We’re at the threshold, waiting on the doorstep, ready to be invited in. Will the welcome be warm? Will we find out heart’s true home, or have our deepest longings met? We hope for more than seems humanly possible, and that’s because we need divine assistance to see us through.
Can we taste the potential, the opening and offering a new year brings? Are our goals achievable? I’m not sure…. and maybe that very uncertainty is what helps give birth to hopes and dreams. Maybe we have to yearn enough to break open a desire which yields to decision, drive and determination.
God is on the other side of the not yet. He hovers in the now and the next. We sense tantalising glimpses of His presence, like a faint mist concealing and revealing what lies beyond our comprehension.
We’re on the boundary, the cross-over point that points the way to the unknown. Will we trust an unknown future to a known God? How far does our faith stretch?
An approaching year holds more questions than answers, requiring us to rest in God-given grace and discover courage enough to live into the answers to come. As we do so, we trust that God walks with us, accompanies every step we take and leads us slowly onward to our next destination.
Grope for Hope
In liminal space
I grope for eternal Hope
that makes me feel safe
Making space
Making space for grace
we become renewed, washed clean
and feel whole again
New Year
A blank page, clean slate
with empty space to create
Feel free to write on
These poems have been inspired by this week’s haiku challenge prompt of ‘Feel&Space’ initiated by poet master Ronovan of Ronovan Writes. Just click on the links to discover how it all came about and to join in here.
I tend to view a new year with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety, hope mingled with concern and a confident expectation of resting in God’s grace, come what may. While I prayerfully consider my #oneword365 for 2017, I would love to hear how you anticipate the new year. What do you sense the months ahead may hold for you or be inviting you to do?
Poetry Joy 
“Maybe we have to yearn enough to break open a desire which yields to decision, drive and determination.” That line arrested me, Joy. Then, this one: “God is on the other side of the not yet. He hovers in the now and the next.” No matter what the months ahead hold—there will be rest, I hope, and healing and reclamation and hourly chances for giving. . . Happy New Year to you and your beloveds.
Laurie, I stall there too, made more aware than ever before of how holy desire needs such careful discernment, and how easily it can be quenched or become our major motivation if we let it. Your words here give me pause for thought: “No matter what the months ahead hold—there will be rest, I hope, and healing and reclamation and hourly chances for giving.” Amen, my friend! Happy New Year to you and your loved ones. May joy be the thread weaving through the days ahead, and may peace pervade each quiet moment God sends. xo ❤
Such a beautiful prayer you breathe for me here. Thank you. I will look for that “thread”!
Laurie, my 31 days of journeying into joy taught me how joy is always hiding in plain sight, ready to be found if we have eyes to search it out. I need this reminder too, especially during winter dark days! Your poetic eye and heart are sharp and deeply receptive. I believe God will honour all earnest seeking after Him, because fullness of joy rests in His presence. Praying for you, my friend. xo
Joy, I love all of your haiku! They kind of build on each other. We put our trust in God, make plenty of room for grace and then move ahead creating as we go. Beautiful! Blessings to you, dear Joy! xoxo
Gayl, as I reread the haiku I see how they are more interwoven and interlinked than was first apparent, a kind of haiku vignette, perhaps? Thank you for reading and for noticing so well! This is a beautiful description of the creative process: “We put our trust in God, make plenty of room for grace and then move ahead creating as we go.” Oh yes, so true! I really appreciate your discerning eye and the sweet encouragement you bring each time you stop by. Abundant new year blessings to you and yours! xo ❤
Thank you for always articulating our feelings so well, dear friend. I’m joining you in hope and prayer for 2017 – happy new year!
June, you are such a beautiful encourager! Thank you for seeing between the lines as such to the heart of the matter. I’m honoured to have your sweet company for the journey into 2017. Happy New Year, my friend! xox
Hope keeps showing up in my life. I think God might be trying to tell me something!
Tara, as I read your words I kept thinking about how God tends to gently emphasise words we need to pay attention to. As I’ve been pondering my potential ‘word’ for 2017, I have been quite surprised by one unexpected, unsought word that keeps cropping up wherever I look. Maybe God is trying to tell me something too?! I love the one He seems to be giving you, my friend. May hope become the defining part of the days and months ahead. Bless you. xo