#FMF

The story starts with a seed

/ Joy Lenton / 22 Comments

from a seed - PJ

In Advent we look forward with anticipation to an event of great magnitude.

Remembrance and celebration of Jesus coming to earth for us.

Entering our fallen humanity with the purpose of being the only acceptable, possible sinless sacrifice for our sin.

Beginning in a humble place, with a message of universal hope and grace.

And like all historic occasions, as we look back we can see the seeds of it happening, the roots of origin revealed.

In the poem below I am trying to capture an essence of the foundations for God’s plan of salvation.

Because marvelling at Jesus coming to earth doesn’t stop (or start) with the babe in the manger.

It transcends time itself as part of God’s foreknowledge before we ever knew of it.

All stories start with a seed, a germ of an idea, a creative spirit.

This is the greatest story ever told. One we repeat with awe. God incarnate, come as one of us.

The story starts with a seed…

From a seed

dark seeds

Eve was deceived and

sowed a seed of destruction

leading to mankind’s expulsion

from heavenly joy into a darker

employ of labour and toil

fear, pain, guilt and shame

Yet hidden within her

human skin lay a dormant

seed-carrier capacity

a foretaste of the future

when sin’s enormity

would require a Saviour

And Mary became Seed-bearer

for the human race

to be redeemed by love

and set free by grace

by the birth of God on earth

constrained into a human frame

Her child – Jesus, our Messiah

Saviour, Servant-King and Lord

to whom we bring faith-seed offering

of a heart willing to believe

a mind receptive to receive

a spirit to praise and to adore

©JoyLenton2015

I’m sharing my chosen five-minute-friday word ‘seed’ and the poem that came from it with fellow word-wrangling wordsmith friends at Kate Motaung’s site, with Mel at essentialfridays and with Barbie for Weekend Whispers. You are very welcome to join us or to stop by and be blessed by reading the posts we share.

Mary as Seed bearer - PJ

Reflecting on the light

/ Joy Lenton / 17 Comments

reflecting on the light - PJ FMF

These are days when I avoid more than a fleeting, perfunctory glance in glass.

Checking for unruly hair, smudges and smears while avoiding noting the passage of years.

It makes me sad and discouraged at times to mark the passing of time and all that’s left undone as another year closes.

So this is a season of seeking to see myself more in the mirror of Christ and to lean toward His glorious light.

Aiming during Advent to focus more sharply on His image rather than my own.

I want to be awed and amazed once more as I become immersed in His grace and glory-story.

I want to reflect more deeply on the light of His coming and the gift of His presence.

With these thoughts in mind, I share my best poetic five-minute-friday offering with you.

Reflection

I gaze into glass and it reflects back

a clear-eyed image of me

with uncanny accuracy

My present and past lay revealed

yet I feel it doesn’t really see

deep inside the whole of my soul

It reflects back the way years, pain and tears

have etched their stain hard on my visage

and how I’ve been beaten down by care,

wearing signs of sickness on the surface

So I turn instead to the much-thumbed

book beside my bed, and begin

to read as it continues reading me

I see myself with startling clarity

It reveals who I am in the process of

becoming when reflected in its depths

Here I am mirrored in Christ

shining forth His life

And it reflects all I can be as I

live out its truth, surrender

my time, my years, my life

Now I turn gentler toward

the mirror of glass

knowing its image is transitory,

passing, nothing that lasts

Because the only thing

that fully reflects my

passage on earth

is my faith in Christ

through the ever exalting

state of new birth

©JoyLenton2015

Reflection poem pin

Joining with fellow word wranglers at Kate Motaung’s site today as we wrestle to pin them to a page in 5 minutes flat. This week’s prompt is ‘reflect’.

It’s a lovely, encouraging, supportive community who meet there every Friday. Come join us? You’re very welcome to take part or just drop by here to read the words being shared.

A Man for all seasons

/ Joy Lenton / 17 Comments

advent- light of the world PJ

It’s that time of year again when a lot of us become overly distracted, caught up in a browsing/buying/bingeing frenzy even as we want to still our souls and focus most on the presence of the Light of the world within.

Some just want to disappear, pull the duvet over their head until it’s all over and life can get back to normal, please.

Each season brings its own charm and challenges, doesn’t it?

I love slowing down to have a deeper appreciation of Advent. Maybe you do too.

It’s a waiting, watching and wondering period of remembering how and why our Saviour came to earth.

Becoming a tiny babe in a earthly frame at the start of an arduous journey toward the cross.

His sole purpose was to hold out loving arms willing to die for us, to bear the burden of sin we carry within.

I can’t help but think how crazy-busy, sad and mixed up this season can be. Many are in physical or emotional pain, desperate, dying on the inside, others literally in fear of their lives.

As we sit heavy with a world’s sadness, sorrow and pain, we can breathe in sweet remembrance of  the Reason to savour the joy of our salvation, of our brokenness being made whole.

What if we primarily saw this season as a grace invitation to lean harder, listen closer, open our eyes and hearts to the Man for all seasons who stands ready with arms wide open to receive us?

A Man for all seasons

holly - for all seasons PJ

Deck the halls with boughs of holly

Fa la la la la la la la

‘Tis the season to be jolly

Fa la la la la la la la

But what if…

you feel the sharp prick of painful

circumstances bleeding into your days

or sway inside as you sip a bitter

cup bearing berries of unforgiveness,

or have grief eating you up within;

how can we celebrate a season of

consumerism or avoid its slick

perma-present ‘buy this’ rictus grin?

There is a way because there is a Man

for all seasons, a Son and Brother

who is our soul’s Lover; He stands

ready to ignite a fire to thaw all cold

and burden-heavy hearts

He sees the season we are in

and His gift offering invites us

instead to focus our blurry,

world-weary gaze on Him

It may feel wintry-chill within

our fearful souls but His Love’s warmth

seals against all ills as it permeates with

laser grace to revive and make us whole

©JoyLenton2015

I’m warming my heart today by having fellowship with fellow wordsmiths sharing their five-minute-friday offerings on the word prompt ‘season’ over at Kate Motaung’s place and with Mel and friends as we focus on the essential things of life and faith. You’re very welcome to join us.

for all seasons poem PJ

Being sustained at the table

/ Joy Lenton / 9 Comments

advent-89554_640

Advent is a season to deliberately look for and lean toward the light of God’s presence.

We hunger for hope, run hard after His wild mercy and grace.

Long for freedom from our pain, guilt and shame.

Seek sustenance for our dry, thirsty souls.

Scripture gives us promises that the weak and weary will be refuelled and restored at God’s table of grace.

So we come because invitation has been given to feast with Him here and in greater abundance in heaven.

Won’t you join me at the table? I’ve saved a seat for you. There’s always room for more.

Come taste the wine of His presence and eat the Bread which gives sustenance and life to us.

“But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction. He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food” ~ Job 36:15-16

This table..

Here lies hospitality beyond

all knowing, an open table

stretching to infinity

which still keeps growing

A warm welcome here for all

who live in Love’s thrall and spend

their lives devoted to the Friend

who laid down His life for them

Yet here in the very midst

of mess, trouble and strife

we find this table groaning

heavy, brimful with Life

In the presence of our enemies

this table speaks of bounty

deep, laden with grace for the

able, wounded and weak

And even as we eat and drink

to sustain our weary souls,

we will always rise replete,

satiated, filled and whole

This table sits within dark

wilderness, shining bright

with Light’s heavenly splendour

inviting us to taste largesse

©JoyLenton2015

hospitality table FMF PJ

“You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” ~ Psalm 23:5-6

I’m joining fellow thankful table-dwellers over at Kate Motaung’s site today as we feast on the word ‘table’ , chew it over in five minutes flat and pour out our soul offerings. The poem above is my contribution to the rich fare being served there. Come join us?

Getting ready to dance

/ Joy Lenton / 17 Comments

getting ready to dance PJ

There are times when I’d love to be able to dance again.

I miss being able to move freely.

To have a co-operative, healthy body with energy buzzing through me.

The last time I attempted to dance was at a wedding, ironically to Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen’.

It was more of a one-song-wonder than anything else and I couldn’t quite put my all into it either.

Little did I know it would be my swansong as a dancer.

I’m not trained or gifted in any way, but I’ve always enjoyed dancing and took it for granted that I always would.

What followed was a serious relapse in my previously moderate M.E symptoms, rendering them severe by overdoing things.

It was many years ago. I’ve not been able to dance since.

I watch and I smile when others do, and I say it’s okay because I’m dancing on the inside.

Yet one day I know I will dance for real. Be held by and hold onto my soul’s Lover.

I’ll be ready, willing and able to move freely again.

Here’s my five-minute-friday way of dancing with words..

Ready to dance

I’m a pale wallflower

hiding in the corner

Biding my time watching

the way others dance and sway

My feet have forgotten

how to dance, but still

they tap lightly to the beat

My body too weary to move

I fail to get into the groove

Who would want to dance

you see, with a woman bent

and bowed by having M.E?

flower

And then I see You

standing there with a

look at once safe and

loving, so familiar

You smile and reach out

for my reluctant hand

as I wobble up and finally

stand, looking only into

Your face as you bring me

close into a warm embrace

ca. 2003 --- Hand Reaching --- Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

Whispering endearments

to my hurting heart,

saying this is only the very

start of a lifetime journey

You are bringing me to

where I’ll run and

I’ll skip and I’ll

laugh with joy, and

I’ll always get to

dance with you

girl dancing

We move to the gentle

rhythm of Your grace

and I sense a loosening

in my soul, a warm

flush rising to my face

as energy unknown flows

and rushes through

this body of mine, now

made complete and whole

©JoyLenton2015

You’re warmly invited to join in with the regular #FMF word dance going on at Kate Motaung’s place.

We skate around perfection, move to the beat of our clocks as we write freely for five minutes – I went over a little here.

Just bring your words and join in the fun. We’d love to see you there. 🙂

On saying yes

/ Joy Lenton / 16 Comments

SAMSUNG

There are days where tears bleed as rain and my soul feels swallowed whole by weakness and pain.

I waft into insubstantial shadow, blurred outline, smudged nothingness.

Missing the usual places of validation where my insecure soul gets fed.

Finding that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) has come sooner to my world as autumnal weather drifts early into our shores, rendering me a mess of emotions.

Needing to stay still, lay down body, hopes and desires. Surrender and sink into unconditional Love’s embrace.

And as I’ve been alternately surrendering and resisting deep soul rest, I sense God asking me to say yes to so many things.

It’s not easy at all, more like a dying on the inside, a howl of outrage and fear of missing out, anxiety over losing acceptance.

Because who am I if I don’t have a face, a voice, connection and a presence on social media?

Who am I? A woman who feels likes she’s drowning in her own seeming insignificance, apparently.

Nevertheless, I am slowly surrendering my need of people approval and leaning into His alone.

And finally beginning to stop begrudging this season of ceasing, of pulling back, of being an edge dweller.

Because deep inside? This hurting child knows that her Father’s wishes are ones to heed, and she whispers her reply.

Yes to being on the margins of life when I’m too weary to participate.

Yes to having deep dependence on Him day by day.

Yes to finding worth and value, significance and strength in Him alone.

Yes to His timing and His plans, and yes to seeking after His heart rather than any other.

Saying yes

I don’t want to say yes

to being insignificant,

small; I don’t want to let

go of desiring to have it all

In saying yes to less

I’m inviting obscurity

to define me more than

any worldly success

Then I remember how you

laid down your heavenly

crown, came manger-wrapped

as a tiny one who never stopped

being God’s only begotten Son

You chose to stay humble

walk a challenging road

bearing our burdens and

sin’s heavy load, while your path

led you to suffering on a cross

with a willing yes as you bore

humanity’s pain and dross

Now with arms open to

all mankind, you welcome

us into a significant life

marked by surrender and

being small, saying yes

to life’s best yes of all

©JoyLenton2015

saying yes PJ pin

Friend, if life or your own thoughts are giving you a hard time too, may I suggest you dive deeper into God’s love for you? Resting in His love is the only place where we can feel safe, protected and truly accepted.

I wasn’t going to write today. Because words haven’t been flowing freely lately and I’ve been way too tired to think straight. Maybe you’re there too? Perhaps you can remember, along with me, that it’s not a permanent place, just a pausing point and breathing space.

But God had other ideas as He planted a few lines of this poem into my mind while I was dreamily drifting. And He gave me the ability and grace to write the rest out of my imperfection and weakness, and also say a heartfelt yes to participating with the lovely five-minute-friday community as they explore the power of ‘Yes’ today. Come join us?

Comforted by presence

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

alone FMF PJ

Scratch the surface of any life, crack us open to the core and, sooner or later, you will find a heart yearning for presence, although we may not even know it.

Our souls crave security, safety and shelter as primary needs. Our hearts crave connection, acceptance, companionship.

We all want reassurance that we’re not alone or as lonely as we may often feel, and to experience being comforted by presence.

Life can be a fearful thing. No-one really wants to be without companionship along the way, a hand to hold, a word to encourage and reassure.

As someone verging more on the introverted rather than extroverted way of being, I long for quiet, space, silence and solitude on a regular basis.

Sitting alongside that desire is a thread of needing to be seen, heard, appreciated and understood. Maybe you can relate?

And most of all, deep down, I want to be loved fully, deeply, madly and personally, warts and all, no holds barred, just as I am….please. Is that too much to ask?

Sadly, my parents left me with a legacy of insecurity and inferiority. They were poor and careless caretakers of my heart.

Only God can offer me (and you too) such depth of understanding, such consistent, reliable, faithful, unconditional love – although my husband has come pretty close during our 40 years of marriage.

My heart craves deep soul connection with others. My mind wants to unwind with like-minded kindred folk. My spirit seeks solace in relationship.

And the great thing is, we are not as alone as we perceive ourselves to be.

There is a certain Someone always looking out for you and me and we have the constant comfort of His reassuring presence.

You are not alone

Mary, full of divine favour, waited

expectantly to birth our Saviour

She was given reassurance of

the comfort of God’s presence

Now, we walk wild through

this world, try to eschew

the things which seek to get

us firmly in their grip

And we are never left alone

even when we feel we’re

on our own, because

God has made His place

of rest within our all

too human breast

He calls our lone heart’s space

His own true home place

His room to be and breathe

ours to respond, receive

and walk within His ways

for the remainder of our days

Keeping our eyes wide open

toward prospect of heaven

for the Kingdom’s only partly come

but will be our soul’s forever home

lit by the radiance of The Son

©JoyLenton2015

I’m sharing five minutes of as-it-comes poetry today with a loving, supportive community of fellow writing friends. This week’s prompt is:‘Alone’. You’re very welcome to participate.

You're not alone PJ pin

Seeking and finding

/ Joy Lenton / 15 Comments

seeking and finding PJ

As I’ve sought to relax into relationship recently by spending quality time with my family, it has been a period of great pleasure,  joy and excitement mingled with adjustment and adaptation.

Because we’re all works-in-progress who change with life’s circumstances, alter with the different seasons we are in.

I have also discovered how easy it is to lose sight of God when our lives are full of other people and other things.

We can forget that God is a relentless Lover of our souls. He craves our company, relishes relationship.

He is continually knocking at the door of our heart to seek admittance, hoping we will allow Him in.

Being with other people is exhilarating and exhausting, often both at the same time.

People are unpredictable, driven by their own inner needs, emotions and desires.

We all have the capacity to disappoint and let one another down, or cause worry and concern.

We need to withdraw sometimes to rest, recover and refuel. Being with God in the silence is a great way to unwind.

Communing with Him is beneficial to body, soul and mind. God is consistent, true to His word.

He will never leave us feeling weary or depleted; on the contrary, God will renew and revitalise us by His presence.

His grace is sufficient for our every need; He restores and remakes us.

I know I cannot do life alone. I depend on God for all the energy, strength and wisdom I need to see me through each day.

My life is all the poorer if I neglect to seek Him during the mundane moments, look for Him in everyone and everything.

We can relax into relationship with Him because He is faithful, loves us unconditionally and always has our best interests at heart.

I’m joining in with fellow wordsmith friends for five-minute-friday as we write from the heart without worrying about perfection. Today’s prompt is:‘Find’.  Do come on over and read the great posts at Kate Motaung’s place. You’re warmly invited to join in with this wonderful writing community.

START…

Finding you

You are in cuckoo’s early morning cry

Breathed out in birdsong from on high

Filtering through the fingers of a new day

Soft streaming light with dawn’s bright rays

Inviting me to pull back the curtain

Arise now, let go and unfurl,

let you into my inner world

I hear you in swish-bend of trees

Sense Holy Spirit whispers on the breeze

Feel your footsteps tender tread

on the stairs of my hollow heart

Hear your voice echoing everywhere

as I begin to make a fresh start

You are the soul solace I seek

You are seeping joy

found in darkness deep

You are treasure mined on earth

You are Life, creativity,

energy, wholeness, new birth

Lord, let me find you here today

Make me receptive in every way

Waken my senses

Alert me to presence

Because you always long to be found

and your radiance shines all around

And when I finally

find myself in you

I see Love threaded through

because you offer only the best

So I exhale my deep-bone weariness

reach out thankful to receive

soul refreshment, grace and rest

©JoyLenton2015

STOP.

“But if from there you will seek (inquire for and require as necessity) the Lord your God, you will find Him if you truly seek Him with all your heart (and mind) and soul and life” ~ Deuteronomy 4:29

When you feel small

/ Joy Lenton / 12 Comments

when you feel small PJ

There are days where we feel so insignificant, invisible even.

It seems as if we blend into the air around, lost in the ether.

Our voices feel weak as tiny bird. Our words fall flat on ears deaf to their sound.

Our place in the here and now looks insubstantial, shaky and small.

It feels like we’re hardly here at all.

Do you have days like that? I do. 

They are red flags to what’s going on inside of us. Warning signs to heed.

They are white flags of surrender. Cries for help beyond ourselves.

Because God becomes our only safe shelter in a world where we feel less than all He made us to be.

He knows the vagaries of the human heart. He listens to every beat it makes. Hears the inner laments and anguish of a soul in torment.

And His Father-heart cries over the cruelty of a world that scorns His Son and tears His children apart.

Because He knows how wearied we can become and how we are made for far more than this world offers.

I’m thankful for those who see, who hear, who listen, who respond and make me feel I have a voice, a tiny place of worth in the scheme of things.

But I’m grateful most of all for the unending, unconditional love of God who helps me to become all that I can be by His grace.

There are no losers, no left out people, no invisible or discarded ones in God’s Kingdom. We are people of great worth and value in His eyes.

We are the grace dwellers, the truth tellers, the anointed, redeemed, blood-bought children He loves beyond measure.

Yes, here.. and now, living in this upside-down kingdom, topsy-turvy world we’re in, we are very significant to Him.

Here

We live in a world addicted to gain

to ascending the summit of success

to amassing, collecting largesse

And yet you call me to dwell here

abide in quiet shadows of surrender

where I sense the humiliation

of my life so small against

the largeness of your love

Here I am nothing, yet remain

everything to you; my emptiness

the reason for your pouring,

filling, overflowing measure

of grace into every dark

and empty space inside my heart

Because your love leads me into

encounter, renewal, fresh start

©JoyLenton2015

When you feel small in the eyes of the world, remember Whose you are, my friend. Such thoughts stirred the  5 minute poem above.

I’m blessed to be joining in with the wonderful writing community that comprises Five Minute Friday. Today’s prompt is:‘Here’. Kate Motaung is our gracious hostess.

You’re very welcome to come and join us at her place as we celebrate the first anniversary of her time hosting this link up.

Also adding to the soul refreshment being served over at Bonnie Gray’s place for Beloved Brews. Do come over and take a fuel stop there.. 🙂

encounter PJ pin

 

When we need to accept help

/ Joy Lenton / 6 Comments

helping hand PJ FMF

How hard it can be for us to realise we are helpless in some areas.

Human effort will only get us so far, as will natural talent and abilities.

Yet we so often strive to succeed by ourselves, not seeing our need of help or wanting any assistance.

Independence is a good thing on the whole, but a degree of dependence is also a sign that we’re aware of our own limitations.

We can see how the gifting in others enriches us and there is grace in accepting assistance and support.

We begin to accept that we need other people. Together we achieve so much more. United we are stronger.

Because eventually we’ll reach an impasse. A point of no return where we cannot do a thing except trust in another.

See our need and willingly (or grudgingly?) receive.

We’re wired to exist within community and live mindful of each other’s needs.

And some things in life are completely beyond us. Maybe you can think of a few?

In my life with M.E and chronic illness I’ve learnt to be gratefully dependent on those who assist me with daily living tasks.

In my writing life I’m completely dependent on Holy Spirit inspiration, grace, gifting and energy.

In my spiritual life I responded to what God had already done in Christ, seeing my impotence to save or change myself.

The poem below is my five-minute-friday contribution as I join others who write brave and free in a supportive community. You’re very welcome to join us over at Kate Motaung’s place. Today’s prompt is ‘Try’.

Also linking with Barbie at The Weekend Brew.. do drop in for some soul refreshment.

START…

You don’t have to

You don’t have to try to curry

favour with a risen Saviour

You already are His glory treasure

and He loves you beyond measure

It’s not your effort that will gain

you a seat in heavenly places

Jesus bore the cross and shame

so that forgiveness would embrace us

You don’t have to worry

as you go about your days

There’s no peace in stress and hurry

only in following His ways

You don’t need to do a thing

beyond believe in Him

and see how His sacrifice

offers us a renewed life

Rest easy, my friend

Seek the wonder of salvation

and eternity without end

for every person, tribe and nation

Relax and sense the flow

of His holy joy within

as you surrender and let go

trusting your life to Him

©JoyLenton2015

STOP.

flow PJ FMF pin