Walls... Protection or Prison?

A hurtful word,
An unkind look,
A friend’s betrayal,
A painful loss,

Brick by brick,
The wall was built,
Till no one dared,
To enter in.

Several had tried,
But turned away
Wondering why such beauty
Was locked away

But persistently,
One dared to try
To breech the wall,
To claim the treasure inside

A kind word…
A thoughtful gesture…

A crack appears

A reassuring smile…
A helping hand…

The crack widens
The wall weakens

Behind the wall,
She realizes
She’d imprisoned herself
From the beauty outside

Love chipping from without
She reaching from within

Destroyed the walls
Freeing the prisoner inside

There she stood…

Defenseless…
Scared…
Uncertain…

But oh so hopeful…
Oh so free…
Opened to the world of God’s possibilities

Love had persisted
Love had won

The snare was broken
She had escaped
Because of Love’s saving grace

We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken and we have escaped. Psalm 124:7


We build walls for protection but often end up imprisoning ourselves. God did not intend for us to live timidly behind self imposed walls but to boldly and fearlessly embrace His plans for our lives.


Be sure to stop by my friend Iris’ blog on Monday Jan 11. She’ll be starting a series called Living Fearlessly.

What May Have Been

Someone said it couldn’t be done
So you took his word as truth
You didn’t even try to do
That which you were predestined to do

You may have been destined for greatness
To have your name shining in lights
Or maybe you were meant to minister
To the wounded and the hurt

You may have been destined to travel
To places near and far
And tell the world of a savior
Who can heal their hurting hearts

But because someone said it can’t be done
You withdrew into yourself
You buried your dreams deep inside
And turned away from God’s call

But you’re still master of your destiny
So just take a leap of faith
And don’t allow discouragement
To cause you to drop out of the race

by Bernadine McIntosh

A Year of Thankfulness

2010… Wow! I still can’t believe it. As a child of the seventies anything beyond the nineteen hundreds seemed something my mind could not comprehend. But here I am wondering, where did the years go???

Thank you Lord for allowing me to live to see another year

As 2009 drew to a close I decided to do something I don’t really do anymore, that is make a New Year’s resolution.

Usually making New Year’s resolution means setting myself up for failure as I don’t seem to make it past January without going off course but hopefully this year will be different:)

My one New Year’s resolution for 2010…I decided that I’m going to write every single day, in a journal. That doesn’t sound like a big deal I know. But although I always have a journal for my thoughts, I usually write only when then mood strikes me, sometimes every day for a month then not again for a few weeks.

A few hours before midnight on December 31, 2009 I decided to decorate a notebook that I plan to use for my daily thoughts. As I covered it I simply thought, “Lord, what am I going to find to write in this journal every day for an entire year?”

I heard the Holy Spirit whisper… “A year of thankfulness.”

I knew immediately what thoughts were going to fill the pages of my journal. The theme of my journal writing this year will be thankfulness.

Between the pages of that particular journal I won’t reflect on the past or even dream about the future. I will simply record my gratitude for the gift of the present…

As I think about 2009 there are many things that I am thankful for but so many times the painful things are the first to come to mind. However when 2010 comes to a close I will have my year of thankfulness journal as a tangible reminder of God’s goodness towards me.

Saying Goodbye to Old Friends

I'm over here today.



I said goodbye to some old friends a few weeks ago. It was quite a difficult thing to do but it was time. Their time in my life had long passed but yet I held on, not wanting to let go. ..


Stop by Laced With Grace to read the rest of this post.

Reflections - What Do You Treasure?

Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:21

What do you treasure? For some reason today I thought about the above verse.
It got me to thinking…

What do I treasure?

Two of the definitions I found for treasure are;
- something of great value or worth.
-a highly valued or much loved person.

What tops my list?

God?

Family?

Friends?

Ministry?

Job?

Possessions?

The truth is there are some days when the things I value most are in totally the wrong order. However, I want God to always be the one that tops my list because without Him it doesn’t make sense to even have a list.

The preceding verses

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:19-20

Lord, help me to always store up my treasures in heaven, to treasure you and my relationship with you above everything else in my life. May you always be the treasure of my heart.

Countdown to Christmas

Sleigh bells ring are you listening…, Come on ring those bells…, Santa Claus is coming to town, Away in a manger no crib for a bed…,

As I write it is only 18 days, 3 hours, 46 minutes, and 6 seconds left until Christmas! The sounds of Christmas carols can be heard ringing over the airwaves on the radio and in most of the stores that you go in to. Christmas lights have began to go up, in homes decorations have been pulled out of storage in anticipation of decorating Christmas trees, in fact some have already been decorated. Yes, the hustle and bustle and overall busyness that seems synonymous with the season has already begun.

I’m sure all of you have an idea in your mind of what would make the perfect Christmas. Maybe it’s a special item you’ve had your eye on for a while and you have your fingers crossed that it will be under the tree on Christmas morning. Or, maybe it’s a family member or friend you’re hoping to see. In your mind if this special wish came true your Christmas would be perfect! Some of you on the other hand may already feel the depression that sometimes comes with the Christmas season. This may be your first Christmas without someone you cared about or maybe you’re in financial difficulty and you don’t see any hopes of having what you consider a great Christmas…

Whatever group you fit in, I have a question I would like to ask in the plaintive words of Charlie Brown, Isn’t there anybody who knows what Christmas is all about? (A Charlie Brown Christmas)

This seems like such a no brainer, a question that is asked every year. Unfortunately though, from year to year many of us still forget what Christmas is all about. So I would like to ask you to just take a step back from what you think the perfect Christmas should be and remember what Christmas is all about.

10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:10-14 KJV)

The above verses are from my favorite account of the Christmas story. They express beautifully the real meaning of Christmas. It all began with a gift, God’s perfect gift to the world, His son Jesus Christ. He is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

My prayer for all of us this Christmas, whatever our circumstance, is that we would allow the joy of the Lord to bubble up within us. Also, that His peace will be with us as we enjoy this season which is a testimony of just how much He loves us.


This is actually a rewrite of an article I wrote for Girl Talk and was also published over at Laced With Grace two years ago.

The Good Old Days

Bring back da good ole days, let the children run and play, Teach them how to stay in school, live by the golden rule,

Bahamian singer Sweet Emily belts out with feelings the lyrics in her nostalgic ode to the past, Bring Back Da Good Ol’ Days. It is a reflex action for me to turn up the radio and sing along when I hear this catchy tune.

During my childhood I can remember hearing my parents refer many times to "da good ol’ days". The days when all of the neighbors were your friends, the days when you could go shopping, leave your doors opened, come back and nothing would be missing. They also talked about taking lunch to school in brown paper bags, owning one pair of shoes and one suit of church clothes…and the list goes on.

When my parents talked about the good old days it sounded surreal. One pair of shoes? One suit of clothes? Do we really want to go back to "da good ol’ days?" Definitely not! However, I appreciate the sentiment behind the song.

Through the pain of the present it often seems as if everything in the past was brighter, happier, more peaceful, and maybe it was. As the holidays approaches I feel myself yearning for the good old days of just four Christmases ago; a time when it seems in my mind that all was well.

When life in the here and now proves difficult, the call of the good old days sounds strongly in my ears and, if I allow myself I can sink into depression yearning for a time that has already passed by. However, when I was living what now seem like “the good old days” I probably reflected on an earlier time in my life and thought it more perfect.

What happened to those days the good old happy days, we need to bring them back …

To a certain extent I agree with Sweet Emily. The good old days were good… back then. It helped to mold us into who we are today. However, today we don't literally want to go back But, let's take all the positive things we can from the good old days, apply them to today and make today and tomorrows better.

So as December goes by and Christmas draws nigh I’m sure many days I’ll think about Christmases past. However, I won’t allow thoughts of the past to take away from my enjoyment of the here and now, because one day I want to be able to look back with the same type of smile I saw on my parents’ faces and say, “those were da good ol' days”

This is a rewrite of an article I wrote for Girl Talk several years ago.