Broken Birdsong

Dear you, You at the edge of the social scene. You in the corner near the punch. You, counting the steps to the door, the minutes till home embraces your quaking heart like a warm blanket. Dear you. Let me pour you a cup of hot tea; give you something tangible to grip & receive as I speak these words over you. You've been in hiding for so long, trying not to burden anyone. If you're telling the truth, you've adopted the word "burden" like a name. Allow me to break that off of you right now. That's not your name. That isn't your identity. And I promise you it's not what people think of when they think of you. If someone has made you feel like that? If that is a wound you hold deep inside, & a fear always at the edge of your thoughts? Please, let me say this for us all - us blind, amateurs at love - let me say I am sorry. My heart hurts just knowing what you've gone through. Darling, I've been there. I have felt t

"To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work." {Titus 1:15-16} "I want to be the only one On the throne of your heart The only one that moves you I will remove the names of your lovers Even the memory of their face will fade away I will write on you My name forever I will be known by you as Faithful and True So come back, come back I'll take you to the start Come back, come back I'll take you to your First Love." { Only One by Harvest} There is a terrible habit one must be cautious of when approaching Scripture: the habit of skipping over things that you don't think are for you. I slip into this more than I'd like to admit. I close my eyes when the words are hard, I thumb through the pages for feel-good books. Or

Someone told me today that they try not to think in terms of years, but rather, days. I was thinking something along those lines this week as I prepared for the celebration of a new year's dawn. That word alone struck me. Dawn. Sunrise. My friend said that he wakes up, puts his yesterday behind him as he gets on his knees. It could have been the worst, most sinful day ... but he refuses to bear that shame for a full year when the Lord's mercies are new every morning. So he starts each day with a prayer for forgiveness & a fresh start. (Note: I am in no ways endorsing a lifestyle that does not strive for holiness & then just says, "oh, God will forgive me." Neither was my friend. We are simply refusing to carry around chains that the Lord stands ready & willing to break.) As I anticipated 2017, I simply asked the Lord for a new morning. I can't erase every hard thing of 2016 from my memory or my reality - it changed me, & my world. But