"Grace"

(Written today)

From God's hand I have received
grace
upon grace
upon grace.

My heart's desire from this day on
is to
constantly seek
His face.

Untitled

(Written March 9, 2004)

God has so many things in store for me;
Wonderful things that I can’t yet see.
His plans for my life are perfect and good,
He will do everything that He said He would.

I trust Him completely. I know He is wise,
Even when all is not clear to my eyes.
As I wait patiently to discover His will,
My heart is at peace; all is quiet and still.

I know that one day I will know all the “whys”,
In that place of no pain; no tears; no goodbyes.
Until then, I know God is all that I need.
I’ll trust and obey; on His Word I will feed.

"Broken and Spilled Out"

(Written July 16, 1994)


Like the precious, rare perfume
That was poured at Jesus’ feet,
May my life be ever spilled out,
Its aroma rising sweet.

May I be a broken vessel
That’s presented unto Christ
As an offering, a sacrifice;
I’ll pour out my whole life.

With no regard for my desires,
May all my days be His.
I’ll put Him first, above all else,
For that’s what true love is.

May every moment be for Him,
His thoughts become my words,
His commands become my actions,
My heart with His love be stirred.

Broken and spilled out,
May that my life be –
I’ll abandon myself to His grace;
That many who know me
Will come to know Christ,
And together we’ll all see His face!

A writer's poem (2001)

O lovely blank pages!

Thirsty for ink,

ready to soak up

my thoughts;

Few things in life

can compare

to an empty notebook

full of possibility!

A poem about loving like God does (2001)

Silently I sit
upon a raft of my own making,
floating aimlessly
and contemplating life.
Your sea of Love
surrounds me,
and I take in the view,
content to skim the surface
and maybe dip a toe in
now and then.
I’m hesitant, reluctant, rigid,
scared to love like You,
knowing self must die
before I love the way You do.
Upset my boat, Lord!
Toss me in like Jonah.
Let me sink into
the depths of Love;
down,
down,
let me drown...
the delightful drowning
of abandonment to You.

Comfort Zones (August, 2000)

If you always do
What you’ve always done
You’ll always be
What you’ve always been.
~ Josh McDowell

One of my favorite places in the world is right in the middle of my comfort zone! I suspect you could say the same. We feel safe surrounded by people we know and love. It’s easy to do what we know we have the ability to do. Within our comfort zones, life is predictable and secure. Like most people, I have generally been content to dwell within the narrow confines of my own zone of comfort and predictability.

Lately, however, my heart has been pierced with a longing to know what life is like beyond the self-protective walls that surround me. I built them as shields against anything that would threaten the security of my familiar little world; I am coming to understand that they are actually barriers keeping me from the abundant life God wants me to experience.

I love the quote from Josh McDowell at the beginning of this article. It tells me that in order to grow as a person, and as a child of God, I must be willing to venture into unfamiliar territory. This involves, among other things, taking steps to reach out in love to people I am uncomfortable around or intimidated by. It means learning to say “yes” to opportunities I might otherwise have said “no” to because I was afraid of failing. How wonderful to know that if I am willing to take steps of faith like these, my life on earth can become the adventure of trust in God it was intended to be!

But there is no way I can leave my comfort zone on my own strength. It is only as I take the hand of God and let Him lead me into the unknowns of His plan for my life that I will be set free. Only then will I truly be able to comprehend the depth of His love and provision. Only then will I grow beyond what I have always been and become what He has always wanted me to be.

Thankfulness (July, 2000)

When was the last time we thought about all the blessings God has given us? When did we last pause to remember all the things we have to be thankful for? It is easy to get so focused on the things we don’t like about our lives that we lose sight of all the good things around us. Sometimes we complain a lot more than we give thanks, and it shows in our attitudes toward others. We usually think of Thanksgiving as the time to count our blessings, but we should get into the habit of giving thanks year round! God is just as faithful in July as He is in November! Why not take a few moments now and think of all He’s given you?

Allow me to go first: I have a wonderful family, supportive friends, and opportunities for sweet fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I have rejoiced in fields of brightly colored wildflowers, had my heart melted by a soft, fluffy kitten, and felt the peaceful stillness of a misty forest morning. I have savored books that deepened my walk with God. I have failed when I expected to succeed, and it made me a stronger person. Above all, Jesus Christ died in my place and defeated death through the resurrection, giving me the right to call God my Abba, my Daddy, and to come to Him as His precious child. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. If I were to list everything I have to be thankful for, this article would turn into a book!

Hopefully I’ve “primed the pump” for you, and gotten your mind going in a thankful direction. You may want to write down the blessings that come to mind. Even the poorest among us could list a myriad of things, because God’s blessings come free of charge! When you are discouraged, or when everything seems to be going wrong, read through your list again, reminding yourself of your own motivations for giving thanks. As we make a habit of focusing on the positive, our outlook on life can’t help but grow brighter, and the people around us will notice the difference. Happy “thanks-giving!”

Psalm 119 (June, 2000)

One of my favorite portions of Scripture is Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible. Described by some as a love poem to God’s law, it is a shining example of the attitude we are to have toward His Word.

When I feel spiritually dry or uninspired to read the Bible, I usually turn to Psalm 119. I love to read it aloud, savoring the way the psalmist beautifully describes his feelings for God’s precepts. Being a poet, I suppose I am drawn to the Psalms for their descriptive imagery and beauty. Poetry aside, however, the practicality of Psalm 119 is one of the main reasons it inspires me.

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word” (v. 9).

“Give me understanding, and I will keep Your law and obey it with all my heart” (v.34).

“I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey Your word” (v.101).

Practical obedience is the key idea here. As it says in James 1:22, we must not just read the Word, but do what it says. I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s easier said than done! But when we cultivate a love for God’s Word such as the psalmist displays in Psalm 119, obeying will be more of a joy and less of a burden.

My encouragement to you is to immerse yourself in Psalm 119 and the message it brings. Try reading aloud in different translations. I love to sit by a river or in a field of wildflowers on a sunny day and read, enjoying the beauty of God’s creation around me as I join the psalmist in his praise.

Be prepared, though! If you let it, the Word of God will change your life.

Spring (April, 2000)

Spring is a wonderful time of year! Pure white blossoms with hearts of pale green and gold adorn the branches of my backyard plum tree. With every breath of wind, showers of snowy petals rain softly down upon the grass. Soon my roses will bloom again, including the delightful yellow-orange variety in the corner of the yard with a fragrance so deep and rich that it rivals any department store perfume!

Watching the earth awake from its winter rest, I realize anew just how powerful God is. I cannot make a rosebush bloom, no matter how often I till and fertilize the soil around it, or how faithfully I prune and water. But all it takes is one word from the God of Life Himself and the yearly resurrection of creation is set into motion. At His command, the earth bursts forth in a glorious, colorful profusion of life!

Never was God’s life-giving power more clearly shown, however, than when He raised His Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead. We can’t even begin to fathom the depths of such power! Yet as children of God, we have that same powerful life in our hearts. What a mighty, living God we serve! We must not forget that He alone is the source, the true Giver of life.

So when I stand beneath a shower of petals from my plum tree, I will let them remind me of the miracle of Christ’s resurrection. I will praise God for pouring His life into my heart. And as my roses bud and bloom, I will let their beauty and fragrance whisper the life-giving mysteries of God to my soul.

The Accident (March, 2000)

October 11, 1987 had been a typical school day. My family and I were about to head home after spending the evening at a fair at my younger siblings’ elementary school. Darkness had already descended on the city of Portland, Oregon as we made our way to the parking lot. My younger brother and I elected to ride with Dad, who had come in his own car. Mom followed in her car, accompanied by my two younger sisters. I was feeling sleepy, so I laid my head against the window to rest during the five-minute drive home.

What happened next seems unreal to this day. We were passing through an intersection, having just made the light. Behind us, Mom had to stop as the light turned red. She had a perfect view of another car speeding into the intersection from the right. She watched, horrified, as it slammed into the car containing her husband, oldest daughter, and only son. The force of the impact squashed our dashboard into the shape of a mountain peak and spun us around twice before we finally came to a stop on the opposite side of the street.

My memory of that night is foggy. It seemed like I was having a terrible, hazy nightmare, struggling to wake up but not being able to. I don’t remember screaming, but my Mom says she could hear me from the other side of the intersection. I do remember the pain and confusion, and how the paramedics had to cut through the car to free my foot. I remember being comforted by a bystander who had seen the accident happen. I remember the ambulance ride, and the bright lights of the emergency room. I was eleven years old, and those are some of the worst memories of my life.

As I reflected on the accident years later, however, God showed Himself to me in new ways. First, He revealed Himself through His protective care. As scary and horrible as it was, the crash could have been much worse. None of us were seriously hurt. If we had been only a few feet farther ahead, though, the other car would have slammed right into the door I was sleeping against. God was truly protecting me.

He also showed me His providence. When I was 18 years old, I received a sum of money from the insurance settlement that enabled me to pay the remaining amount to attend Multnomah Bible College in Portland for a second year. I truly believe that the main reason God allowed the accident to happen was to meet the financial need He knew that I would have seven years later.

God has clearly taught me that He “causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him” (Romans 8:28). What a loving, wise God we serve! Even if we can’t immediately see the good in a bad situation, we can be sure that He is working His purposes through it.

God's Provision (February, 2000)

I had just finished my last class of the day at Multnomah Bible College in Portland, Oregon. It was May of 1995, and plans were coming together for Andrew’s and my July wedding. Among the other wedding-related errands still to be taken care of was the need to pay the deposit on my wedding dress, which was due before the bridal shop at the mall closed that night. It was Monday afternoon, and Andrew had just picked me up at the women’s dorm. I didn’t know it, but he was around twenty dollars short of the amount he needed to reserve the gown that evening.

We got into his car and made our way into the Northeast Portland traffic. As he drove, he told me about the money he still needed for the dress. He shared with me that on Sunday night he had prayed specifically about this need, asking the Lord to either provide the twenty dollars or let the bridal shop take that amount off the price, as yet another confirmation (there had already been many) that our relationship truly was from God. I didn’t particularly like the idea of haggling with the shop over the price of the dress, but I trusted that God would work the situation out.

Next thing I knew, we were pulling into a space in a bank parking lot and Andrew was waving an envelope in my face, smiling. “This came in the mail today,” he told me.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Open it!”

I reached in and pulled out a money order from a friend of Andrew’s in Washington. The amount? Twenty dollars! A smile crept across my face. I had heard stories of money coming from unexpected places when someone prayed about a financial need, but I had never experienced it myself. As the bank teller handed us the cash, I was awed by the fact that God cares about even the smallest of our needs.

Later that week, Andrew asked his friend why he had sent us the money.

“Well,” he replied, “I was praying for you on Saturday and I really felt God telling me to send you twenty dollars that day.”

Just think about it! God prompted Andrew’s friend to send the money on Saturday, and Andrew didn’t even pray about the need until Sunday night. What a testimony to God’s intimate involvement in our lives! The wedding dress was paid for, and we had a renewed appreciation for the faithfulness of our God.

"New Room" (12th grade)

We moved when I was eight.
A new neighborhood, a new house.
A new room to share with my sister.
A room to play Barbies and stuffed animals in,
to have tea parties with the neighbor girls,
and to look over to the park and be able to see the outfielders
during a ball game.
To climb out the window and onto the carport,
getting in trouble with Mom and Dad.
At night, to be deathly afraid of the dark in a new house,
and the two attics outside our door.
I would run down to Mom and Dad's room,
and beg them to let me sleep on the floor by their bed,
making my sister mad when she learned the next morning
that I left her alone upstairs.
A new room to enjoy talking and giggling with my sister
long into the night,
making up things like the magic closet and the secret trap door.
Rearranging our furniture and arguing
over whose bed would go where.
Having slumber parties
and trying to stop our little brother and sister
from coming up to bug us.
Having to sleep downstairs on the hot summer nights
when the temperatures could reach 100 degrees in our room.
Many good memories and a few bad.
The new room, made familiar and our own.

Love (January, 2000)

I once came across this quote from American author James Baldwin: “Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”

How many times have you longed to be yourself with others, to shed all superficiality and shallowness? Do you dream of having conversations uncluttered with cliches? Have you felt yourself suffocating beneath a mask that you know you “cannot live within,” gasping for the fresh air of openness and honesty?

As human beings we have a deep need to know others and to be known by them, yet still we keep one another at safe distances, unwilling to remove these masks that we “fear we cannot live without.” As a result we walk around in a state of emotional starvation, withering away for lack of healthy relationships. What can be done about this? What is the solution, the answer?
“Love takes off masks....” Love! In an atmosphere of love, the masks can come off, because true love doesn’t care if we aren’t perfect! Love delights in genuineness, in truthfulness, in honesty and forthrightness. Love is the answer!

This past year God has been teaching me what it means to love, showing me how to take off my own mask. He has brought into my life people who I can be real with, who I can cry and laugh with. As I have been faithful to reach out to others in love, He has blessed me with deep, rewarding friendships. I am so very thankful that God led me to the key of love, which has unlocked the door of true friendship in my life.

Living underneath a mask is no fun. It is tedious, and at times it is very lonely. But when we walk in love, we are given the freedom to come out from underneath the tiresome masks and to live as we were created to live. We begin to walk in true fellowship with our brothers and sisters, able to practice more fully the “one anothers” of the New Testament.

As this new millennium begins, let’s commit ourselves to walk in love, the love of Christ, and to reach out to those around us, regardless of the risks. We will discover that it is possible to live without a mask, and that our lives will be richer and fuller than we ever dreamed possible once the masks have come off.

Autumn (November, 1999)

I love this time of the year. The weather is changing as autumn is upon us. I'm filled with a fresh joy for living as I think of bringing out the sweaters again, and bundling up for walks in the crisp coolness of the evening. I eagerly anticipate carefree weekend drives past trees that glow red, orange, and gold in the late afternoon sunlight. God’s artistry is breathtaking!

Most of all, I look forward to the coziness of the cold weather season. To me, there's nothing quite like being inside a warm, dry house when it's windy and rainy outside. I light scented candles and play soft music on the stereo. Add a comfy chair, a good book, my journal, and a cup of hot herbal tea and I'm as contented as a cat in a sunbeam! I love to relax in the haven of my home. I feel peaceful. Secure. It's comforting to have a shelter.

Yet, eventually the candles melt and the music ends. I drink the last drop of tea and turn the final page of the book. How thankful I am that I don't have to depend solely on these external things to be content. I know Christ; therefore my joy in living can last all year long! I am truly sheltered in the arms of God. He gives me peace beyond understanding. He provides me with eternal security. His Spirit is the true Comforter, and only through Him can I know deep, abiding contentment through all the seasons of my life.

"Free" (March 1, 2000)

In my soul I’m running free
through wildflowered meadows,
past brooks and trees.
In my heart I’m singing out
a song of joyful praise
to the Giver of this day.
In my mind I’m soaring high
through pure, fresh wind,
gazing down upon the land.
I run, I sing, I soar . . .

not a captive anymore!

"Days Like Today" (March 5, 1998)

On days like today,
as I gaze out my window at
clear blue sky, and
soul-warming sunshine enhancing the colors
of the majestic trees that line this street,
I feel like I live
in the most beautiful place in town.
Spring has not yet begun,
yet this lovely day gives a hint
of what is soon to come:
Days when I will open wide these windows,
letting spring’s warmth and wonder
permeate and thrill -
Rejoicing in the Lord of the seasons,
praising His wonderful Name!

"High Places" (August 16, 1998)

Your breezes of truth begin to stir
within the darkest confines of my heart,
gently clearing this low-lying fog
that obscures the vision
and dulls the senses.
Lord, send Your Spirit-wind
to rid me of this numbing haze.
Lift me above this valley of pollution,
and set me upon the mountain
of Your goodness and love.
Shock my system with the pure air
of Your presence;
Invigorating, bracing, life-giving air.
Lead me to the center of Your Father heart,
where I may dwell and have life abundant
on the high places with You.

A hopeful poem (June 14, 2002)

On a misty, murky morning
in a salty, seaside town,
with face upturned to feel the drops of rain come falling down,
I felt a gentle blessing
coming o’er me like a breeze,
and my heart was filled with gladness and my mind was put at ease.

A poem about creativity (July 4, 2001)

I love to write,
yet words and ideas
flow like mud,
a trickle in the drying riverbed
of my mind.

Something blocks the flow.
Something sits there like
a massive dam
that cuts off all creative thought.

Unleash a torrent, Lord!
Flood my riverbed,
burst the dam.
Let Your creative power
overflow my banks
until a river of creativity
runs swiftly
deep within.

"Time" (12th grade)

Time passes
as if it were
crawling,
trudging
along in
a mud of
seconds,
minutes.

Time races by
on
Mercury wings
of hours,
days,
weeks,
months,
and
years.

The hands
of the clock
slide by
as the
second hand
keeps ticking, ticking,
setting the tune
for the passage of
time.

"My Name" (12th grade)

Sarah
A name that whispers
in a silvery voice
Meaning
"God's princess"
A name that evokes
memories of days gone by
A feminine name
Sweet and clear
A name like
laughter
A name given me
upon my arrival to
this world
Not Sara
Sarah
A name with a legacy

A new creative outlet...

This is where I plan to post my creative writing efforts -- things I've written in the past as well as new creations.

You might see poems, short stories, articles...who knows? When inspiration strikes, I'll share what God puts on my heart!

Every word that flows from my pen to the page is a gift from Him...

Thank You, God, for the gift of language!