I often do His presence seek
And then in silence find my peace
On the mountain top I saw
A vision of a would-be world
Some people seemed like angels,
Beings of light-amazing;
Not God, but God-infused.
The world seemed to glow
And I wondered
If I looked different too.
God smiled at me,
And suddenly
I knew:
He loved me too.
I took the light down to the valley,
Hoping others would see.
My face did not glow like Moses;
How silly of me.
I must let Your light shine through;
If others do not see, let it be.
Let me not hide the light
Out of fear.
This light, this fire
Burns within me.
I only need to fan the flames
By spending time with You.
No one can quench this fire;
Once lit, it burns forever.
There is a far and distant land
Of which we all must dream,
Where tears turn into diamonds
And laughter flows in streams,
Where children play along the shore
And dance in bright sunbeams.
Where hungers are all satisfied
And long-held wounds are healed,
Where sin and strife are but a dream
And troubled thoughts have ceased.
There is a far and distant land
To which we all must look,
And if I knew it very well
I’d write it in a book.
‘Til then while life’s strains take up time,
Our hope is in that land divine
FORGIVEN
Mind in a muddle
Heart in a struggle
Sometimes it hurts
Just to be alive
Then I feel Your grace
You take me to a different place
You lift my soul beyond itself
You say, “Let’s begin again”
I may be at fault
Not always intended
I fall and I stumble
And Your hand is extended
In You I’m made perfect
In You I’m made strong
You handle my mess
With Your tenderness
With You I will make it
Don’t have to fake it
Don’t have to hide
The feelings inside
So melt me and mold me
Break me and hold me
With You I will make it
I don’t have to fake it
— February 2012
clarakatalin 