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Whispers Of Mercy

Filed Under: Poetry by Cara — Comments Off on Whispers Of Mercy
March 20, 2006
You beckon with gentleness, calling with grace,
Calming my restlessness, loving me still.
You draw me into your healing embrace.
Help me remember my Father’s goodwill
That shines on me daily from your holy face.

“When did I wander?� I sadly reflect.
Your presence was something I soaked myself in,
But somehow, distractions I did not expect
Turned my gaze outward, to my great chagrin
Still you invite, and I want to connect.

I ramble far, yet you still walk beside,
Waiting for me to acknowledge you’re near.
You never leave once you come to reside.
I’m weak, but you’re faithful in spite of my fear.
Restore, please, my first love and tear down my pride.

Whispers of mercy come wash through my soul,
Trickling streams in my desert, my night,
Soothing the roughness of heart that I hold.
Angel wings hover till first morning light.
Help me rise from my bed and relinquish control.

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Reflections on Distractions

Filed Under: Writings by Cara — Comments Off on Reflections on Distractions
March 5, 2006
Writing isn’t as easy as it used to be.
Words don’t flow; feelings feel distant.
Though my heart for the Lord is still there
Somehow the expressions, the reaching,
The reading, and the praying
Take extra effort of will.
The cares of this world threaten to choke me out…
Yet some deep part of me yearns after Him
Though the externals pull me away.
In the night stillness I awake sometimes,
Unable to get back to sleep, I lay there
Reminded that these are the moments
When I used to pray…
So I begin to pray and quickly fall back to sleep.
In the early morning quiet, I wonder
Did it matter? Does He still hover nearby
Waiting for me to recognize Him?
Then the day’s duties beckon me and
I rush through the morning and out the door,
Concentrate on work and people’s needs the whole day,
Ride home exhausted, and
Try to pull my mental processes together each evening.
Where did the hunger go?
What happened to that thirsty,
Desperate woman I used to be?
A part of me mourns the comfort of companionship and
The fulfillment of material needs.
It seems that these needs, having been met,
Pulled me far away… so very far away.
Ah, Father, draw my heart again.
Give me the childlike wonder I had in you,
In your creation, in the works of your hands
Through the people around me.
I need the meditative me that found solace
In the bountiful you!
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Ramblings

Filed Under: Random Thoughts, Writings by Cara — Comments Off on Ramblings
March 2, 2006

There are moments when I wonder if I will ever have time to do what I really want to do. Then I stop to examine the thought and realize that if I really want to do something, I will make time for it to happen. Otherwise I am kidding myself. That thing I think I want to do can’t be all that important if it keeps sliding down my priority list–things like reading some book or magazine article, or finishing some project I’ve been putting off. I’d like to do them, but other things come up that are more important or that simply must be done as part of maintaining my home, like laundry or dishes. Hanging out with my husband and kids is up towards the top of the list. If I have to choose between doing some recreational activity just for me or spending time with one of the family members, my recreational activity will be put off again and again. Now there’s homework to contend with. I chose to commit to education, so recreational reading definitely falls on the back burner now! I’m so tired from the mental and emotional drain of work and home duties and expending myself on someone else… I’m not sure when I can get those “someday” activities accomplished. Still, I’m tired, but happy. I’ve been blessed in so many different ways with a place to live and clothes to wear and food to eat, and someone to come home to every evening. What more could I ask? God is good and He has been, even through all the tough times. I just need to sense His presence and hear His voice so that I can walk daily where He wants me to walk. Maybe with a little time management and Holy Spirit guidance I can still get a few extracurricular thing done on the side a little at a time.

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Smiles are Forever!

Filed Under: Pictures! by Cara — Comments Off on Smiles are Forever!
February 2, 2006

foreversmiles

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Your Universe

Filed Under: Poetry by Cara — Comments Off on Your Universe
January 16, 2006
How immense this universe of yours—unfathomable at best,
Infinity “quantified� into an endless, visible grandeur,
Populated with focal points and whole areas of radiance
Where the dark splendor gathers itself into light
In every possible array of beauty.

The vastness of it all merely magnifies the brilliance…
I remind my heart that my miniscule self still has significance
Suspended in space on this petite planet, also yours,
I am one pinprick of light unseen by natural eye,
But contributing by participation in this majestic
Display of your glory.

It seems for this moment, as if I
Could touch the stars with my fingertips,
Could feel a pulsating back and forth of awe.
This silent siren song of dreamers draws me,
Like the roaring of this earth’s longing for you,
For rebirth, for restoration of creation as you intended.

We weep together, the earth and I,
As the distant suns share our sorrow, but sing of hope—
A hope as immense as this universe,
Embodied in the focal point of time when you stood here
Staring at the night sky as I do now.
You knew the reality of the new heaven, new earth,
That will come to us all because you came.

You are infinity “quantified� into the shape of a man,
Yet more measureless by far than any being could begin to grasp.
The cosmos reveals your nature—endless and unlimited,
Exhibited in the finite beauty of the visible realm.
What I see touches the part of me that knows the unseen
Generating a deeper longing to know
The invisible, infinite you behind what I see.

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LOSTALGIA

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December 29, 2005
The miles flow by and I wonder what lies ahead? what’s round the bend?
The gray skies beckon with their unseen, unacknowledged beauty.
I can answer their call during this period of calm.
Memories go by and some stop and visit for a while.
The variegated gray reminds me of things long lost,
Replaced by new treasures and moments.
It is a bittersweet beauty—that cloudy sky so full of threat, of promise.
Who knows whether it will be a refreshing shower or a torrential downpour?
Remembrances of both crowd in for just a moment.
I breathe a deep sigh… and let them all go.
Now has its own beauty; the future its own promise; the past is simply experience.
Some of it built character. Some of it revealed flaws.
All of it has been swept away by new clouds, new rains, new sunny days even…
I cannot regret any of the past because it cannot be changed, only remembered.
The reminiscences are pleasant, though the memories aren’t always.
I know today is a second chance—a new beginning with a clean slate.
I can write whatever I wish and make whatever choices need making
With some degree of confidence.
I have been soaked in sorrows, harassed by hardships, and
Buoyed by joys in this river, often flooded by new rainfall.
Still, the clouds beckon me.
Part of me loves their multihued gray-whites far more
Than clear, blue sunny skies with white puffs.
It is difficult to accept that I should experience happiness,
Because I am so much more familiar with crisis.
I am still learning to go with the new flow.
I went round a life-changing bend awhile back and I’m still reeling.
So the miles flow by and I wonder…
I don’t wonder too hard though. Whatever comes, I can deal with
Since my riverboat Captain is steering my vessel for me
Through all the weather and waterway changes.
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MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Filed Under: Poetry, Writings by Cara — Comments Off on MERRY CHRISTMAS!
December 13, 2005
It seems there is some reason
Why we celebrate this season
But from all the lights and jingles
Frequent mentions of Kris Kringle
Seems that most folks now just don’t remember
There are other holidays now
That are mentioned (don’t offend now)
But I’m standing on my tiptoes
Shouting truth that everyone knows
If it weren’t for Christ it’d just be plain December

Every special day has place
But not one should be effaced
In the interests of “politically correct�
I’m just stating facts so I can stand erect
I’m proclaiming Christmas’ value in its roots
It’s enough to make us proud
In the holidaying crowd
I reserve the right to not offend
And you can “not offend� me, friend
If it’s Happy Hanukah, or Kwanzaa, too.

I will still say Merry Christmas
Whether you believe or not, that’s
Not a thing I’d know in passing,
Just a wish for all, a blessing.
Tell me what you wish and we will both rejoice
It’s a joy that comes each year
Through the trials and the tears
I’ll not stop telling those I see
That the Christ child set me free
And He offers every person that same choice.

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Crucible Dance

Filed Under: Poetry by Cara — Comments Off on Crucible Dance
December 4, 2005
The crucible of Christ—
The flames of circumstance—
Come daily shape my life
Just like a holy dance.
The music stirs my feet
And I cannot be still.
It is through the fire’s heat
That His Spirit works His will.

Sometimes I want to fight.
I cannot understand,
But I must give up my right
Each time He calls again.
The Everlasting One
Knows best the path I tread.
I dance in faith alone
As His mercy lifts my head.

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In The Autumn

Filed Under: Poetry by Cara — Comments Off on In The Autumn
November 7, 2005
As the barely stirring breeze
Moves the gently swirling leaves,
I will be silent.
In the chill, gray air of fall
I hear children’s voices call.
I will be silent.

In the stillness of my soul
I am willing now to hold
A sweet contentment.
With my hands around my knees
I can close my eyes and breathe
A sweet contentment.

Though the minutes slip away,
My heart moves in me to pray
In wordless silence.
Quiet waters, deep within
Quench my thirsty soul again
In wordless silence.

As the fashion trees parade
Raining all the colors made
So rich and full.
I rejoice with fresh new eyes
Under multi-gray-white skies
So rich and full.

In the autumn months I seek
For Creator’s voice so meek.
I hear Him speaking.
Then He whispers of His love
Pouring richly from above.
I hear Him speaking.

—Cara Colleen

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DELIGHT IN THE NOW

Filed Under: Poetry by Cara — Comments Off on DELIGHT IN THE NOW
October 21, 2005
The deep white fluff of easily sculpted snow
Lies on the ground with all the temptation
Its unspoiled surface can throw at me
“Play with me!� it beckons silently, persistently
Like a page waiting to be written on.
I stare at it blankly in uncertainty
Absorbing the unblemished beauty, yet
Contemplating all the possibilities—
Snowmen, snow angels, paths of children
Chasing each other round and round, and
Snow battles of the fiercest kind, waiting to be waged.
The wonder of it grips me now,
Inviting me to throw off the shackles of
Staid adulthood for a few brief minutes of
Childlike delight in the now—
What is and what I make it to be.
The seasons may change and the winds blow warmer
Melting the magic powder that turns
Grown-ups into small children,
Still, the magnificent simplicity of plain white
Is pure infusion of a glad light—
Plain in its appearance,
Complex in its effects on the soul.
Maybe this other simple unblemished white
Can re-infect me with the awe I once felt,
Inspiration untainted by cynicism,
So I may trace letters of playful intent and
Throw off the shackles of sad experience
For a few brief moments of
Childlike delight in the now—
What is and what I make it to be.
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