Relaxing into relationship

August 12, 2015 / Joy Lenton / 1 Comment

There are days of summer living when heat is high and energy low and it’s all we can do to muster a clear thought.

Even in coolish UK we’ve been having a few sultry humid days where I wilt like a dry and dying flower.

This is becoming a busier family season for me too.

We spent time away at our son’s home recently and they’re on their way to visit us soon.

Being with family and friends is a precious gift indeed. And one I value more with every passing year.

It’s a time to take a pause from deep pondering and begin relaxing into relationship instead.

There’ll be slow days, a BBQ or two, a celebration meal out for the adults, and moments to make memories with my toddler grandson.

And there’ll be a bit of a gap on the blog because I anticipate being too weary for words for a while, unless God gifts some to me.

But I don’t know if that will happen in a few days or a week or so.

Much depends on my body’s ability to recover and recoup after expending more energy than usual.

Living with M.E is a see-saw ride where we creep backwards and inch forward.. (as I write about here).

It’s a balance of alternating periods and days of activity with adequate pacing and rest to avoid burnout or relapse.

So this week’s offering is small as we prepare for family to arrive.

Just a couple of little haiku poems for you to enjoy as I wind down my laptop and unwind my mind.

Until God suggests otherwise, I’ll be resting my pen and relaxing into closer relationship with Him for a while.

Aiming to enjoy some necessary down-time for soul refreshment and spiritual whitespace.

Meanwhile, you are very welcome to dip into the archives here or over at my Words of Joy site.

May you enjoy rest and relaxation into relationship too in the days ahead. Looking forward to catching up with you soon!

Blessings and love, Joy 🙂 ❤

Seeking shelter

May 12, 2015 / Joy Lenton / 4 Comments

Life can leach the life right out of us if we let it. Drain all vitality. Leave us limp and wilted as can be.

We seek a place to feel safe, free from harm, to rest and recuperate. A shelter for which our soul’s long.

My safe place? In my Saviour’s embrace. Beneath the shadow of His wings.

Clinging close to God’s side is where I want to abide.

And all the more as society (read:government-shaped attitudes) cause me to want to run and hide away.

There is no stable ground to be found in this world. All is shifting sand. Fickle and failing.

Those with sickness, disease and disabilities are increasingly marginalised and ostracised by a society quick to point fingers but slow to lift them to help.

Compassion doesn’t often seem to extend to those too ill to work. We are presumed to be lazy good-for-nothings, until proved otherwise.

The poem below was written out of my personal experience of living with M.E, fibromyalgia and other chronic illness for over 20 years.

I wasn’t going to write today, depleted and drained as I am. But God graced me with these words on a subject I feel strongly about.

It is also written in empathy and sympathy for all who suffer and to honour International ME/CSF/ & FM Awareness Day.

‘Silenced’

My voice is weak

Silenced by the strong

While I have a soul longing

to seek a place of shelter

Somewhere I can belong

Bathe these wounds

in Gilead’s balm

Receive oil of joy

to slip away from harm

Pain penetrates each day

Its probing fingers linger

like a stubborn stain

Leaving me weaker than before

Coated in a covering of shame

Living on the margins

Broken by its borders

A limp-ragged doll, I blink

wary eyes at society

and slink away to hide

Because I’m washed up

by its tide, become detritus

on the shore, breathless

in my distress, dis-ease

But the Healer hears and sees

Cradles His hurting child

Gathers her fragments, lost soul

Breathes new life, new hope

to restore and make her whole

©JoyLenton2015

Coming aside

May 8, 2015 / Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

As Spring begins to segue into Summer I seem to still be rooted to wintry hibernation.

Huddled indoors most days. Too weary and depleted to do much at all.

This has been a long season of withdrawal from all unnecessary busyness, a stilling of the soul, making room for deeper rest.

And I thought I may have been coming out of my self and Spirit-imposed soul sanctuary cocoon by now.

Words are still flowing; I’m keeping communication lines open and staying available to those things which feed my soul.

Yet the vital sap and lasting spark of energy I so desperately long to receive is missing. I wilt easily.

God is signalling that my highest priority remains to rest in Him, let my mind cease meandering, remember to recharge, pace and sleep.

Because we cannot be fully refuelled, refreshed and restored body and soul without connecting with Him and also disconnecting from those things which steal our soul’s peace.

It may look different for each one of us. Priorities are personal. Some soul-weights sit so heavy and only God can help shift them over time.

So I’m slowly learning to be OK with not being physically active, visible, or crazy-busy in my thoughts – that’s the hardest one to change!

Maybe we can all learn to lean harder on God and become less concerned about doing it all ourselves. It’s worth a try, yes?

I’m joining some soul sisters (and brothers?) over at Kate’s Motaung’s place by sharing a few #FiveMinuteFriday thoughts here today on the word: ‘Meet’.

It’s a great community of writers who aim to let loose their without-worry words within 5 minutes flat and enjoy reading what arises in the process. You’re very welcome to join in.

START….

‘Come aside’

Come aside, draw back,

pull away from the crowd

You won’t find Me

in busyness and loud

Surrender to silence

Sense My Presence within

Meet with Me in this moment

Let your day now begin

Rest your weary head

on My tender breast

before you fall apart

from sheer emptiness

Seek the soothing calm

of My Father-heart

Here I am present

Here I can be found

Here I meet with those

who are unafraid

to turn off the sounds

upon which their soul clings

©JoyLenton2015

A sea change season

April 20, 2015 / Joy Lenton / Leave a comment

The bird sitting proud on its perch looked down loftily, maybe wondering at the peculiarity of human beings.

I leant on my stick and breathed in sea air. Gulped greedily as if I was drowning, starved of oxygen.

And maybe I was. Drowning for a difference, starving for more than the life I’d been living, desperate for change.

Needing to exhale out the old and breathe deep of the new.

Too many days spent captive in the house. Bound by weakness, sickness and weariness for months on end.

I was starving for the light outside. Feeling freedom calling in my veins. My soul ached for ocean but I’d settle for sea or even a riverside view.

I wanted to wend my way to water, feel sea breeze and feel alive again. Do you ever get that feeling?

It isn’t necessary to have chronic illness to experience moments of feeling confined and constrained by circumstances.

To have a longing to break free from our normality. Live life with deeper awareness and passion.

And I’m discovering the best sort of freedom is sensed inwardly, when we know we are loved by God and can live and love freely ourselves because He lives within.

Now, a healing of sorts had enabled me to tread into new territory. A gift of grace equipping me to step outside the house at last.

So I was able to sample the delights of Blakeney Quay on my beloved’s birthday last month. I hope the photographs I took will offer a taste of the quay for you too if you also yearn for water.

‘By still waters’

If you go down to the quay today

and lift your eyes a while,

you may slowly gaze at snake of sea

threading its fine ribbon of blue

through swathes of soft shoreline

where its held fast at bay

And if you linger long enough,

you’ll hear a siren-song

of gulls wheeling their way clear of land

and sea as they lift free

with a hue and cry, barreling high

toward vast stretch of sky

But boats lie idling, still as statues

on the sand, apart from

a brave few out on far horizon

Bobbing with will of wind

Resisting lure of land and going

wherever love sends them

©JoyLenton2015

Being broken

March 27, 2015March 27, 2015 / Joy Lenton / 14 Comments

‘Being broken’

Your voice whispered urgent, imploring

Calling me to come away

Take a break

Stay close to Your side a while

Abide in restful invisibility

close to Your heart

before I break and come

apart on the inside

Little did I know how my soul

longed for less exposure

Less busyness

Less stress

Little did I know how it would

reveal my deepest needs

Become a breaking

and a making of me

Peel back layers of sensitivity

Unloose the woman of God

You desire me to be

Now, broken by Your grace,

I seek solace, and I find

Rest for my spirit and mind

within Your inviting embrace

©JoyLenton2015

Friends, it looks like the poet in me is ready for release with a breaking of a God-inspired, self-imposed silence over the last month.

It feels good to be back sharing my words again with the wonderful community of #fiveminutefriday writers!

Thank you for your kind comments, thoughts and prayers over the last few weeks. They have blessed and sustained me more than you know. 🙂

I’m still taking things easy, resting and pacing and only writing as God gives me inspiration and anointing. But I’m so thankful for this opportunity to join in and share here today.

When you need rescuing

February 26, 2015February 26, 2015 / Joy Lenton / 14 Comments

When a season of turmoil, trial, testing and tribulations pull us into a deep pit, we long for rescue, for God’s quiet waters, stillness and calm to soothe us.

The freeing breath of peace seems elusive until we seek it in Him and not in our circumstances.

And find how faith in Christ becomes the stabilising anchor for our wandering, wilful souls thrown about in life’s stormy seas.

His grace is the means by which we endure and stay calm in the midst of chaos in our circumstances, mind and heart.

Adversity and affliction sift and refine us, make us come forth (eventually) as gold from the fiery furnace.

And they are made bearable by the recognition God is right here with us, in the heat of it all, ready to rescue and save as necessary.

Sometimes a holy agitation occurs which makes us sit up and sense His presence.

What I mean by ‘holy agitation’ is a gentle stirring on the inside, a Holy Spirit nudge, if you like, that grows stronger over time to alert our sleepy souls to His deeper reality and purpose for us.

‘Rescue’

My life feels stuck and stagnant,

mired in mud soul-deep

And as I stretch yearning arms

toward empty skies, I reach

a place where soft breeze

wrinkles water where I lie

An angel has passed by

to offer holy agitation

to set me free from

stagnation, from still pools,

with soft spools of Spirit sighs

An arm reaches down to mine

Across galaxies, across all time,

eternity of stars so bright

Ready to lift me up, rescue

from dark pit of night

My eyes raised high

from gloom and dim,

I feel the breath of Life

filling lungs with Light

and I cling hard to Him

©JoyLenton2015

Dear Reader and Friend,

You know something? Clinging hard to the Lord is where I’m at right now after a prolonged season of increasing sickness since Christmas. Being stubborn old me, I rested up as much as possible after having the flu, but also drove myself as hard as possible to appear relatively ‘normal’ again afterwards.

Apparently, a lot of folk with M.E are like that. Who knew? So I kept up my writing schedules and pulled back from all avoidable social media interaction for a while.

And now? I am deep bone-weary and weak. In need of further rest and sleep, restoration and recovery. In need of not only leaning into Lent but laying down for much of it. In need of putting first things first ~ God, family, health and so on.

Maybe you can relate? You don’t have to be suffering from M.E and chronic illness to feel drained and burnt out.

I’m sensing God saying this is a good time to take a break from blogging for a while, to stay under the protective shadow of His wings as He pours His love, refreshing rest and peace into body and soul.

So I am finally listening and doing just that ~ thinking I can hear a heavenly sigh of ‘At last’ as I do so! It means I will be missing here and on ‘Words of Joy’ for a bit, though I will be honouring my writing commitments elsewhere.

And you can catch up with me on my Facebook page because I could be posting there sometimes as God inspires, enables and indicates it’s fine to do so.

You can also stay in touch with me on my ‘Words of Joy’ Facebook page or connect with me on Twitter, Google + or Pinterest as I dip in and out of those places too.

Meanwhile, do feel free to dive into the archives and find something to bless and encourage you. And if you find something you like, please consider leaving a comment or sharing. Your thoughts and words matter. Thank you! May God bless you and keep you until we meet again. With love, Joy 🙂 ❤

Reverberations of grace

January 19, 2015 / Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

God meets with us in the dust and detritus of our daily lives.

Here, right where we are, planted in ordinary, He grants us tastes of His extraordinary ways.

Sacred spaces exist in the secular. Holy sounds can be found all around.

And as I lay resting more than before, trying to recover from flu-induced extra weariness and weakness, God has been meeting with me most in the everyday.

Touching me with tenderness, revealing reminders of His grace, bringing beauty out of the ashes of adversity.

Yes, I yearn for strength, energy and ability to walk the earth, feel grass beneath my feet.

I long to be by the sea, sniff coastal breezes, breathe deep.

Yet here, confined as my life might currently be, there is no constraint which God’s Spirit cannot overcome.

He finds a way to whisper to hungry hearts, to touch limited lives with His liveliness.

Here’s what I heard while at rest recently…

‘Ripples’

Ripples of sound reverberate through

radiators like discordant chimes

They remind me of times when I can

blow hot and cold in my emotions

and require God’s radiant heat

to slow and steady me

with the warmth of its beat

Swish-bend of trees, reaching high

then low to earth is a dance

stirred by Holy Spirit sighs

And it reminds me of the need

to remain supple in my soul

while God oils each crack and crevice

of its bark to make me whole

White-plumped pillows cradling

my head as I slumber-rest

within this bed are reminders

of the way I’m held fast

in God’s loving embrace as He

speaks peace to soothe this hour

and gently smooth out the days

Curtains closed to guard light-wary

eyes against invading bright rays

provide a shield whereby

I’m reminded of protection

from above, where worldly

darkness can never conceal

penetrating grace and love

©JoyLenton2015

*Manna crumbs*

Home comforts:hot drinks, meals, company and conversation, bed, quiet and dark where needed

Symptoms less severe, improvement knocking at the door, healing closer than before

Being soothed by God’s voice when my soul grows fretful, noisy in its haste to be well

Given whispered poetic words to share

Seeing grace reverberating in daily life ~ here, there and everywhere ~ #1000gifts of grace

Seeing beauty in the everyday

October 14, 2014 / Joy Lenton / 3 Comments

Sometimes we don’t have to travel far at all to see the wonder of the world.

It’s right here, on our doorstep.

Well within our vision.

There is beauty in the everyday.

Cause to celebrate the commonplace.

Eyes enhanced by grace see more than meets the eye.

Blessings abounding for the discerning.

We learn to marry the marvellous with the mundane.

I have had my eyes opened to enchantment.

My soul woken to the wonder woven through each day.

Being housebound means that each opportunity and ability to leave the confines of four walls is reason to rejoice.

Yes, even in a hospital waiting room, a trip to the doctor or the dentist! Surprising encounters can lift our days if we look for them.

I record #beautyintheeveryday on my Instagram feed as memory markers for darker, gloomier days.

All around we are offered opportunities to see life and to see it whole, to witness the outpouring of God’s goodness, glory and grace.

A short journey gives me a chance to see abundance of new life as sap rises in Spring, sultry, hazy, lazy days of Summer unfold, Autumn reveals her golden-clothed splendour, and Winter creeps its silvery, icy fingers on the land.

The poem below is celebrating my brief trips out in recent months, with a wistful looking forward to future ones.

‘Sightseeing’

I didn’t travel far

beyond my front door

Just sitting in the car

delighting in the things I saw

Landscapes, clouds and sky

spoke out God’s beauty

to me as I watched

and sighed. And trees

bloomed fresh and green

then shed their coat of leaves

in russet-gold of varied hues

midst fluffy-white and cobalt-blue

I didn’t get to see

or smell the salt-tanged air

of sea, or watch as

waves rose and fell

upon the sand

Though my heart desires

to see the coast

and ponder on eternity

as life swells forth

in ebbs and tides

amongst the surf

unto infinity

©JoyLenton2014

Longing to move

October 1, 2014October 1, 2014 / Joy Lenton / 2 Comments

‘Final fling’

‘Dancing Queen’ did it for me

My final fling before

becoming so ill with M.E

I haven’t danced since

at a wedding, or some other place

If I did I’d probably fall

completely flat on my face

But I long to move

with style, rhythm,

ease and grace

For these limbs to

writhe smooth, and free from

stiffness, pain, infirmity

No fatigue would

slow me down

I’d be able to

walk all over town

to stride out with

confidence and strength

instead of limping along

in a weakened state

Maybe one day…

I will move with new style,

with energy and pace

For now… I rest, watch others,

wait here patient a while

sit still, with happy-tappy feet

and a wistful smile on my face

©JoyLenton2014

Now, I dance on the inside as my soul rejoices to know God’s goodness and grace. There is no confinement or constraint to inner vibrancy and joy.

“You have turned my sorrow into joyful dancing. No longer am I sad and wearing sackcloth. I thank you from my heart, and I will never stop singing your praises, my Lord and my God” ~ Psalm 30:11 – 12 (CEV)

This post is the first of my #31days of writing brave and free.

Today I am inspired by the word ‘Move’ from Kate Motaung’s list of daily writing prompts that you can find here.

I will be joining in on an ad hoc, informal basis as energy and strength allow me too.

For more details please read this post over at ‘Word of Joy’. I hope you will be inspired to join in too!

Because of Him

September 26, 2014September 26, 2014 / Joy Lenton / 13 Comments

Writing is a strange occupation. Not one for the faint-hearted.

There are days where words flow freely and we write out our hearts.

On others, it feels like the tap has run dry and ceased its outpouring.

We squeeze and coax them to appear like getting blood out of a stone.

Some days they demand a great deal of energy to pin down on the page.

I’ve been trying to save energy because it will only stretch so far when you have M.E, and life has recently become much busier for me in many ways.

If I extend myself too much it leads to a ‘crash and burn’ reaction which can cause further relapse in symptoms.

So I took a mini social media and blogging break to recoup some strength.

Pain has been pervasive and leached more life out of this weary frame. And sleep/rest/pacing have become the order of the day.

But I felt a creative itch and urge simmering beneath the surface. It’s never far away though it hibernates sometimes.

Little snatches of verse have been born (and some made public) as I joined in with poetic prompts on Twitter both prior to and since ending my needful break.

Listening and leaning are the new watchwords of my life this year and they are bearing fruit as I abide closer to God.

There is far less urgent clamour about my writing and a lot more trust that words will appear when they should.

I’m discovering it’s a restful place to be in as I surrender the whole process to God. He gives me all the inspiration and words I need.

I long to break free from rigid conformity, from formality, from ought and should, from comparison and feeling ‘less than’.

Joining in with Five Minute Friday has given me permission to ditch perfectionism and embrace the gift of the inspired moment as I offer my words to public scrutiny.

Here I am again, with renewed gratitude that stems from seeing how God uses weak, weary and wounded ones like you and me to speak out for Him.

I can write again. Words have come when I least expected them to….because of Him.

START…

‘Because’

Lord,

I don’t want to write

just because

it is what

I usually do

or because

I want to have a say

These words should come

because You

have thoughts You desire

me to convey

And You know just who

needs to be

encouraged by You

in prayerful offering

which becomes

sacrificial giving

surrendered in this way

So I come willingly

because that’s

how things ought to be

and happen naturally

Here is my pen, my mind,

my heart, my soul

Please take and use them

to bless, heal and help

make others whole

Write Your Word

upon my heart

Inscribe Your ideas

as I start

to write, and allow

them all to flow

because I

have surrendered them

into Your hands

and for Your plans

©JoyLenton2014

STOP.

Joining here with Kate and fellow #FMF writers as we write bold and brave today. You are very welcome and warmly invited to join in and to discover how you can write this way every day for a whole month if you want to.

	Joy Lenton on hibernation: the beauty of win…
	Bettie G on hibernation: the beauty of win…
	Joy Lenton on On the move?
	darlenemb on On the move?
	Deborah J. Brasket on Embrace the light that ex…

Poetry Joy

sensing the sacred in the everyday

#livingwithME

Relaxing into relationship

Seeking shelter

Coming aside

A sea change season

Being broken

When you need rescuing

Reverberations of grace

Seeing beauty in the everyday

Longing to move

Because of Him

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: