We are seedlings,
Needing a little nudge to the earth
Where precipitation is rife
For newfound birth.
Not choking in a bag, deprived of life
Whilst the storm can shine our worth.

Jesus calls out to us: "Come to Me"
And, filled with faith, we walk upon the sea
With our eyes upon the master, we rise above
And we walk to him with hearts full of love

But then we look down and see just where we are
We falter and start to sink after we came so far
We reach out for Jesus to save us again
We lost our focus and what happened then?

We have all been prodigal
We have all been dead in our sin
We have all denied the Father
And wanted our own life to begin

We have chased things that leave us empty
We have consumed things that do not satisfy
We have searched for love in all the wrong places
We hit rock bottom, ready to break down and cry

We are in the land of loss and suffering
We brought this upon ourselves
Wandering in the barren lands
Chained up in our own personal hells

Eventually we come to our senses
We see the price that our actions cost
We come crawling back to our home
But we are back; we are no longer lost

We are filled with sorrow and remorse
But the past is in the past; right now, we celebrate
"Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet
The finest wine put in his cup and meat upon his plate"

Today, all of Heaven rejoices with a grand feast
Light and life arise like the morning sun in the east
There is now much laughter and music and dance
The colors are more vivid, and my senses enhanced

We will come from suffering to celebration
We will come to a more perfect relation
We will know the true joy of Easter morn
Because, from out of suffering, we have been borne

Lord, thank you for your saving grace and for calling us to yourself. We are called to rise above the trials and storms of life, and we can when we keep our eyes fixed on you. But we lose focus Lord, we doubt, and we are pulled under. Save us Lord and give us the courage to step out on the water and go where you call us. We also pray that you would see us through the suffering to celebrate with you again. Help us be mindful of our sins and soften our hearts to be remorseful and repentant so we may rise with you in your resurrection. Amen.

We will close with these words:
"There's no one more thankful to sit at the table than the one who best remembers hunger's pain. And no heart loves greater than the one that is able to recall the time when all it knew was shame". --Steven Curtis Chapman "Remember Your Chains"

I drink it
straight

I write 'em straight
to the point
bold, curvy, squiggly,
pressured or light
and oh
so transparent

Liquid courage
inked in my vessels

soft introductions
******* bodies
the outros
are mostly
unexpected

but they all
deserve a cigarette
afterwards

What lies beyond this dour door
that leads to things ahead?
I stand and wonder what’s in store
behind this portal grimy with dread.

Its glass is cracked, its lead paint is chipped
while its brick wall is turning to sand.
Its handle doesn’t invite to be gripped,
nor does it tell me where I’ll land.

I look all up and down the street
and see only more doors that look the same.
Before each one are more: their feet
wish to walk away from these doorframes.

Each one of us is seized by impotent rage
at facing a choice that’s no choice,
to be fixed as if in a steel cage
and finding no cause to rejoice.

But one of us in this bleak boulevard
must be the first to twist the ****
with the will to face the path that’s hard,
to not let our lives by fear be robbed.

Let each of us kick in our doors of fate
and overthrow their grips on our lives,
smash the clock and pass through that gate
with heads held high, fearless of where we arrive.

Spurred by the clarion call: it came to pass
our pent up waters burst the dams.
No captives are we! We struck en masse:
Battering rams forged out of lambs.

do you ever feel like you're not enough? like what you do will never measure up. who to be and what to do have never come clearly to you.

i know you.

I know your pain, your sorrow, your lack of faith.

"how do i believe in myself when no one else does?"

you prove them wrong.

show them your strength, your courage, your confidence. prove to yourself that you deserve life, deserve to be on this planet we call earth.

we all have something to offer, you included.

show the world the best you can be and then they'll see that they were wrong about you and the things you can do.

spread your wings and jump, i know you'll fly.