Faith

Speaking to a friend of mine recently who was going through a difficult time, I asked her if she has prayed about it yet.  She looked at me for a few momemts, then answered that no, she did not, as she felt that she got herself into the mess and could not possibly ask God for anything.
I thought about this statement of hers and realized that was exactly how we often think about God.  We limit our expectations of him to our own ideas of what we think of Him.  However, our perception is most often flawed.
God's promises us that He will never forsake us or leave us.  His love and care for us does not depend on our good deeds.  He is not impressed by our good behaviour or how smart or responsible we are.  He does not categorise us into categories of "worthy" or "unworth".  He asks only that we have faith in Him and that we call on his Name.  He wants us to believe in Him and trust in his promises.  Nothing can seperate us from the love He has for us.
We might impress other people with our abilities and achievements, we might be shunned by people because of our past or our background, but God pays no attention to such things, he knows our hearts, he understands our plight, and He wants to reach his loving hand out to us.  All we have to do is to reach out and take it.  Have faith, trust in Him.

I you flutter by here, please feel free to share your thoughts with me,
Blessings,
Charri

Writing Is Good For The Soul

Today I thought I'll share a poem I have written recently, simply because it is in an unusual format.  It is called a Triple Threat acrostic.  Hope you enjoy it, as well as the three messages in it.

W HEN life is pressing,
R EALLY putting us through the wringer,
I NTENSE doubt sets in that at
T IMES feels as if all is lost, fears
I NTRUDE upon our thoughts that
N OT only distress us, but
G ENTLY seem to smother all hope.

I T'S then that we must remember
S OMETIMES it is a blessing in disguise,

G ODSEND moments to lead us to new
O PPORTUNITIES that we might otherwise miss,
O PENING new roads for us,
D OORS where we thought were only walls;

F OR these are the times we must
O PEN our hearts and minds as
R EFLECTION is an essential tool

T O discover God's plan for us, a chance to
H EAL old wounds, demolish old believes, reveal
E MOTIONAL baggage causing pain,

S TRESS that destroys our joy.
O NCE we learn to look for the hidden message
U NDERNEATH the pain, the difficult times, we discover
L AYERS of blessings, waiting to be revealed.

By Charmaine Fourie, © 2013, All rights reserved.

→ Show additional poem info

Author notes

A triple threat acrostic is an acrostic invented by  "thelordreigns" here on AP   .
First off all it is a regular acrostic that reads vertically with each first letter thus making a message: "Writing is good for the soul",
then the first word of each line is read verically down making a second message : "When Really Intense Times Intrude Not Gently    It's Sometimes    Godgiven Opportunities Opening Doors    For Open Reflection    To Heal Emotional     Stress Once Underneath Layers"
Lastly the whole poem is a message, the three messages must compliment each other.

Six Butterflies

What a blessing today was!  Six women, six artists, six believers together for most of the day, sharing, laughing, planning, learning from one another and marveling together!  There is just something so precious when like-minded people get together, there is a buzz in the air that rivals the highest caffeine high ever!!
I took a moment amid the chattering happening, to look at us, each one so very unique in her own special way, yet we are alike in everything that counts.
There is Susan, dependable, responsible, generous, a woman exuding such warmth that you just want to bathe in her presence; Dana (head girl for the day !) caring, yet daring, fiery, with a streak of recklessness carefully hidden behind common sense; Marsha, witty, her engaging smile makes a person want to smile too; Jade, quiet, sincere, a bit careful, radiating a gentleness of spirit; Tina, her reliable and steady disposition masking a romantic, hippy spirit, and of course then there is me.  Each one of us represent our own special colour in life's landscape.
How blessed we are when we are surrounded with friends and family who love and value us just for who we are.  How sad when we hardly seem to notice the gift that is.
I want to take a few moments to celebrate every relationship I have in my life today, for each person has contributed his or her precious texture and hue to my masterpiece, completing me.  Without these relationships, whether big or small, brief or decades long, my life would have been all the poorer.
Look around you today, this week, and take stock of the people moving through your life.  Is it just chance, of little or no consequence?  Or does that unexpected smile lift your spirit, that casual hello give you pause, that kind look encourage you?  What role do you play in other people's lives?  Do you take a moment to share a smile with the tired cashier?  Do you pause to let an old lady cross the street?  Do you turn back despite your rush, just to give to husband another hug? Every encounter has the potential to change somebody's life, somebody's day, even if just for that moment.  A moment that can lead to an opportunity to testify, to enrich another life.
Six women together for a day.  A blessing indeed.  I feel enriched to have shared my day with them.  Six butterflies fluttering through the canvas of my life.

Caged?

This year is moving past at a terrifying speed!  To quote my husband: "Last year this time it was only March!!"  Yet, despite the days rushing past, I have felt trapped in limbo, a bit like this butterfly trapped in the cage, neither here nor there, feeling dissatisfied, as if something was amiss despite having everything to rejoice about. 
I have not been able to put words to this feeling, until this week, when a few of us got together and started talking about where we were heading with our art.  My very talented artist friend said that she realized that she was not an artist; she was not good enough to be one.  I was astounded, how could she say something like that when she often have people wanting to buy her paintings, getting commissions and having people ask her to do exhibits.  It was clear that she was listening to the voice of her inner critic, as well as to the opinion of others, instead of listening to the voice of the Lord.  She was trapped in self-doubt.
Suddenly it dawned on me that the feeling I had was a feeling of being trapped myself.  Trapped, not by circumstance, not by physical conditions or limitations, but trapped by my own thoughts, doubts and ideas imposed on me by others.
I realized that it has been 5 months since my last blog entry, and 8 months that this feeling has grown and taken on a shape all of its own.  Why?  What happened?  All it took was one wordless comment.  A reaction to the unspeakable words that I dared utter:"I have come to realize that the Lord has given me the talent to write."  That one look said it all: What?!  How dare you think that God can give you such a talent?  Who are you!  How dare you be so conceited?!  I felt so ashamed for saying those words out loud, because indeed, who was I to claim that the Lord would endow me with something like that.  I felt like running away, unsaying those words, hiding away.  And hiding away was exactly what I did, I stopped writing, I found all sorts of excuses why I am not writing - I am too busy, I am not feeling well, it's too cold in the study, etc, etc, etc!!  Yet the real reason I hid even from myself.  I was too scared, too afraid to be revealed as a fraud, frightened to be found inadequate. 
However, this was bigger than self-doubt, it was worse than my own fear, it was to doubt God, it was unbelief in God’s grace, distrust in His plan for my life.  I had more faith in somebody else’s opinion of me than in God’s opinion of me, the Creator of all, even little old me.  I chose to listen to the voice (the look) of a mortal person rather than trusting God’s message, His inspiration.  After all, I know that it is not me, who is so great or so talented, but it is the Lord who gives me the words to write, He inscribes them on my heart, I am just the vehicle He uses to put the words to paper, the brushstrokes on the canvas.  And THAT is something I may not allow anybody to take away from me. 
Who is to blame for me not writing?  That one person whose look said it all?  My parents for maybe not encouraging me?  No, it is I who is to blame.  It is so easy to give up, to accept a lie, for then all I have to do is nothing.  Doing nothing means that no-one can criticize me, nobody can comment on my writing, pull it apart, laugh at it.  But the other side of the coin is also true, nobody can be touched by it, receive a message, hear my testimony, experience a lifting of the spirit. 
For many decades I have struggled to get to this point, to even consider that the Lord had given me a talent as I thought myself too worthless, but finally I started crawling out of my self imposed cage and spreading my wings. I dare not hide away again; it is time to leave the safety of the cage behind once and for all!

Do you feel trapped by self-doubt, others’ opinions of you, past experiences?  Then I invite you to throw the shackles off, dust off your wings and come fly with me!  You are meant to live and to live life fully in all the glory that the Lord has bestowed on you!!  After all, there is nobody like YOU!

Please feel free to comment, I would love to hear what it is that you have also wanted to to , but have been afraid of trying.
Be blessed,
Charri