To My Father: A Poem

I am a little bird -

Do You see me when I fall?

Oh - that You do -
I am heart-wrenched & broken

And bid Your eyes turn from me.
But they stay -

And are grace eyes -
And I can scarcely breathe.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father."

-Matthew 10:29

Love,

-Bess-

A Reminder {To Us}

Don't forget.  When all the 'what ifs,' insecurities, & shadows come creeping...

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love & of self-discipline."

-1 Timothy 1:7 NIV

Brave Love,

-Bess-

Just Saying...

"The grass withers & the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

-Isaiah 40:8

His promises are true.  His words are rock solid & eternal.

Love & Peace,

-Bess-

Whatever.../ Keep Going...

Some days the words flow like rushing rapids - & the hands aren't fast enough.  Words race pen.

Others, like molasses, & it is a push & a pull & a lull of stillness in the white space.  Wondering if the tree's been tapped too often & is drained dry.

The thing is to work in both times - the flood & the drip - keeping hands ready & thoughts swirling.  Carbon into diamond takes work, my friend.

Whatever it is, keep going.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."
-Colossians 3:23 NIV

Love,

-Bess-

A Poem

"Broken Pieces"

Their jagged edges rip –

&, yes, scars.

Shame deeper, though –

It’s invisibility, a harsher factor.

But –

His grace.

His healing.

Deeper –

Yes,

Deeper still.

Amen.

Love,

-Bess-

These 2 Thoughts Today...

“The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.”

-Emily Dickinson

"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living."
-Psalm 27:13 NIV

Inspiration & Love,
-Bess-

Hello December!

I've been yearning for you.

For your festive shine & cheer.
Your well wishes & gifts - oh, what a Gift!

Hope is ushered with your coming -

Abounding love that you wrapped in rough cloth

And Light brighter than the sun.

Who am I that I am worthy?
You compel an unworthy world to 
Embrace an unbelievable worth.

Love,
-Bess-

Hello November!

I've been waiting for you.

Waiting for your cozy festivities
& gatherings with frosty breath -

A harvest of dear ones - silver & gold -
Glowing round a table -
As a wreath of love.

A recounting of blessings - old & new -

Sweet November, may we carry 
Your grateful heart
Eternally - all the year through.

Love,

-Bess-

Ghost Buster

"Do you believe in ghosts, Miss Orne?" asked Maud, who did, in spite of the comic explanation of this one.  "Not the old-fashioned sort, but there is a modern kind that we are all afraid of more or less," answered Miss Orne, with a half-playful, half-serious look at the girls around her.  "Do tell about them, please," begged Kitty, while the rest looked both surprised & interested.  "There is one which I am very anxious to keep you from fearing.  Women are especially haunted by it, & it prevents them from doing, being, & thinking all that they might & ought.  'What will people say?' is the name of this formidable ghost; & it does much harm, for few of us have the courage to live up to what we know to be right in all things."

-Jerseys, or the Girls' Ghost by Louisa May Alcott

Don't be haunted, sister.

Love {& Ghost-Busting},

-Bess-

Hello October!

I've been waiting for you.

For your crispness & color -

Oh, your color.

Spectacular.

How you invoke us to pull out chunky sweaters -

& stack firewood.

Your foggy mornings arise like ghost stories

& envelope the world in delicious mystique.

Hello, October.

Please stay awhile.

Love,
-Bess-

Free Indeed

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
-John 8:36

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, & do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
-Galatians 5:1

"In Him {Jesus Christ} & through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom & confidence."
-Ephesians 3:12

Be free in Jesus, dear one.

Love {Given Freely},
-Bess-

P.S.: All verses are taken from the NIV.

When I am Afraid

Sometimes I feel like I can't escape it.  The enemy seeks to see the fear overpower my soul.  But Truth from the Word gives me comfort & courage to remember I am not alone - & the One that is with me is mighty & strong & has overcome it all.

Love, Peace, & Strength in Christ,
-Bess-    

September, How Did You Arrive So Swift?

The hazy inbetween - 

Flirting with orb's rays & frozen dew.

Chosen amongst the powers to peruse 

Two seasons at once -

Melded into one month:

September, by name & by song.

Love {Anew In Sept.},

-Bess-

Summer Dreaming

“All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends & delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.”  

-L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams 

“I almost wish we were butterflies and liv'd but three summer days - three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.”

-John Keats

“Summer's lease hath all too short a date.”

-William Shakespeare

“It was June, & the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.”

-Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy-Tacy & Tib

Dream on, sweet summertime!

-Bess-

My Christmas Card to You {2012}

Click here to listen to the true {Christ}mas story being read by {my favorite} little children!

I ❤ Thursday: I ❤ November

{source - Pinterest}

"But there is always a November space after the leaves have fallen when she felt it was almost indecent to intrude on the woods… for their glory terrestrial had departed & their glory celestial of spirit & purity & whiteness had not yet come upon them.”

-L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Windy Poplars

Now Is November

Mystic November -

Like a threshold waiting to be crossed,

But lingered upon instead -

Soon the leaves will be covered in white,

Soon t'will be winter & snow.

One foot on each side - straddling life & weather.

Now is the in between -

Now is now -

Now is November.

- -Bess-

"November always seemed to me the Norway of the year."

- Emily Dickinson

"The wild November come at last

Beneath a veil of rain;

The night winds blows its folds aside,

Her face is full of pain.

The latest of her race, she takes

The Autumn's vacant throne:

She has but one short moon to live,

And she must live alone."

- Richard Henry Stoddard, November

"The thinnest yellow light of November is more warming and exhilarating than any wine they tell of. The mite which November contributes becomes equal in value to the bounty of July."

- Henry David Thoreau

November ❤,

-Bess-

Unto The Hills

I took this photo this past summer on a trip to an arts & craft festival in a tiny Tennessee town called Beersheba Springs.  Do you notice the engraving on the large circular stone?  A perfect verse for a perfect view!  

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven & earth."

-Psalm 121:1-2 KJB

The Maker of the universe {including the rolling hills & steep mountain slopes} will be my help!  How amazing is that?

I wish I could return & see the hills aflame with autumn colors!

Love,

-Bess-

October Musings

"There is no season when such pleasant & sunny spots may be lighted on, & produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October." 

-Nathaniel Hawthorne

"There is something in 
October sets the gypsy blood astir,  

We must rise & follow her;

When from every hill of flame,

She calls & calls each vagabond by name"

-William Bliss Carman

"Listen!  The wind is rising, & 
the air is wild with leaves,

We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!"

-Humbert Wolfe

{source}

Love,

-Bess-

Helen Keller's Words

Can you imagine living in darkness - darkness that is paired with silence?  It seems the most cruel of partnerships.  This was Helen Keller's life after an illness took both her sight & ability to hear when she was less than two years old. The world {& perhaps even you & I} could easily write-off Miss Keller as a lost cause; no life – no true life – would ever be hers. Listen to the words of Miss Keller {rendered through sign language} & think again…       

No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.


Many persons have the wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.


I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.


When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.


Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world.


The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.


We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.


While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done.


Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature... Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.


Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there's a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.


When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.


I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.


The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.


I can see, and that is why I can be happy, in what you call the dark, but which to me is golden. I can see a God-made world, not a manmade world.


Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness.


Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn whatever state I am in, therein to be content.


Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.

Faith is a mockery if it does not teach us that we can build a more complete and beautiful world.


Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.


Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.


I don't want to spend my life - I want to invest it. I want to invest it in something that will last. I want to invest in eternity!

Did you think again?  What challenges in life can possibly stand with the conqueror of faith, hard work, prayer, & the Maker of it all?  

Love You,
-Bess-

*All words in blue are Helen Keller's.   

Dear November: A Poem Written in Letter Form

Dear November,

How did you get here so darn quick? Do you have powers that surpass the speed of light? Oh, well, whatever your transport I love you! I love you, I do! I’m mad for your frosty mornings & cherish your thankful heart. As we chat in enchanted foggy circles, I sigh a happy cloud. I unearth ripening wisdom at your beginning & anticipation at your close. You are a joy! Thank you for…being you.

With Love,
An Admirer

Just thought I'd share a small token of verse I formed at the start of this November.  Hope you enjoyed my unusual habit of penning letters to months!

-Bess-