Oops!!! I Forgot to Mention...

For Lent this year I took up a task. I have committed to creating a praise each day for Lent. It can be prose, it can be poetry, it can be photography, but there must be a praise in it. I can do other things, too, and will, but there will be a daily note of praise each day, so please bear with me.

Woodard Bay Overlook Trail

Bikes and Joy

I wandered through the warm, green wood,

I sought my daily praise

But nothing came to me at all

It’s been a rough few days.

The cool green shade, the sunlit fern,

The smell of winter’s wood,

The alder sheathed in bright green moss,

But none of it seemed good.

And then I heard a shrieking laugh

A bold triumphant cheer,

‘I did it daddy, did you see?

I rode from there to here!”

A little girl on her first bike

Without a training wheel

Was wobbling as she peddled hard

Up on her daddy’s heel

And all the while her mom and dad

Offered advice and cheers

While hovering right by her side

As if to calm her fears.

I stood there watching all of this

And whooped a cheer or two

When suddenly I realized

That’s just what God would do.

He watches over each of us

To catch us when we fall,

And when we need Him, He’s right there

He answers when we call.

I’m glad I got to watch her play,

To hear her laugh with glee;

I’m glad she learned to ride that bike

And shared a praise with me.

The Lighted Path

The winter mists wrapped deep and still
Around my weary heart
I sought a path out of the chill,
But knew not where to start.
And then I saw before me there
A path, lit dim, but true,
That led beyond my fear and care,
And there, Lord, I found you.
For, like the filtered morning sun,
Your light burns through the haze
And I will follow you, my Lord,
Through all my misty days.

Morning, Mist and Promise

The Girl with the Rainbow Smile

The world was bearing down on me,
Relentless and hostile,
Til she walked in and brought the sun
The girl with the rainbow smile
The fears of what had not yet come
Were added to the pile
Of frustrations for things not done
While angst rose up like bile.
But all the pain fell fast away
Her laughter can beguile
She lightens up my broken world
The girl with the rainbow smile. A day that seemed without value
Became much more worthwhile
Through the miracle of love and
The girl with a rainbow smile.

Starlight and Sunlight

Starlight foam on the night black sea
Glittering cold and bright
Cast to earth by the morning sun
To an ocean of light
Bright is the laughter of the night
Bright is the starlit dome
Bright is the starlight of the dawn
Trapped in the ocean’s foam

You cast the stars across the sky
You lit the winter sea
You found the joy that I had lost
And gave it back to me.