Breathing out & breathing in
My face resting by your chin
More said in these moments of silence
Than a thousand years of words
In my spirit I embrace you
As you draw me ever closer
We steal away to hidden corners where
Unsuspecting they stumble across us
And tiptoe quietly away
For the hidden places belong to us
There time has no meaning
Forever so it’s seeming
Is only a breath away
(Moya Boardman – moya.boardman@googlemail.com)
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.
7 How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
Sheila Walsh – www.sheilawalsh.com
The clouds
were lit
against a soft blue sky
And reassured me
of glory and beauty
and everything good.
They were
a banner
and a watchman:
a messenger saying
“Peace of Earth!”
My eyes saw
and my heart
arose within me
to soar with
these lofty bowers.
What can I say
when doubt pours in,
or fear
or trouble?
I cannot give up
for I have seen
in the heavens
a sign that there is
something more.
If messages
are given to me
in clouds,
Then what awaits me
at the end
of my toil?
Not a thing of beauty;
but Beauty itself.
Glory itself,
and Goodness at its side.
My life
has spelled out
many roads
of bitter tasting herbs,
and mountain upon mountain
of myrrh.
Yet to have seen
and known,
in different times and ways
- a dining table -
with Heaven as my guest,
Then I have known more,
been given more,
than many on this earth
may ever taste or see.
The Lord is Good.
Though life
is full to the brim
with the cross,
I am privileged
to have survived;
having witnessed
the glory
of an intimate God.
He lives
in my heart
And shines
in my night;
Always a song,
His melody
never fails.
I Know a Secret:
that though time
and circumstances
hem me in,
I too, can soar,
shine,
and radiate life -
like a shinning white cloud
in the soft blue sky.
by Sheila Walsh
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice. -ISAIAH 42:3
St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Britain in the fourth century, the son of a local town councilman. He was raised in a religious home, but there is no historical indication that he had a relationship with Christ until he went through an unbelievable trial that transformed him.
When Patrick was sixteen years old he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and held captive for eight years. He escaped when he was twenty-four and returned to his family a changed man. He came back with a passion for God, with a deep commitment to Christ and a sense of divine calling on the rest of his life. He trained for ministry and spent himself in the cause of Christ. When he died at about seventy years of age, he left behind a moving account of his personal journey with God.
History bears witness to the countless ways in which even the harshest trials seem to carve God’s initials on our souls and draw us close to his heart. I have talked to many people who acknowledge that they would never have chosen the path they found themselves on, but having walked that way they would never change it now.
God’s love seeks out those whose hearts are breaking and whose faces are tear-streaked, and God our maker and his fragile human creations become friends for eternity.
Dear Father, thank you that even in the most painful moments of my life your love pursues us. Thank you that you know how fragile and bruised I am, and that you love me so tenderly. Amen.
Copyright Sheila Walsh – Sheila Walsh