Month: September 2013

The birds sing their morning praise songs
As the leaves rustle to the sound of the wind.
My heart clings to the peace in this moment
Praises to you Lord over and over again.

The quiet serenity of the morning
Calms my Spirit and too my heart sings,
A joyful love song to our creator,
The maker of Heaven, and in earth all things.

Singing glory, glory, all Praise to You only.
Glory, glory all praise to the King!
Glory, glory all praise to the Savior,
To our Holy Father, these praises we sing!

When negative voices creep in like a fog
Dig your heels in and believe the word of God.
He remembers the promise He placed in your heart
The dream you gave up on…He has not forgot!

God wants to give you the desires of your heart
He will make sure you complete what He starts!
Don’t let sorrow or shame and regret from past sin,
Hold you back from Beginning Again!

When we are hurt
Our first response is to retaliate.
Outwardly we may do nothing,
But inside we harbor “hate”.

Claim victory over un-forgiveness
Confess any resentment to God.
Acknowledge it as an act of rebellion
And choose to lay it down for good.

Un-forgiveness hinders our prayer life,
Our worship and witness to others.
It affects our giving, blocks our
Spiritual growth and causes strife with our brothers.

Giving up resentment against someone
And our so-called “right to get even”,
Reveals the most about our character
And the basics of what we believe in.

Un-forgiveness is serious business
Assume responsibility for it.
Ask God to enable you to forgive
And His Spirit to implore it!

A recent invention, the Bop was created by Afaa Michael Weaver and is a form of poetic argument consisting of three stanzas, each stanza followed by a repeated line, or refrain, and each undertaking a different purpose in the overall argument of the poem.

The first stanza (six lines long) states the problem, and the second stanza (eight lines long) explores or expands upon the problem. If there is a resolution to the problem, the third stanza (six lines long) finds it. If a substantive resolution cannot be made, then this final stanza documents the attempt and failure to succeed.

– See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5773#sthash.snYzZzqF.dpuf 

 

Here is my attempt at the “Bop”. I’ve added a rhyming element as well:

The Duty of Man

I love Sunday Morning in all of its splendor,
When the air is crisp and the sky azure blue.
No schedule to keep. There could be more time to sleep.
So why is this day, Lord, committed to you?
If I start with a prayer and spend time in your word,
Will it not quiet my voice, so yours can be heard?

Be still and know that I am God

The rest of the week is often left standing
With very little time for quiet solitude.
We busy ourselves with worldly “to-do-lists”
That generally have nothing “to-do” with You.
Yet a wise King from Jerusalem, seeking life’s purpose
Proclaims in Ecclesiastes chapter one,
“Meaningless, Meaningless, Utterly Meaningless,
Everything is Meaningless under the sun!”

Be still and know that I am God

The wise King pondered and searched life’s questions.
Questions we still ponder today, regarding the work we do
And the time we spend…and this is what he had to say,
“Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the
Whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into
Judgement, whether it is good or it is bad.”

Be still and know that I am God

 

The below poem was written during a very difficult time when my stress level at work was on overload! I also learned that I had thyroid disease, which caused my hair to start falling out! (Talk about adding anxiety to the mix of issues!) My short term memory was so foggy that I could toggle from one screen to the next on my computer at work and literally forget what I was looking for by the time I landed on the next screen. I thought I was losing my mind! I was also diagnosed with pneumonia, the Epstein Barr virus and a bacteria was found in my stomach that was wrecking havoc on my digestive system.  I was so tired, my body felt like it weighed 1000 pounds!  I wasn’t sleeping and was literally running on empty! I wanted to quit my job because the stress was taking such a toll on my health. My heart longed to pursue a writing career. But, I felt trapped and strapped to the income my job provided for our family. This poem was born out of all these circumstances.

 

 

God’s Will

Worry and anxiety all around.
Pace too fast, gotta slow down.
Feeling trapped and all alone,
Wishing I could just stay home!

So much to offer, so much to give.
Finally learning how to live.
Dreams tucked away inside my heart,
Now brought to life, out of the dark!

With pen in hand, I’ll use to write
A different ending to my life.
No more stressful, chaotic scenes
Just God’s peaceful, calm, tranquility.

Opening my heart to hear His voice
Quieter still…the Believer’s choice.
And again I will rejoice,
As God’s will for me is found.

 

I’ve since, made some significant changes in my responsibilities at work. I hired an assistant! (Meghan, I thank God for you everyday!) I finally realized that I couldn’t do it all by myself anymore and that asking for help was not an admission of failure. You CAN finally get to the point where you are spread so thin, that you can’t do anything well. This act alone      ( asking for help) was something I was Not used to doing, but it has allowed me to reduce the daily stress I was under. My health issues are under better control and my life is reasonably “sane” again. There is much to “rejoice” over.  Thank you Jesus!

As the sun rises over Pickwick Lake, I’m reminded of how Great our God is! I love how this photo appears to have a stream of light running through the center of the sun, stretching its beams from heaven down to earth! Thank you Lord for another day to praise you and for another opportunity to do your will.

Welcome to Grafted In And Grateful! My name is Marie Fitts, but my friends and family call me “Ree”. This is my personal blog. It’s focused on life experiences written and shared through poetry, devotions, and articles. My goal is to encourage young women to make better choices by allowing them to see a glimpse of my past mistakes. I will endeavor to steer readers away from the paths that caused me to stumble and toward the narrow gate that leads to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I look forward to what this new venture holds. I’m excited to see what the Lord has in store for all those who, like me,  are just a branch from a wild olive tree… Grafted in and Grateful!

Blessings,

Marie (Ree)