This Heart

Hi all, felt like it was way past time for another post!

This is a poem I wrote while meditating on Jesus and his great labor of love.

This heart

Kept alive by that which they don’t understand
A power that they can’t see
This heart
Beating for that which lies ahead of me
A path tread in sorrowful peace
This heart
Aching for that which they can’t imagine true
Waiting for all to be complete

Steady love, keep walking forward today
Past pains will shine forever and future love will envelop you
Yet this too will drift away
Lost in the steady beat of a heart pressing through
For nothing in this world will stay
The heart that yearns for all to be perfect, new

This heart
Regardless of all that tries to twist and tear
Pushes deeper, further still
This heart
Seeking life yet discounting its own
Determined in its steadfast will
This heart
Looking neither right nor left at all
Walking steadily, faithfully, up that hill

Steady love, keep walking forward today
The task ahead will test you for all that you are
Yet this too will be for good
Up from the clutches of sorrow, pain, and scars
All will be made beautiful soon
This heart will shine forever more radiant than stars

This heart

Spent completely on that which was not worthy
This heart
Steadily ready to sacrifice all for what was nothing
This heart
Perfect in life, now after death more glorious and holy
This heart
In surrendering all found victory, in losing all gained everything

Steady love, keep walking forward today
For this heart is yours and still it beats for you

Letter from Father

Was sitting--worn out and tired--in my apartment in Tokyo one day this year, and felt like God was speaking this to me. I didn't hear a voice, but I felt like I caught His heart. It's a bit different from any previous posts, but decided to post it anyways. Feel like everyone could use this reminder every once in a while. We are so loved! ^^

My Dear Child,

                I have seen you run on and on for days, never taking a break or a rest. You keep pushing on and fighting. You know that I love your passion. I love your enthusiasm in life. I am so proud of how you keep taking that next step.
                But you don’t have to work so hard. You don’t need to always go until you collapse. I already love you more than you can know. I’m already more proud of you then you will ever realize. You’re precious to me and I love you more than words can say.
                So won’t you come to me some times? Won’t you sit in my lap and lean your head against my chest? Won’t you let me hold you close, and wrap my arms around you? Won’t you let me help you through it all? Dear child, I just want to walk through this life with you.
                Remember, I was the one who created you to work hard. I created you to laugh. To cry. To run. To live. I was the one who formed you—you’ve been in my thoughts since before I created this world. You were who I wanted to be with forever. I created you for love. I made you so that I could be with you, and I gave you a choice so that you could also choose to be with me.
                Did you know that when you’re hurt, all I want to do is run to you, pick you up, and carry you inside? When you experience heartbreak and sorrow, I want to wipe away your tears and turn your sorrow into laughter. When you lose a loved one, I want to shower you with my abundant love and peace. And it’s the hardest thing to know that sometimes the best way to help you grow, the best way to love you, is to let you stumble and struggle through those times alone.
                Because sometimes you don’t always see the big picture. Sometimes you can get too caught up on the present, and on the things that are happening around you in each moment. Sometimes you become blinded and consumed by your work, your friends, your games, and your activities. Sometimes you lose sight of me, and you begin to walk away. So sometimes I have to discipline you, and no, my discipline is not easy, but it is filled with love.
                Please, beloved, hear me say this—the hardest thing I’ve ever done is to create you knowing that you may turn away from me forever. Some of my children have already chosen to reject my love, and it hurts me more than you can know, more than you will ever know. Do you think I want to see them walk away? I was the one who made them! They have my image, their lungs are filled with my breath, their heart is shaped after my own heart, and yet they ran far from me. You cannot know the depth of my sorrow!
                So, my child, please do not follow them into darkness! Come home to me. My arms are open and all I have is yours if you will but ask it of me. So ask! You will be full. Ask and you will know love and know joy beyond anything this beautiful world I’ve created can give. More! Greater! Overflowing and Never-ending! My child, my child! How I love you, how I delight in you. Will you not listen to these words? Will you not come running back into my arms?
                I am waiting! I am always waiting. Just turn towards me and I will run to meet you. I will run to meet you and nothing will stop me from rejoicing over you whom I love. Dearest child, I love you with all that I Am. From forever until forever.

With All My Love,
                Dad