God right now I could use a hug
And a fresh hot cup of coffee in a mug
Won't you wrap me snugly in your wings
And call to mind such heavenly things
The road is hard the road is tough
I'm losing my mind, my patience and other stuff
Lord, hold me close to your chest
And there, let me stay and rest
A God hug is just what I need
Though it is with reluctance I concede
Sometimes, I'm not as strong as I think
And I need your love to pull me back from the brink
Sometimes a God hug is all it takes
And Lord what a difference it makes!
Let me be with you in silence and peace
That as I decrease you might increase
Let me learn from you and lean on you
Where I can find a love so pure and true
And when I struggle to bear my cross
Remind me that not everything is loss
By your gifts, you strengthen me
To become who I was made to be
When I lift others up, you lift me up as well
And my burden is easier, I can tell
So, help me serve and do your will
To sow the seeds of faith and so instill
A firm foundation of faith to follow
But with love, so my words are not hollow
And so, once more, with a kiss and embrace
I am comforted and strengthened by His grace

God, some days I could really use a hug from you. Maybe today is one of those days. I run into your waiting loving arms ad there I rest, I cry, I need someone to listen or tell me it's going to be okay. Help me take a few moments out of my crazy day to get a hug from you and continue moving forward. By your Holy Spirit, reveal to me something that I could do to be a God hug for someone else. Help me count my blessings and use the charisms (gifts) you gave me to do your will for others as we, in turn, find ours lifted as well. Amen

Turn it on, turn it up, let's start tonight
Spirit grow, let it flow, we are the light
So let us shine and let us stand
We representin' Son of God and Son of Man
How you gonna shine for the world to see
Are you gonna let that light go free?
We are radiating illuminating
We love in a world used to hating
We were made to spread love like fire
Testify and, by your life, you'll inspire
A turnaround a turning back
Of hearts astray again on track
So, the question is this: the question remains
How can I shine in my own special way
And add a little color to a world painted gray?
How can my light, however flawed
Reflect the most perfect light of God?
Take your little light and offer it up
As a sacrifice of love and praise
He will bless the gift and multiply
Do what you can and let God amaze
On every occasion use the gifts you're given,
They were made to be shared not hidden

All have been given different God-given gifts
To choose to use to grow to show
The love that we receive and the faith that we believe
To bring His kingdom down right here right now
To change the world, to change the lives
To change our very hearts and minds
To speak and act and think and pray
To make the most of every single day
Let His light shine through you
That you glow for someone who
Was lost and wandering
Someone searching for something
And maybe your gift and offering
Is what picks them up off the ground
And turns their whole world upside-down
You could be the answer God sends
Upon your loving "yes" a soul's fate depends

The mantis shrimp
Sees all that I never could.
My creator, ever frugal,
Gave me gifts
Of word and tongue
But only just this once,
Bits of light cowed by the sun.

I peer through the window,
Too short to see those
Violet peaks.

I brush past reality
Like the eyelash fluttering past
My cheek,
Never to really know.

i’ll always send you
the things i see that remind me of you

every poem i read
that i know you’ll love too.

every movie
that i think will sit you in the edge of your seat.

every book
that i think you will like, and that you will keep.

every song or lyric
that makes me think of you.

it will always be sent.
always be given- a gift, an offering too.

my way of saying
i love and am thinking if you always.

i can’t help that everything lovely i experience
is always infused with a little bit of you.

The tow of gifts, to youth:
Have a questioning monster...?
A hap of ability, to venture a round eye could
Make your mark in society, with a teeming occur?

What has a luckier few, than the future due?
Simple news and direction to verify, the idea's we pace
Just a calling hour, that liked the doting, that amazed soon...
To see the risks involved, a hardy scope of a wish that says:

Courage and wisdom, in the moments of sojourn
Has the daunting task of hell, for presence first?
Than the sincerity of atmospheres to gain, and again...
The role of viciousness, to look upon a cause before it gets worse?

Shame you have to go, but a better chance sits with you...
Can the vice of notorious visions, of quiet and might
Taken to a decency for a loosened, question's of audacity anew
That has the intuition and tooth, to tell a world to see it, in new light:

Stepping forward, with succor to meagerly meet
Shares of destiny; begin to let more, like a rage was...
The court and the offhand quarter given to a patience to seat
At uniqueness's worth, to which we know your smile even, does...

Life, to wager, does life know when to quit?
Salt and harmony, now the victor of such a race
Like a harrowing care, thrown to a lion with a moment to tell it
Reaching for a song, do you notice the music of showers to face?

My favorite gifts were all from Christ the Lord:
The midnight Scrabble game where U and I
Were side by side and face to face and high
On Christmas Spirit, cherishing the Word;
That great game of Oahu that I won;
That great game of Oahu that I lost;
The time I spent pretending to be Frost
Seeking a rime and landing on a pun;
The yummy apple pie perfectly baked,
Second to  ̶M̶a̶r̶t̶h̶a̶ ̶S̶t̶e̶w̶a̶r̶t̶'̶s̶  none, and made with TLC;
The morning coffee brought to me at 3
P.M. by her who kissed me as I waked.
My favorite gifts have everything to do
With, Bethany Elvira Vitters, you!

Lisa and I wrap and rap for Christmas.
Can you imagine the two of us doing that?

We’ve got Christmas playlists going
Christmas scented candles glowing,
a tinctured but milky hot-chocolate flowing.

“Stir the marshmallows with the candy canes,”
Lisa says, like that’s something she had to explain.

We’re humming, singing and laughing,
and dancing because we’re happy.

We’re dashing to finish our wrapping,
we can’t have our suitemates catching
us executing the plans we’re hatching
to surprise them with gifts, enchanting.

The paper’s exotic, delicate and glittery
bought at Boyars Gifts, in New York City.
Why do the scissors keep getting lost?
Getting low on scotch-tape - we’ve used a lot.

We’ll be putting them, sneakily, under the tree
where they’ll add glamor and tease to our festivities.

I love the lights of the season - I love giving gifts.
For me, playing Santa is as good as it gets.
.
.
(BLT Marriam Webster word of the day challenge: tinctured: mixed with alcohol)