New poem: You are beautiful to me

You are beautiful to me

When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
Are your face and your body what you want them to be?
Regardless of how the world says you look
You are beautiful to me.

Your past holds dark secrets you dare not share,
Things that you've done and had done to you.
But this is not who you are, my child
You are beautiful to me.

Your disease has stolen the strength you had,
Reduced you at times to a worn out husk,
But in my eyes that's not who you are
You are beautiful to me.

There are things which have happened which changed who you are,
Some things poisoning you deep inside.
But despite how this darkness is gripping your heart
You are beautiful to me.

Your beauty's not measured by the shape of your form
Nor the dark things that altered your life
Because I am your father, I see who you are,
And you are beautiful to me.

So, when looks are the thing that fills your mind
Or what's happening dominates your thoughts
Know beyond doubt that you are my child
And you are most beautiful to me.

Beneath the veneer

New Poem: Beneath the veneer

Beneath the veneer
I see the cracks
Long, deep gouges reaching deep
Great, dark ravines
Slicing through
The fair-set surface others see
Beneath the veneer
I choose to look
The surface not enough for me
I want to know the truthful face
Beneath the soft veneer
Beneath the jagged cracks
Is delicate beauty
Cautious love
And tender hope
I shall give my love
My time
My patience and care
To mend their cracks
I choose to know them,
Each wartorn crack
And weathered cut
With love I'll fill them
So scars still show
They'll always show
But bound by love
Those wounds will ache no more

Thanks to Donald Daly for his original blog post which inspired the poem. I'll post the link when I find it!

A call to worship (Remind us)

A call to worship to say together as a group, church or on your own.

We come here cold
Lord, remind us of your love
Remind us who you are
Because we forget
Remind us of your grace
Because we don't deserve it
Remind us that we are yours
Because we often don't believe it
We come here hungry, Lord,
We want to know more about you
Tell us freshly who you are
That you are our God
And us, your children,
Fully loved,
Fully welcomed,
Fully yours
Because of what Jesus has done for us
Come, Lord,
Remind and teach us more
Of who you are
And change us
In your power
And in our weakness
To become more like you

New poem: It begins with me

As part of our afternoon together as wider leaders, we talked honestly about how we want more people to come to us, learn who Jesus is and join our church family.

Sharing Jesus with our friends can often seem daunting, scary and like we're not up to the task. The truth is, this makes it all abhout us. WE provide the words, WE drum up the confidence, WE have the answers. The truth is, we don't. We have Jesus. He has the answers to the questions our friends have. Sharing Jesus with our friends doesn't begin with me, it begins with Him. As our Father, this is what he'd say:

It begins with me

It begins with me,
Your father, lover, redeemer, friend,
It begins with hope
It begins in dust
It begins with time-worn knees
And upturned hands
It begins with humble hearts
And hungry hearts
It begins with honesty
About your sin and shame
About my forgiveness and love
About the penance you owed
About the cost I paid
So you could call me father
And I call you my child
It begins with knowing me
It begins with spending time with me
Talking to me, chatting to me,
Yelling at me, crying with me
For I weep with you
And laugh with you
I hear each whispered word
your unspoken, burning desires
Are known to me
So share them
I know the things that trouble you
So bring them to me
I know the worries that plague you
So lay them at my feet
I know that you are weak
Will you let me give you strength?
The life I have given you
And continue to give to you
Is to bring you alive!
It is not a dreary list of things to do
And rules to keep you back
But a living relationship
With your one, true father
One who listens to each word
One who understands your hurts
One who experienced your pain
One who loves for you
More than your mind and heart can comprehend
It begins with you and me
So come
Come to me
My sweet and lovely child
My special and well loved one
Come with all your heart has in it
With all that fills your mind
And know me
Know your father and know joy
Deep, all encompassing satisfaction
As you remember His grace is sufficient for you
So come,
Knowing he is enough for you
Know me

And make me known.

TheWeeScottie

New poem: Walk with me

A new poem which came out of an afternoon our church's wider leaders spent together looking forward to the next year and where we'd like to be as a church. I was remremindour lives are paths we walk. God asks us to walk with him.

Walk with me

Come, fall in step
Slip your hand into mine
Let me show you new ways
Don't worry where you're going
I know the way
The countryside is new to you
But it's familiar to me
It'll be bumpy at times
So hold on tight
I won't let go
You'll get worried if you step off the path
But I'll be here if you do
Waiting for you to come back to me
I'll never get tired
So you can lean on me
When you struggle walking,
I'll carry you
When you feel like running,
I'll run with you
When you stumble and fall,
I'll clean your cuts and grazes,
I'll bandage you up and help you continue
It's not an easy path
But it's direct
Straight to the finish line
And my backpack is light
You don't need to carry that baggage you used to
So join me on the path,
Take my hand
And find out where I want to take you.

TheWeeScottie