It's a Good Good Friday

The day you drew your last breath,
On that cross,
Is the day that you made it clear:
Your actions showed me that,
I was made to be loved,
Perfectly
Unconditionally.

That day,
You wrote to me
A scarlet letter
With the ink of your blood,
Defying the religion
Of good works for salvation,
You invited me,
To be Yours only.

When you called me from the crowd,
Looking past my mocking eyes
And my self-righteous self,
You invited me in,
Offering your heart as my home
And eternity as my resting place.

You saw my broken state and simply loved me.
You did not ask for my best behavior,
You did not ask for my resume.
My aptitudes were of no importance to you.
You had one goal in mind.
It was simply to love me,
Because that is who You are.
Asking simply,
That I love You in return.

Accepting a gift of freedom,
A gift of forever relationship,
A gift of forever peace,
You granted me joy,
Unspeakable.

No longer orphaned,
With Love from a perfect Father
I have now found a home!
Through the love of a Son;
His Father's gift
For a world, He created
That did not recognize
His value.

By Your grace,
I said yes.
Now adpoted child,
As I look into your face,
I see grace.
As You gaze into mine,
The reflection of a selfless Child,
Is what you see.

I have yet to be perfect,
But you love me still.
You took me as I am,
Loving me as I stumble forward.

Kinks and all,
Regardless of my mistakes,
You patiently love,
Even with my stubborn flaws,
You patiently mold,
When I am still resistant of growth,
You patiently wait:

For me to learn to turn the other cheek,
For me to love You most,
For me to love myself well,
For me to love my neighbor best.

You love because You Are.
And I love because now,
I am Your reflection;
I am all yours!

As I learn to be more like You,
Today I remember that this love story began
Because when I was still a wretch,
You loved me first.

Reference:

Isaiah 53:5-12

The Gift of Life

Is there such a thing

As being the master

Of my own life?

Or is it my body,

My heart, my mind,

On which I may

Only wait

So I can

Someday

Take hold

Of the life

That is mine?

But how can one

Take full control

Of what one

Has not chosen

To begin?

Life was a gift

I had no say in.

Could it then

Be that

Taking control,

Be wrong quest?

Is surrendering

Control

Of this gift

The key to the mystery

I have been given?

Becoming the achiever

In the attempt

Of possessing

This unexpected gift?

Must I lose my life

To gain it back?

Becoming the higher

Achiever aiming

To win this battle

Of struggle for control

Waving the flag of white

To show that I surrender

My control, my obsession

Surrendering my greatest weakness,

My beloved temptress

To the One

So I can finally become the victor

Of my life

By gaining Life

In another life

What an unexpected Gift,

Is the gift of Life.

My Definition of Thank You

Recently, I’ve been struggling with the concept of thankfulness. I noticed that there are so many things I could be thankful for, and instead of doing so, I focus on what makes me uncomfortable or what does not meet my expectations. So, after many reflections, here is the conclusion I have come up with:

Thank you is a simple word with a simple definition, underlying a subjective meaning to all who use its formula of convention.

Sometimes said with a sincere heart,

Usually used to recognize the graciousness of a gift.

It is the word used to show appreciation of something received,

Seldom used to hurt,

Often used to appreciate,

Rarely can it be used out of context as it is always a response of recognition to the giver of a gift,

This said, subjectively can this word be received depending on the context.

Saying it, thank you, is a word that can bring us back to humility;

A word that has the power to remind us that we do need others,

That we are loved for the simple reason that we are.

Thank you is a word that we sometimes hate to say because to say it is to accept a gift.

To say thank you goes hand in hand with the reminder of our inefficiency in a certain area;

To say thank you is to choose to appreciate the addition to your circumstance;

To say thank you may be a hurtful reminder of your present situation;

To say thank you is to choose to give grace to your maker for what is and does not need to be.

Saying thank you is to recognize as a gracious gift what we take for granted:

Thanking God for sunny days,

For rainy days,

For days of spring, budding with scents of new life,

For days of summer, where rest is a gift,
For days of autumn, filled with the bright colors of a beautiful camp fire, and an ever refreshing feel of mist  ,
For days of winter, where the vision of a wonderland can so easily take place before my eyes,

For a day at school where knowledge is a right that that you have which only ends when you so desire,

For times alone where learning to appreciate one’s own company and creativity is allowed,

For times with friends where the only task is to love others and be true to oneself.

Saying thank you for the evolution of time, where one is constantly learning how to better love others and grace oneself;

Saying thank you for the love that we receive without needing to seek for it;

Saying thank you for the grace that others extend to us in our worst moments;

Saying thank you for the opportunity to appreciate colors and smells;

Saying thank you for the opportunity to do sports, to achieve, to create;

Saying thank you for the right to speak one’s own mind,

Saying thank you for the right to walk and run without pain,

Saying thank you for the opportunity to use one’s voice to bless in words, song or silence;

Saying thank you for a love that is eternal from a God that loves freely…

In retrospect, I use this word not nearly enough!

And so, I let go of my expectations of what should be expected or what I have learned to believe as rightfully be mine. Pride, Expectation, I let go of you.

Instead, I will choose to appreciate what I have been given viewing all that I have as a temporary gift that is to be cherished as it comes. I will choose to be humble in my reception of all gifts, viewing them as blessings and touches of love from a being greater than I, from my Father who made the Heavens, and who made me only because He wanted to.