Challenges
Embrace them
Fearless, with courage
Taste life’s treasured gifts
Blessings
Maturing
Home alone
World grows smaller
Embrace family and friends
Love
Embers
Burning low
Embracing more hope
Blazing back to life
Rekindled
This series of poems (written in the German-inspired style of Elfchen or Elevenie) shares a total of eleven words in each poem, with a sequence by line of one, two, three, four, and one words.
From Zephaniah 3:14-15: “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, He has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.”
Looking inward, changing selves
Repenting, reversing course
Searching for life’s cherished peace
Joy spreads from Bethlehem’s source
Reading, praying, reflecting
Preparing our minds and hearts
Beaming starlight in dark times
Joy brightens, world seeks restart
Rejoicing always, Lord is near
Restoring fortunes, Prince of Peace
Renewing tomorrow’s hope
Joy transcends Father’s new lease
Trusting in God’s promises
Waiting with welcoming grace
Singing praises, justice calls
Joy blossoms in this birthplace
Proclaiming mercy-filled peace
Glowing, rising midnight sun
Igniting life’s dormant faith
Joy worships birth of God’s Son
You are invited to join in prayer: Lord God, your love and mercy promise hope, joy, and peace. During this season of Advent, open our hearts in preparation to receive our Savior. Amen.
“Joy to the World” is frequently sung during the Advent and Christmas season. Written in 1719 by English minister and hymn writer, Isaac Watts, this hymn has been a favorite for well over 100 years in North America.
Sometimes we love with nothing more than hope. Sometimes we cry with everything except tears.
From 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: “ Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
From Isaiah 11:1-2: “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
Fragmented prayers lack faith
Hope’s seeds lost, now scattered
World filled with endless despair
Dazed, bruised, and battered
Hope conceived, chosen virgin
God preparing love’s way
Nothing impossible for Him
Holy Spirit holds sway
Bethlehem’s star shines at night
God’s love lights hope’s beacon
Future sparkles from His grace
Mercy never weakens
Heavens prepare peace and joy
Darkness brightens, rejoice!
God plants Holy seed of hope
Angels sing with His choice
Father’s goodness overflows
His everlasting gift
Living water promises
Hope transforms faith’s gearshift
You are invited to join in prayer: Lord God, your love and mercy promise hope, joy, and peace. During this season of Advent, open our hearts in preparation to receive our Savior. Amen.
Originally written in Latin during the 8th or 9th century, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is a frequently chosen song during the season of Advent.
From Isaiah 40:31: “But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
Lost in hidden wilderness
Walking gloomy path, alone
Life’s never-ending circle
Frozen in time’s endless zone
Abandoned without refuge
Searching hellish, barren land
Emptiness speaks with silence
Tireless quest, sinking in sand
Days feel as chilling as nights
Shivering, icy outlook
Hopelessness without promise
Shadow circles, pause to look
Eagle flying overhead
Calling out to thee, follow
Sunrise filling empty heart
Journey no longer hollow
Calvary’s cross stands over
Kneeling upon sacred ground
Tears’ cascading emotions
Life no longer lost, grace found
From John 20:18: “Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that He had said these things to her.”
From Philippians 4:5-6: “ Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Like Apostle Paul
Facing dark trials
Acts of injustice
Covering each mile
Never complaining
Rejoicing with joy
Each of life’s moments
Shirking evil’s ploy
Eyes fixed on Jesus
Refocusing lens
Worry set aside
Walking with our friend
Troubles fall away
Accepting Christ’s Word
Life’s highway brightens
Seeing hope, unblurred
Hearts and minds open
Learning more each day
Jesus strengthens us
Kneeling now, let’s pray
From Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
People who inspire others are those who see invisible bridges at the end of dead-end streets.
From Jeremiah 29:11: “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”
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From Psalm 37:23-24: “Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when He delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand.”
God wants us to succeed today
Asking for our patience and trust
Allowing faith to rebuild hope
Studying from His Word, we must
Always trusting in our Father
Bringing us guidance and His love
Achieving good through His name
Touching hearts, His joy sings above
We are never forsaken, never
Leading, God offers direction
Finding the means, moving forward
Meeting trials with reflection
The wicked gather all around
Following the Enemy’s lies
Causing God to judge their follies
Coming Judgment Day will apprise
Our Savior’s coming, all waiting
Receiving God’s Grace, what a gift
The Lord standing with the righteous
Accepting His plan, lives not adrift
We may still misstep and stumble
Preventing us from falling down
Reaching out, God’s hand guiding us
Fleeing, the thirsty Enemy frowns
Through His Word, the Father blesses
Giving generously, all with love
Choosing Jesus, Salvation comes
Seeking God’s guidance, from above
From the words of Dutch priest, writer, and theologian Henri Nouwen: “A spiritual discipline is necessary in order to move slowly from an absurd to an obedient life, from a life filled with noisy worries to a life in which there is some free inner space where we can listen to our God and follow His guidance.”
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Hiding
World’s light
With swirling anarchy
Sharing Gospel, removing darkness
Faith
Seeking
Father’s heart
Giving of ourselves
Kneeling at Calvary’s cross
Hope
Reading
God’s Word
Grace and mercy
Calling us to repentance
Love
When will we ever learn that there are no hopeless situations, only people who have grown hopeless about them?
From Psalm 142:3: “When my spirit is faint, you know my way.”
Big Sky Buckeye 