The Curtain

 The Curtain

She hides behind the curtain, peaking out every so often-
long enough to say hello, but never enough for a goodbye.

Behind the curtain, lies a world filled with whispering poems and fearless soldiers, slaughtered harlots, endless responses, warm embraces, and opportunites.

Hello is a war, while goodbye seems uplifting to the kind who like backwards and know only how to tiptoe. 

The poems are countless, but there's often no meaning-
...way too often...
The words often scramble onto the page, giving the impression that she has a lot to say.  So deceiving is the pen, so when it creeps, she is careful to follow in accordance to the pace.

Behind the curtain, there is laughter and so often it feels lonely to smile alone-

..and so, HELLO-

Hello to a smile and so often a need.  So many long to hear the beautiful sound...so often it goes unnoticed. 
It's echo is enticing-
BRAND NEW, and giving birth to itself every single time..
and so very rare it is indeed, to smile without a tear-
without a dirty, filthy tear. 
The tears are flowing into rivers, so as to keep them from soiling the ground, the walls, the curtain!!

~

But still, she hides behind that curtain...and the cloth becomes frayed, as more and more often fingers stroke the edges- pulling it aside at times..for a peek and breath of fullness-

AT TIMES

And even as the curtain chokes the very hope from within her,
she clings to what's left- the shredded ribbon of her protection-
drowning in her own freedom...still searching for a place to hide in her affliction.

...she hears a mighty roar...
she puts her ear to the ground and listens to the sound of approaching footsteps...

She stands up then-
eyes closed tightly...
hands lifted high into the air...
rain falling down upon her face, and becoming one with her tears as it washes them away...

And in one quick motion, Love tears down that curtain and exposes the trembling child from behind.

In one quick motion, Love pulls aside that veil-

AND-

Her Savior stands before her whispering,

"Come"

and all at once she finds herself hidden inside His outstretched Arms!  Covered and Hidden inside the curtain of Her Savior's Love.

On Your Mark, Get Set..GO!!!

When I was about 2 years old, I was diagnosed with asthma; the kind of asthma that meant business.  If I caught a cold,  breathed in cold air, over-exerted myself in any way at all, or GOD FORBID came into contact with certain animals, it could mean weeks of being confined to my bed and/or living room couch.  In addition to not being able to move, there were; around-the-clock breathing treatments, constant coughing and gasping for air, vomiting, headaches, anxiety from the medication in the treatments, nightmares, sweating, trips to the ER, and worst of all- being forced to sit out on so many of the things that I wanted to be a part of.  I wanted to dance, ride horses, ice skate.... twirl a baton (I very well may have missed my calling on this one), and when I was very young, I wanted to run.  I loved doing it, and was surprisingly fast.  I could only run very short distances, however, and  I was always excused from competing, because...well...my body simply could not handle the race.  At first, I remember being discouraged by this.  I was a kid and I wanted to play!  I wanted to win!  I had full confidence that nobody could outrun me if only I were given the chance, but as time proved my lungs to be unable to keep up, I accepted it and began to embrace it.  Before the gym teacher could even get the words, "basketball", "volleyball", "soccer"...or "mile run" out of her mouth, I had a note in her hand excusing me.  I had grown to fear competition anyway, so it was a relief to not even have to try and risk the horror of failing in front of my peers. It grew from there. I found that my limitation (along with a few others that I acquired along the way), could get me out of many different things that I didn't want to deal with, and so I went from being a sickly little child who longed to get off of that couch and run, to a teenager who felt immobile.  I had learned to identify with being limited, and then took it a step further by taking up smoking.

It took almost ten years of this before I realized the severity of what I had done. I have heard people say many times over the years, that you should "be careful what you pray for."  I was desperate to even want to quit smoking at this point, and so I prayed, "Lord, please do whatever it takes to get me to quit smoking, because I just can't do this on my own. Amen."  I had a cough at the time, but it quickly took an ugly turn. I crawled out onto the porch to smoke a cigarette one morning, and as I inhaled in, feeling that familiar and excruciating pinch as the smoke hit my sickly lungs, tears began pouring down my cheeks from the force of the cough that took over my body. I crawled back inside to let my mom know that I needed a ride to the hospital.  As I took on the arduous task of getting dressed, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and was taken aback by my grey complexion and thin frame.  At the hospital, I learned that I had lost 20 lbs in a week's time, had a collapsed lung, and  a serious case of pneumonia.  My body would not respond to the medication that normally treated pneumonia, and so they sent me to the I.C.U until they could better understand what was going on with me.  I remember that all I could think about was how I was going to smoke if I was trapped in the I.C.U.  Right about the time that I went into full blown panic mode, a male nurse came into the room.  He looked at me in a way that told me that whether or not I wanted him to (NOT), he was about to lecture me.  He did.  He told me that my lungs were in the same shape of a woman in her 80's...a woman in her 80's with poor lung health at that.  He told me that if I did not stop smoking, that I would most likely never make it out of my 30's.  He was not gentle.  He gave no apologies....and then to make things worse, I discovered that he was a Christian.  I realized as he was talking to me and as I not so sweetly asked him to leave me alone, that God had answered my prayer, and I was NOT happy about it!

 "I WILL NOT QUIT, GOD!!  I'M NOT READY!"

The Good Lord then explained to me that I had no choice, as my Dr. informed me that I had a rare strand of pneumonia that would require me to stay put for the next couple of weeks.  By about day 7, I came into agreement with Him and began to mourn the loss of my addiction.  It is sickening how we learn to love the things that kill us, but we do.  When nobody else had been there for me, I had learned to lean on death.  The Lord would no longer allow me to live this way, and so He grounded me.  He took His stubborn child and sent her to that hospital room until she had learned her lesson.

I have been thinking about this lately, because 7 weeks ago I decided to  take on the C25K (couch to 5 K) challenge.  It is a program that slowly gets your body used to running until ultimately you can run 3 miles straight.  As a child, I couldn't even run 1 mile without stopping, so 3 miles seemed a little overzealous at first.  My husband has been training daily for a marathon, however, and so watching him train day in and day out (plus REALLY wanting to lose my post baby weight) inspired me to push myself.  I had tried the program a couple of times before, but had to stop and start over twice due to injuries.  Why?  Because I just refused to follow the rules.  It said to run 3 days a week, so naturally I ran 6.  It said to walk more and run less at first in order to ease your body into it, so I took off like a cheetah on steroids.  Needless to say, after two failed attempts in this fashion, I decided to play by the rules.  Today marks day 1 of week 7, and I ran 25 minutes straight this morning, which rounds out to about 2 miles.  I ran 2 miles!
29 years ago, I began fighting for that breath of life, and today...I breathe!

When I said "yes" to the Lord as a child, He set my feet firmly on the ground and I eagerly began to run the race that was marked out for me.  I ran slowly at first, but as time went by I grew restless and began to speed up...until I saw a place on the side of the road where others were lounging around, refreshing themselves, and by all appearances seemed to be having a much better time than I was.
 I stopped running and joined them.
As time went by, I found that the pleasures found on the side of the road were temporary and unsatisfying.  I began stealing more and more glances at those who I could still see running in the distance.  A longing to join back in with them began to grow, but it had been so long..,and surely by now I had been disqualified.

But then...

I felt an old, familiar Hand take hold of my own.
We began to walk towards that lined pavement again, and as I looked up at Him with uncertainty in my eyes, He just nodded and gently nudged me back in with the others.
At first I ran at a slow, even pace, as my feet became familiar once again with the ground.  Soon enough though, caught up in excitement this time, I took off into a sprint!  I was flying!!  Nobody could keep up with me! I was going to get to that finish line before anybody else!

... and then I tripped...

I came crashing  down to the ground, and when I looked up for someone to help me, there was no one to be found.
So caught up in my own excitement, I hadn't even noticed that I was alone.

"What do I do? "
"What can I do? "

"WAIT." was the answer that I was given.
 "Be still, stay put, and wait."

..and so here I stand today; resting and waiting, but not idle.
 I can see such a great cloud of witnesses rounding the corner and heading my way as I stretch my legs, drink in the Living water, take a deep breath of life, NEW LIFE,  and fix my eyes on Jesus....

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."- Hebrews 12:1-3

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."- 2 Timothy 4:7-8

I will abide

I will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Who else but the Most High has a shadow of light?
May the reflection of my walk be light as is Yours, oh Lord.
The Spring has come.
I feel like growing!
My head falls back and the rain falls upon my smile.
Rooted and established in this place beneath the Son, I will abide.
Even when the wind blows my pedals in and out of the places where light meets dark, I will abide.
Even when weeds grow around me, reach for me, and threaten to strangle and overtake my fragile frame, I will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Life will be sustained.
A breath of life; the cool and damp soil  beneath the bright green limbs of my deliverance burst forth.
A soft breeze, a touch of warmth upon my face, the beams of light emerging from behind the bountiful clouds, pregnant with rain for the days of drought.
 Yes, here in the shadow of the Almighty, I will abide.

Porcelain

In the porcelain stillness there are cracks- oh tragic chaos if they should dance!
If I peer closely, I can see a war on the other side of them.
 If I peer too closely, I had best be ready to fight.
 I am not.
So I cautiously tip-toe backwards to the place of rest that has been so lovingly and carefully spread out for me, and I fall-
 like a feather, I fall back into it, and I close my eyes.

Joy cometh in the morning!

It comes like a thief and grabs fistfuls of joy; so greedy as it takes more than it's filthy hands can hold...leaving bits and pieces behind, falling through the spaces in between clenched knuckles... falling into the dirt and debris that remains in it's wake...so small and irrelevant. Of what use are a few specks of yesterday's joy? They are nothing more than a fleeting thought. They are quickly dismissed and just as quickly forgotten... The thief looks over his shoulder one last time, very pleased, and then slams the door, HARD, behind him. But...as time passes..slowly... .. as the ground begins to forget... and those tiny specks of remembrance appear as nothing more than the dirt in which they dwell, a sound is almost heard... a commanding whisper..almost...put your ear to the ground and listen... the sky begins to quiver... and the earth takes a deep breath... embracing itself... and then... rain begins to fall... So slowly, beneath the earth.. unseen and quietly restrained, the seeds begin to grow. The earth appears so dark and barren, but beneath that surface, there are mighty roots shooting this way.. and that way.... but ever waiting...waiting for just the right moment..just waiting for the command... and in the secret place just beneath the surface, an electric push is felt, from the tippy toed roots to the tops of the emerging seed.. and... ALAS!! Joy breaks forth, bursting up out of the earth! Out of the darkness! Buried for such a time as this! Buried to proclaim that it will just keep rising back up again! It cannot be contained! If you've ever seen the glory that can be grown from even a speck of joy, then you have seen a glorious harvest. Unmatched in it's beauty! Joy is the most beautiful when it rises from debris

In the dark I have learned to wait

I desire to KNOW You Lord, with every breath that I breathe "without" You Lord. The TRUTH, I speak it out, Oh Lord, to calm this sea of doubts... Oh Lord...
I seek to plant a bed of roses. I toil away as if I'm new at this. Oh Master Gardener, please guide these shaky hands..
and fists... so full of seeds.. ( I don't want a garden full of weeds.)
 I think that I have learned to smile again, Poppa, do You see it on my heart? I am not the filthy wretch that I had painted of myself; I am radiant because You are.
 My eyes have been so blind, my ears so full of lies... I couldn't hear You say, "I love you" and I couldn't find the strength to rise-
 from the ashes of despair, where Your face is so far away... there is no hope without salvation, and in the dark I have learned to wait-
for the almighty Hand that can both comfort and teach... sometimes the very lesson in that restraint is simply knowing... to reach
To dance again...to love again...to be lifted from my knees-
 the song is so beautiful, my heart beats to the rhythm..beats....beats....to the rhythm..beats...beats...