Unleavened

I am one of the Hebrew children, running

out of the chains of Egypt

in too much haste to let my bread leaven

I'm leading someone, if not just myself,

to a different world

I heard my Deliverer's voice

and saw Him move winds

With each sandy step

I know more and more that it is our time

to step out of slavery

and into sonhood

Although I can barely see my next step

as my last print blows away

I am where I'm meant to be

at this moment

My history becomes my destiny

and my walk, a legend

My feet bake in the sun

My bread is unleavened

Rainstorm Rebirth

I forgot the way the rain smelled

like mother nature's dryer sheet

making it appear as the ground started fresh

born again with dew

heavy with weight of washing

rivers form and coolness melts

the tendrils underneath the drops

Some say the earth cries when it rains

I say it's coming back to life

Hope knows

Romans 5:5 "And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Hope

knows no shame

it sees no fault

it believes in all

Everything

is accountable to hope

with its grandeur of possibilities

Challenging

our hearts and heads

to not feel the ground

of weighty gravity below

But

to lift up toes

to reach the height of breeze

We must see you

Before we feel you

Hope

Heaven on Earth

This poem is based on how we as humans assume that we can create a sort of heaven on earth with all of the best possessions around us at all times. I find it humorous how, especially as Americans, we try to sort of create an eternity based on what we might need, as in stores that never close and have everything that anyone could ever need or want.

Heaven on Earth

We think we are heaven

with our all-day hours

and extra large portions

The camp we've built

could never be invaded

Our fridges are filled

with favorites from above

our manna lies in a drive through

Planning for forever

we save and worry and save

building on our days

Must we try

to create a creation

that has already been Created

Show me some love

Here's a poem to get you out of that post-Valentine's rut.

May Love

May love move us

Into the shoes of the person sitting next to us

And into the hands of the needy

May love guide us

Into the situations that scare us

And away from people who wound us

May love seal us

Into the letters we live out

And ship us into the wide world to explore and be loved

May love blend us

Into many shades of peace

In the midst of a graying world

The Small Things

"We cannot do great things on this Earth,

only small things with great love."

-Mother Teresa

One of my dear girlfriends, who I met during my semester at Oxford, sent this quote to me on a cutely creative, homemade Valentine's Day card. It amazed me when this card came less than an hour after discussing the idea of this paradox of the significance of small things with some other women. This concept seems to be playing out all around me this week. Although I'm definitely still learning what it means, I'm finding myself at peace with the idea that the little things in life make all the difference.

This is a bit difficult to grasp, myself, as someone who has secret dreams of being famous and a constant need to be saving the world in some way. My life, with all of it's pieces and puzzles that I can't figure out right now, has been teaching me to hold on to the insignificant things. One of my favorite parts of my favorite book (The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis) is how the devil in the book pushes his "student" devil to convince the human that all of life is ordinary. He instructs him to show the human that nothing about life is extraordinary, mysterious or meaningful. The worst thing for us as humans is to expect everything to have a clear-cut answer, a recipe and no coincidence. But, thankfully, this is not so.

I have been learning that living life to the fullest is about finding joy in being stuck inside with snow covering every piece of the ground outside, loving the quirky things that people do at work and baking 2 1/2 dozen chocolate chip cookies for one person. Although I could be spending my time being depressed because crazy weather means I won't get to see my boyfriend any time soon, how annoying my coworker's personality is or how depressing eating chocolate alone is, I am slowly experimenting with embracing these things.

Even if we can't change the circumstances around us, we can change how we react to them.

Many times we can't control what happens to us or where we are in life, but we can find small things to enjoy along the way. Like that Switchfoot song says, "Happy is a yuppy word." If we are looking for the people and things around us to make us happy, it won't happen. But I've found that putting love into the little things that comprise our lives and others can speak louder than our wishes and wines.

-Grace

One is the loneliest number

Today it snowed again. It's my day off of work anyway, so I'm spending the day alone entertaining myself. I've totally gotten used to this. With my work schedule I tend to be alone a lot, but it's given me some good time to start new hobbies and spend time with God.

So far I have spent today playing Donkey Kong for a few hours, recovering from a stomach

bug that I got yesterday and watching my DVR-ed tv shows. Although I definitely wish I was partying with my boyfriend and friends, I am content to be here.

I just got a new camera (nothing too fancy but works well), so I took it out until my fingers froze to catch some snowy mom

ents.

The rest of the plan for the night will include watching Ugly Betty episodes (my favorite show of all time) and perhaps baking some apple oatmeal scones. I love baking when I'm alone...especially when it's cold outside and cozy inside.

Enjoy the photos.

-Grace