The Christian Poetry of Holli Swank

Move Along, Nothing to See Here

2011-03-24T14:01:00.000-04:00

The blog has been been moved here to my new website. Click the link to see all the great new changes to everything.

Thank you for all your support and God bless!

A Season of Change

2011-03-13T00:45:00.023-05:00

"A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,
And a time to sew"

- Ecclesiastes 3:6-7

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I am in a season of change. My website will very soon look completely different, and this blog will be integrated into that site. I'm beginning to remember why I don't like change! Migrating all the poetry is a big job.

I am not posting any poems on Twitter or Facebook this week. I want to get the migration done as quickly as possible and I have company coming in this weekend which is when I usually do all the scheduling for posts.

Hopefully by this time next week, I'll have a new site for you to see! God bless!

Matthew 6:25-34

2011-03-06T00:16:00.000-05:00

This section of the Sermon on the Mount has been on my mind and heart for several weeks now. Our family is in a season of struggles right now and God is teaching us to trust Him for everything we need. This is a huge stumbling block for me since I want to be in control of as many things as is possible. I like plans and schedules and definitive answers. Waiting is not my strong suit.

I haven't written a poem from this verse yet, but I am fairly sure that will happen soon. I am starting to think that the reason I haven't been able to take any of my older ideas and flesh them out is because I'm in a different place now. I have different emotions, different situations, and a different perspective. Now that's not to say I won't ever use them, just probably not right now.

I have been working this weekend on my new website, mostly a lot of data entry. It's going to be more work than either I or my webmaster thought, but it should be done soon. It's going to take some getting used to, but I have high hopes!

I am beefing up my Twitter postings to seven a day, seven days a week. I think that trying to reach as many people at as many different times as possible is an important thing. As vile as Twitter can be at times, it can be turned into a powerful tool for the Kingdom too. Keep your eyes open for all those posts!

On Tuesday, March 1st, I saw a Twitter post that there was an urgent message being presented to the IHOP staff, family and students. We were a little worried so we tuned into the live web feed and wow ... we were rocked. Here is an edited version. To get the full message, you can go here to the archive on www.ihop.org and scroll down to March 1, 2 PM. The message begins at about 1:23:00. Then you will need to click on March 1, 4 PM to access the second hour.

John Mulinde is from Uganda and he brings a powerful message from his past. It will bring new insight into many Scriptures and change your view of your life radically.

Well I am off to add more content to my new website. I pray blessings over you and that God would meet you in every moment of each day!

Unrelenting

2011-02-28T00:01:00.000-05:00

I posted a new poem last week called "Unrelenting" which was born out of the song "You Won't Relent" by Misty Edwards from IHOP-KC. You can see a video of it performed live here on YouTube. It's also on her album, Relentless, available in a number of places. The verse that some of lyrics come from is Song of Solomon 8:6.

God loves us. God loves us passionately. God wants us, all of us. And He will ask us relentlessly to give Him everything in our lives. But He will never force anything. He will never stop pursuing us as His children, but He will never force us to love Him.

One of my favorite VeggieTales quotes is from "A Snoodle's Tale". The "Creator" is asked by the little Snoodle why he doesn't just make the other Snoodles love him. And the man replies, "A gift that's demanded is no gift at all." It makes me cry every time. If God wanted everyone to love Him, He could force us to do that. But He wants us to make that choice. He gave us freewill and gave up the chance for universal admiration when He did that. However, He will never stop trying to woo us to love Him.

My family and I would appreciate your prayers. We have all been sick with colds and such, and our son had another seizure this past week. We need healing!

I am still working on my book, with formatting well on its way. I am very pleased with the way it is coming together. I hope that poems, but more importantly the testimony, will bless a lot of women who have been through some of the same things I have.

If you have a prayer request, feel free to leave a comment, contact me on Facebook or Twitter, or send me an e-mail here. Have blessed week and may God watch over you all!

Fork in the Road

2011-02-15T08:28:00.032-05:00

I've been a poet for a large chunk of my life now. I've always loved reading and so reading poetry came naturally. For the last two years, it's been my clear calling from the Lord.

It seems however that I've reached a bit of a fork in that road now. I'd been wondering why the poetry had not been flowing like before. I chalked it up to the winter weather like last year and waited for the sun to come out again. But in the last week God has made it apparent that the reason the poetry isn't flowing is because that's not what he wants me to be writing at the moment.

Now, don't worry, I'm not abandoning the poetry. I still have a ton of ideas and desire to create poetry for God. Right now though, He's got me writing music. Well, lyrics anyway. My husband is handling the music side of things, which makes for an amazing partnership. Here is our first effort together that he posted on YouTube. I've added his channel to the YouTube sidebar to the left where you can see the videos as he posts them. Some of his music, which I highly recommend, is on there as well.

So for the time being that is where my concentration will be. I'm hoping that as the creativity flows for the music, I'll be able to get some poetry in as well, but we'll see. Thanks for sticking with me and I'll keep you up to date on everything. The book is still in the pipeline as is a brand new website. It's an exciting time!

Have a great week and may God's blessings rain down on you!

Icy Reception

2011-02-01T18:30:00.000-05:00

Oh ... my ... goodness. What an insane week!

The last ten days or so have some of the most chaotic I've ever had. Financial stuff, house guest, family discontent, friends in crisis ... oh my. Now I sit in a house covered with ice and a huge tree limb out my back door. Don't believe me? Here's the proof.

We're not sure how long we'll have power once the 30+ MPH winds kick up either. So it's been an exciting day!

However, through it all, God has always come through for us. I've been working really hard on trusting God, no matter how bad things look, and it's brought a lot of peace to me. He has been good, even when we don't understand exactly why He's doing something.

Progress on the book continues and a revamp of my website should begin soon. My webmaster wants something more aesthetically pleasing and user friendly, so that's in the plans. I'm really looking forward to it.

Well I pray that you all are warm and safe. May His blessings rain down on you, even if some snow does too. God bless!

Unrest

2011-01-25T11:47:00.000-05:00

I wrote two weeks ago that my world had been shaken a little bit. Apparently that was just the beginning of the shaking!

On the 11th, my husband fell in the snow taking out the trash and, unbeknownst to us for two days, broke his leg. He got a cast on the 13th and I began to baby him. However, that night as I came downstairs to go to bed, I missed the last step, and broke my toe! So I spent some time in the emergency room, got taped up and picked up some medicine on the way home.

That has obviously slowed me down, which is why I took last week off of blog, Twitter and Facebook. I figured we'd heal for a week and everything would be fine. Not exactly.

Our local IHOP (International House of Prayer) is having an internship for college students this semester. Three young men have signed up, only one of which has a place to live right now. They have left Indiana State and put everything in God's hands for the next several months.

Last week, we found out that if one of them did not move out of his dorm on Friday he wouldn't get a refund for the classes he dropped. Larry and I knew what we had to do, so the kids cleaned out their playroom and got it ready for this young man. In just the few days he's been here, our family has basically adopted him and he fits right in. This week we found out that another intern is on his way back down here and needs a place to stay, so we're scrambling now to find beds for these guys and get ready for another guest!

We also found out in the past couple days that a couple who are good friends of ours are going through some terrible turmoil. We have been in prayer for them, ready to support them whenever we can.

As if that's not enough, our family is in a bit of financial difficulty as well. My husband is self-employed and work has been slow lately. We're surviving, but that's about it right now.

But, it will all be okay. A friend prayed over us on Saturday, highlighting some Scriptures about God's promises. I don't know what it's going to look like, and I certainly don't always stay calm about it, but He will come through if we just trust him.

My book is coming along really well. Our first edit is almost done and I'm really liking what I see. There will be four sections of testimony from my life and whole bunch of my poetry inbetween them. It will be somewhere around 100 pages, and has a great cover designed by my husband. I'm praying it can make an impact on a lot of people.

So, given everything that's going on I would really appreciate your prayers. God is all powerful and all things are possible through Him.

Have a great week and God bless!

Word of Mouth

2011-01-11T08:21:00.004-05:00

I pray that your week, and year, is starting off as well as possible!

I have a new poem up this week called "Word of Mouth". Passing things by word of mouth has often been thought of as one of the best advertising tools, and I would agree. I would also say though that word of mouth can be a dangerous weapon when used to spread gossip and rumors. We live in a digital age where everyone can know peoples' "business" in an instant through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Add in a vindictive spirit and trouble begins.

I've also noticed that in general we're all becoming more flippant with words and insults towards others. It's not uncommon to hear kids cursing at their parents, and vice versa, in Wal-Mart these days. Respect for others is a slowly decaying idea. We as Christians need to take that back and lead by example, showing Christ's love by taming the tongue.

The past couple days have been ones of turmoil for me that's been brewing for several weeks I guess. My sense of who I am in God, where my heart is, and how I've actually been living are being deeply shaken. A new year is bringing new revelation of where I should be, and I am struggling with giving it ALL to Him. Complete surrender is what He asks, and He will settle for no less. I would appreciate your prayers as I stumble through this new section of the path God has for me.

I posted on Twitter and Facebook on New Year's Day that I was working on a major project for the poetry, so I thought I'd let you in on the secret a bit. I'm not certain of a date, but within the next couple months I will be releasing a book! It will include a selection of my poetry from the past two years, as well as some of my testimony. I wanted to tell some of my story, the amazing journey I've been on for 32 years and how Christ has lifted me out of the miry clay. You'll get to see how some of the poems were born out of that and find out more about my background. So keep your eyes open for that announcement!

I would be happy to pray for anyone who is in need. Please let me know how I can pray for you at anytime! You can send me an e-mail at holli@holliswank.com, contact me on Twitter, or on Facebook. You can also leave a comment here on the blog.

Have a wonderful week and may God bless each and every one of you!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T09:13:00.002-05:00

Well, 2011 is here, like it or not! Quite a bit has happened in the past few weeks to be sure.

Christmas was amazing as we'd hoped it would be. Friends and family filled our home with love, and gifts of course. The most wonderful part of the day was when Larry and three of our friends sat in our living/school room and played music. Erin even joined in on wooden spoons for a while. The sense of fellowship and love embodied the Christmas spirit completely for us.

Starting the 28th, IHOP (prayer not pancakes) began their major conference, onething. They stream the entire thing for free so from Tuesday afternoon through Friday night that consumed much of our time. We heard some really excellent messages, some absolutely amazing worship, and were able to download the notes and MP3 recordings of everything. We're looking forward to going back and listening to the things we didn't catch and pouring over the notes to go deeper into the ideas.

New Years Eve was very fun, consisting of watching the webstream of onething, rocking out with the worship music, and praying fervently for healing for my husband. It was amazing to ring in the new year watching somewhere around 25,000 young adults worship the Lord and pray for each other. There is hope in those kids.

I hope that you were blessed by this holiday season, and if you have any prayer requests, feel free to get in touch with me. Here's to a new year in the Lord and being days closer to His return!

Season of ...

2010-12-07T09:09:00.003-05:00

What is Christmas to you?

A season of ... joy? giving? celebration? busyness? stress? Maybe a little of all that?

For me it's that last one; or at least it has always been before. I'm hoping that this year will be a little different though. This year (I pray) we've got the focus right.

A verse that has been on my mind since I found it is Hebrews 13:6. I obviously try to do good and share, but are those two things really sacrifices in my life? Do I share to where it hurts? Are the good things I do forcing me to sacrifice anything?

I wrote about our amazing Thanksgiving dinner last week, and this verse reminds me of that evening. We sacrificed time as a family, money for the extra food, gas to drive our friend back and forth. I sacrificed some comfort, having a new person I didn't really know well in my home.

But God blessed it mightily. He was well pleased with what we did. And I want that again. I want all the blessings God has for me.

So, like I said in my last post, we are opening the doors of our home to friends, family, maybe even a stranger, on Christmas Day. We'll have food, warmth, music, and fellowship. It won't be quiet. It won't be private. It won't look like any other Christmas we've had in the past.

And I am very okay with that.

I have been writing Christmas poems for a few weeks now, and I currently have four that I'll be posting the week of Christmas. I'm actually hoping He'll give me one more so I have a full slate of new ones that week, but we'll see what He's got.

Have a great week everyone. I pray that God pours out blessings as you navigate this season and that you are always able to hang onto the reason we celebrate every year. See you next week!

Giving Really is Better

2010-11-30T09:58:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving in our house had always been a family thing. For a long time, we traveled to my grandparents home until they passed away several years ago.

Then that home was passed to my mother, so we went to the same home, only ate with my mom and brothers. Something was still missing.

Then three years ago my husband and I decided to make it about just our family. That was better, without the drama, but something was still missing.

In 2008 and 2009, it was our family and my youngest brother. Again, nice, but missing something.

This year changed EVERYTHING.

This year we invited a man I would call an acquaintance to eat with us. He is a former soldier, having done two tours in Iraq, going through some personal issues, and was going to be alone (save the dogs) on Thanksgiving. My husband and I found this to unacceptable.With some cajoling, prodding, and assuring him it was no burden, he came on Thanksgiving to eat with our family of five.

And it was the best holiday we have ever had.

We made him some dinner, talked to him for a couple hours, gave him the leftovers to take home, and it was one of the best feelings I've ever had. He was so thankful and appreciated having people to talk to. What was a simple gesture made such a difference to him, and us as well.

On Christmas Day, we're opening the doors of our home to any family or friends who want to come. I'm going to bake throughout the day and set out snacks and spend the day with the people we love and cherish.

And I suspect it will be the best Christmas I've ever had.

The old adage is true: Giving is truly better than receiving.

Toda

2010-11-23T08:50:00.001-05:00

Toda means thanks in Hebrew. This became the basis for my poem this Thanksgiving, giving thanks to God and Christ in one of the most important languages to both Jews and Christians.

I really wanted to write something special this year, because I have so much to be thankful for. The past few months have been an incredible season of blessing and learning and spiritual growth for me. He has poured out so much into and for me recently.

I pray that you have a blessed holiday and safe travels this week. May He smile on each one of you during this time. God bless!

Impressions

2010-11-08T08:50:00.004-05:00

"Impressions" was inspired, like many other poems, by a song. "The Song You Sing" by Creed really made me think about the impact I was having on other people, day in and day out. The lyrics that really caught me were:

Does the song you sing
Have enough meaning
Inspire us to sing along
Does the song you sing keep echoing
Inspire us to sing the song you sing

God wants us to have an everlasting song. He wants us to sing a song that brings others to eternal life with us. It's not enough for us to make it if we don't try to bring anyone else to Jesus. We can't just coast along now that we're saved. We need to go out, be His hands and feet, sing His song, speak His word, and spread His gospel.

Have a great week everyone and may God bless you all greatly. See you next week!

On the Move

2010-10-27T11:17:00.007-04:00

Yesterday was probably one of the longest days I have ever had. The family piled in the car at 4 AM and took off. Our destination? Dallas, Texas.

18 hours later we arrived.

I will never do that again. EVER. Except for the ride home.

There were blessings in the trip though. We got to see an enormous amount of God's beautiful Creation as we drove through Missouri and Oklahoma. Illinois and Texas were cloaked in darkness, however we did get to experience God's power in an intense thunderstorm as we approached St. Louis.

His hand was clearly on the entire thing as none of the kids killed each other, got sick on the ride or was (majorly) injured. There were no problems with the van and we were given fabulous directions by several different people. We made it, even in the dark, through the (to us) insane Dallas traffic.

I am hoping that being in a hotel, even with three kids, for 3 days while my husband is off doing his work will give me a chance to write some. I had planned to schedule poems for this week on Monday as we were originally to be here tomorrow, but the plan changed so I did not get the chance to schedule anything. I am going to do that today and everything should be back to normal next week.

I hope you all have a great week. We'd appreciate your prayers on Saturday as we travel home. God bless you all!

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I would appreciate it if you would fill out this short survey about various things surrounding my poetry - http://bit.ly/cOTyj4 ... Thanks!

Glorious Return

2010-10-19T08:55:00.000-04:00

"Glorious Return" expresses the world that we are living in, and the world we will be living in until Jesus comes back. There will be suffering and persecution, but we are to count ourselves blessed for those things. We are following in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior.

I am very pleased to report that I am still writing, despite a slow down, as I penned two new poems last week. One of them is for Christmas, so you won't see it for a bit. The other should be in the rotation before too long.

The interesting thing though is what happened when I went to write. Our daughter had a practice for the puppet ministry she is involved with, so I went to the library for some peace and quiet. I sat down and a little girl immediately sat down with me and began to talk to me. She asked what I was going to be doing, so I told her I was going to write. I explained that I write poems about God and Jesus, and we spoke for a while about Him and how she wanted to build a rocket to go see Him someday. I found out that she was 4 years old and it floored me. God had placed me there to witness to a 4 year old little girl before I wrote. If I hadn't gone with the flow of His Spirit, I wouldn't have been there.

I am making a slight change to how I post poems and blogs. My schedule has shifted a bit, so I am going to post them Tuesday through Saturday, giving me Monday to set everything up and take a bit of the pressure off my Sundays.

I hope you all have a blessed week and He shines the light of His face upon each and every moment. Come, Lord Jesus!

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I would appreciate it if you would fill out this short survey about various things surrounding my poetry - http://bit.ly/cOTyj4 ... Thanks!

Influential Music

2010-10-12T09:11:00.004-04:00

My life has almost always been built around music. My parents raised me to 60's, 70's and 80's music on vinyl records and radio stations. Events in my life are recalled by a song that was playing when they happened. I don't ever remember not having music around, and now when there is no music on, I feel kind of empty.

As expected, music is a huge influence on my poetry. I thought you might be interested in what's engaging me right now, and where many of my ideas are flowing from. Here is a list of music I'm using to get me writing these days:

"2000 Decembers Ago" by Joy Williams
"What Child is This?" by Mercy Me
"I Want to Be with You" by Cory Asbury and Team (KC-IHOP)
"Jesus Is" by Hillsong Church London
"Rend the Heavens" by Isa Couvertier
"Samuel's Awakening" by Jason Upton
"A Lion Has Roared" by Jeremy Horn
"Soul Cry" by Misty Edwards
"Revelation 4-5" by Justin Rizzo and Team (KC-IHOP)

Christmas music? Yeah, I'm writing for Christmas right now. I have one called "This Child" and I am hoping for at least one more before the end. The others I have found to be very good at stirring my heart and my emotions as I write, bringing me closer to His ideas for the poems.

A lot of it is likely unknown to many of you because it comes from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. Every two months we get a Limited Edition MP3 download of the "highlights" of the Global Prayer Room there, and every time we have found at least one song that touches us. It is an amazing place and an amazing resource for pure, heartfelt worship music.

Before I go, I need to ask for your help. It won't take long but I have a ten question survey that I need as many people as possible to fill out. It will really help me shape how I get the poetry to you, if you're interested in products or a book, and let me know how you're finding things.

Have a great week and I'll talk to you again soon. God bless!

Change of Pace

2010-10-06T17:56:00.003-04:00

All summer long, I worked pretty hard to keep churning out new poems and blog posts, spending time on Twitter and Facebook scheduling posts. I hope that it has been great for you all, blessing each of you in a deep way.

Now that fall has arrived, though, I can feel a change coming. It happened last year, and I can see it on the horizon now as well. These cold months seem to signal a slowdown for me, a break I guess in my pace. I have not written a new poem in several weeks, and while I have ideas, nothing is flowing very easily. I am going to keep trying and I am sure that some things will coalesce, but I want to be honest about what you can expect at the moment.

I will continue to post a poem every weekday on both Twitter and Facebook, some you've seen recently and others from farther back in the archives. I am going to do my best to write a blog post every week as well.

Finally, I would greatly appreciate you filling a short, ten question survey about several things surrounding the poetry. It will help me get an idea for where people are finding the poetry, what you think of the postings, and if you'd like to see some things that have been in mind for a while now.

Thank you for all your support and following me down this ever changing road. May God bless every one of you as we all walk out this path called life, until the return of our King, Jesus.

One and Only

2010-09-24T09:14:00.003-04:00

As I have drawn closer to Jesus, it has been made apparent that He needs to be my singular focus. "One and Only" is an expression of that. I love my children, and I am devoted to my husband, but Jesus must come before all of that. He spoke of this in Matthew 10:37. He demands to come first, nothing less.

I pray that your weekend is a great one! Let me know if there is anything I can pray for you about. Leave a comment here or get in touch with me through Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail. God bless everyone!

Blessed Ones (Matt 5:3-12)

2010-09-20T09:38:00.000-04:00

I am not feeling very good, so I am going to keep this short.

"Blessed Ones" comes from Matthew 5:3-12, otherwise known as the Sermon on the Mount or the Beatitudes. It is the second in the His Words series I am working on. I pray that it blesses you this day.

Have a great week and may God bless!

Silence

2010-09-17T08:33:00.001-04:00

"Silence is golden."

"A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;" - Ecclesiastes 3:7

"Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue." - Proverbs 17:28

Much is, and can be, done in silence. God used the silence before time began to start His work. When we turn off all of the world's distractions, all of the world's temptations, and just sit, He is there. That is what "Silence" is about.

Have a great weekend everyone. Send me a note if there's anything I can pray about in your life, and may God bless each moment!

Different

2010-09-13T09:32:00.002-04:00

What a difference a year makes ...

Last year, the day after my birthday, I was in tears, having been very badly hurt by someone in my family. I was full of skepticism and cynicism about people's well wishes. I was depressed and angry.

This year could not be more different. I feel so incredibly blessed to have spent time with my children, mother, brother and husband all day Saturday. And I get to look forward to celebrating again next month when my dad can come down.

"Different" is a poem about the struggle of being considered abnormal. Christians don't act the same, talk the same, live the same. Sometimes that isn't fun. Sometimes it's downright horrible. But if we are followers of Jesus, we have to be different. We are not of the world, just as Christ was not of the world.

I pray you all have a great week and if I can intercede for any of you, just let me know! God bless!

Happy Birthday to me

2010-09-11T08:57:00.004-04:00

I'm 32 today!

Yay ... I guess ...

Just kidding. Another year with God is a great thing!

Last year I wrote a poem for my birthday, somewhat chronicling where I was with my faith. As this birthday approached, I thought it might be interesting to do another one. So, I'm planning on trying to do this every year around my birthday.

This year's installment is called "Butterfly". It talks about my lifelong trek and where I am now, waiting to be robed in white with my Savior.

For now though, I will enjoy having my brother come into town and eating the best cupcakes I've ever had. If you're in Terre Haute, you really should try Caboodle Cupcakes! If you're not, then ... I am sorry.

Have a great weekend and let me know if you need some prayer! God bless!

My Beloved

2010-09-07T08:53:00.002-04:00

I hope everybody had a great weekend, long or short!

My Beloved is one of my favorite poems that I have written lately. Getting more deeply involved with WVIHOP has brought me to much better understanding of the church, or believers, as the bride. The Song of Solomon has opened up to me with a second layer portraying Jesus as The Beloved and the church as the Shulamite. The love between them is pure and sweet, as the love between Christ and ourselves should be. I am somewhat impatiently awaiting the return of my Beloved, anxious to see His face and glory.

In case you missed the link on Twitter, there's a new video up on my YouTube Channel called "Night". You can find the poem here.

Have a blessed (hopefully short) work week, and if you need prayer for anything, feel free to get in touch with me!

Beautiful Magnificence

2010-09-03T08:33:00.003-04:00

"Beautiful Magnificence" is a simple offering of praise to my God. His beauty is unmatched in this world. He appears as precious stones, surrounded by a rainbow. Jesus is the Beloved, chief among ten thousand.

I hope you have all had a wonderful week, and I pray your weekend is full of rest and fun times. If you are in need of prayer, feel free to get in touch with me and I would be happy to pray for you. I'll see you again on Monday! God bless!

Fear

2010-08-30T08:52:00.001-04:00

We all have fears whether we admit it or not. Fears of loss, fears of the public speaking, fears of death. My biggest fear though has nothing to do with earthly things. Hearing the dreaded words on Judgment Day. That is my biggest "Fear".

I will be getting a new video up in the near future, perhaps even today. It will be for the poem, "Night" with peaceful music behind it, trying to convey the tone of what I wrote.

Again, I want to offer prayer to anyone who needs it. You can leave a comment here on the blog or contact me through Twitter or Facebook. Be as specific or vague as you like.

Have a great week everyone! May God continue to bless you all!

Metamorphosis

2010-08-27T19:55:00.003-04:00

"Metamorphosis" is a path that many people take to finding the Lord. At the end of their rope, they accept an invitation to church, or stumble in on their own, and start to hear about this thing called salvation. With a hunger in them that they can't explain, they listen and search and study, eventually accepting Christ into their life.

The key, though, is that they are not perfect once they get baptized or say a prayer. They still sin. They still mess up. They still do all those "bad" things. But Jesus still saves them. He died for us, "while we were still sinners". Everything rests on what Jesus did, not what we do.

I hope your week was a blessed one, but if not, I would be happy to pray for you. Get in touch with me and I will add you to my prayers. The link to my various social media outlets are on the right-hand side of the front page of the blog. You can also leave a comment below any of the posts here if you wish.

Have a great weekend everyone! God bless!

Chorus

2010-08-23T08:22:00.003-04:00

There is a huge chasm in the church right now as denominations dig in and refuse to work together as "members of that one body". Congregations are shrinking and no one is willing to lose one more, even if that means being insular. "Chorus" speaks about what God sees when He looks down the church, and what should be happening within it.

I know that this may be controversial, but if you look through the Word the only thing Jesus is concerned with is our devotion to Him, our acceptance of Him, and our relationship with Him. Not what denomination we are, not the works we do, not the doctrine we follow. One bride. One church.

I pray that your week has started well, and continues to be so, every moment of every day. God bless and thank you for your support!

Beyond Comprehension

2010-08-20T08:02:00.002-04:00

I don't remember exactly where the title came from, but I think when we take a moment to sit back and REALLY think about what Jesus did for us, we can all agree that it's beyond comprehension. I don't think any of us can fully understand how God, the God of the universe, could come down to Earth as an infant, and then work Himself, literally, to death, all for love. That is a love that is beyond any of us.

However, I tried to express some of that in "Beyond Comprehension". My gratitude, my utter lack of understanding, my love for Him. He reigns, now and forever.

Matchless Redux

2010-08-18T10:06:00.001-04:00

I posted about a poem called "Matchless" here about three weeks ago, and I talked about the inspiration for it. I was listening to some music and realized that I forgot a very important part of that.

The song "Holy" by Matt Gilman has been one of my favorites for a long time now. It's what I call a "big song" because it builds to a tremendous crescendo with the refrain of, "There is no one like you/You are holy/Holy!". It speaks directly out of the Book of Revelation about God's holiness and the majesty of heaven around Him.

So I wanted to fix my oversight from a few weeks ago, and clue you in to some great Christian music, and a little more of how my brain works when I'm writing!

New Psong

2010-08-16T07:43:00.002-04:00

No, it's not a typo. That's really the title!

"New Psong" was written by taking lines from various Psalms (95, 96, 98, 100, or 101) and filling in between them with lines of my own. It's a lengthy poem but I love the picture of praise that it puts forth. I regularly read it at WVIHOP during our devotional set on Tuesday evenings because it fits so well with the thought of singing prayers and praying songs. And after all, God is so worthy!

So (hopefully) you noticed the huge change to the theme of the blog when you first arrived. I hope that you like the shift in style. I like the purple touches since much of my webpage is purple. The background is very soothing and unobtrusive, as well as showing off the Lord's Creation.

School starts again this week, which I am actually kind of happy about. I am hoping that soon we will settle into a really nice schedule that allows me to communicate more with all of you. I hate being out of touch.

So we shall see what the next month or so brings, and until Friday have a blessed week!

His Words

2010-08-09T11:27:00.003-04:00

"Weary (Matt 11:28-30)" is the first poem in a series called "His Words". I am taking the words in red (Jesus' words) and using them actually within the poem itself as well as basing the poem on the Scripture in the titles. Be sure to keep your eyes out for them going forward as I sprinkle them in with the other new poems.

This is our ramp up week as we get ready to go back to homeschooling on Tuesday. School supplies, reformatting computers, forming curriculum ... that's this week. So, this is the only new poem this week, and I'll fill in on Twitter and Facebook with older ones you might have missed.

Have a great week and may God rain down his blessings on your life!

Stand

2010-07-30T10:31:00.000-04:00

"Stand" came out of the lyrics to a Skillet song called "Awake and Alive". We are all going to have to take a stand someday. We will all face opposition from someone at some point over our faith, and we have to make a decision. Who will have our allegiance? Who will we choose? The answer has everlasting implications.

Don't forget that I would be happy to pray for anyone in need. Take advantage of one of the many ways to get ahold of me and I'll be glad to keep you in my prayers.

Have a great weekend everyone, and now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to a end of the school year party for my children! God bless!

Matchless

2010-07-26T09:21:00.000-04:00

God is matchless and that is where "Matchless" began. I was sitting in my van, looking out at a patchwork sky of clouds and God rays, and I was overwhelmed with a feeling of awe. The God of everything was looking down at me and loving me like no one else ever could.

I pray that you had a blessed weekend, and that you feel His touch throughout this week!

Hand in Hand

2010-07-23T12:29:00.000-04:00

God is our Heavenly Father, and "Hand in Hand" comes from a picture of a child holding their daddy's hand. Although in the case of God, it means so much more because of His glory and perfection. The comparison between our hands and His is so poignant to me.

Have a great weekend everyone, and may God continue to pour out His blessings on you all!

Heavenly Messages

2010-07-21T14:48:00.000-04:00

"Heavenly Messages" speaks about those times when God speaks to us. In dreams or visions, He pours out the gift of prophecy on those of us who have been chosen for it. I love the thought, and the experience, of God blessing me with a thought or message that perhaps no one else has. The scary part comes in being asked to share those things with other people and not knowing what their reaction will be!

Barring any unforeseen complications, I'll be working on another video this evening. This one will be for "Holy Sacrifice", one of my very early poems. I'll post a link here, on Twitter, and on Facebook when it is finished.

I know I keep bringing this up, but I want to make sure everyone knows that I would be happy to pray for any of you in need. Just let me know through any of the avenues available what you need, and I will pray for you!

Finally, in the very near future I'm going to be changing the look of this blog. I have a rough idea of what I want to do, but I just need to get the courage to take the leap. So, maybe next time you check in, things will be looking different!

Have a great day, and I'll talk to you again on Friday with another new poem. God bless everyone!

Scarred

2010-07-09T08:10:00.003-04:00

I don't know about you, but I'm covered with a lot of scars. A few of them are visible, physical scars, but most are within. Emotional, spiritual; those are much more prevalent.

"Scarred" is about some of those things. The scars we carry personally, and also the scars society has.

It's also about the scars that brought salvation. The only scars that matter now. All those other scars can be healed by His scars.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and God bless! See you next week!

Battleground

2010-07-05T07:48:00.003-04:00

I pray that you all had a wonderfully blessed 4th of July weekend! And for those of you who are off of work again today, hooray!

Today's poem is called "Battleground". It speaks about the daily warfare that occurs within us as we choose between God's way and the way of the world. The outcome is ultimately up to us, moment by moment, decision by decision.

I'm going to be updating the look of this blog soon, although to be honest I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing. I just know it's time for a change!

In case you were not around when the announcement came, my poetry now has its own YouTube Channel. There are currently two videos up, and I will try to add two per month from here on out. Please leave comments and let me know what you think of them!

Finally, about ten days ago I posted here letting you know I would be pleased to pray for anything that you needed. Just know that at anytime, that offer stands. Send me an e-mail, post in the comments, send me a message on Twitter or Facebook.

Have a blessed week everyone!

Prayer Requests

2010-06-25T13:26:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone! I hope your week has been wonderful and all is well in your life!

If so, praise God!

If not, I'd be honored to pray for whatever chaos is going on in your life. Please feel free to leave your prayer request in the comments of this post, or any other posts in the future for that matter. Alternately, if you'd like to keep the details private, e-mail me at holli@holliswank.com and know that I will be praying for you. Prayer has made such a difference in my life and I would be happy to pass that on to others.

Have a great weekend and know that God loves you, every single second of every single day, no matter what!

Beautiful Garden

2010-06-23T08:37:00.003-04:00

Today's poem is about the longing we all feel to return to Eden, to beauty, to God. I have read some of (and need to finish) Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge and this is one of the things I really identified with. I also really feel a connection to the song, "Eden", by Phil Wickham. It's as if there is a pull on my heart to return to that pure and innocent place where life began.

In case you missed the big announcement on Monday, my poetry now has its own channel on YouTube! I will be reading a poem and letting my husband transform it into a video with his music and a beautiful background. I'm very excited about getting my poetry out there like this, and I pray it will continue to spread the Good News all over the world.

I figured I would take this opportunity to re-post all of the ways you can connect with me and my poetry, including the brand new addition! They are as follows:

Website - http://www.HolliSwank.com

Twitter - http://twitter.com/ChristianPoetry

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Christian-Poetry-of-Holli-Swank/76811274609?ref=ts

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/HolliSwank

E-mail - holli@holliswank.com

I am so glad you've joined me here and I'd love to get your opinions about the poetry, the website, or anything else that's on your mind. Thanks for your support and may God continue to bless you always!

Exciting News!

2010-06-21T11:57:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday night during my meditation time, God revealed to me a wonderful new idea for getting my poetry out into the world. I've been so excited to share it with you, and I'm thrilled to now be able to do so!

My poetry now has a YouTube channel where I will be reading my poetry and posting it as a video with music and a background. The first poem I've done is "Come Home" and I think it has turned out fabulously. The YouTube channel is here, and you can subscribe if you'd like an e-mail update when new videos are posted. I am going to try to get at least two more up before the end of this week, and after that I'm going to attempt to produce one every two weeks or so.

This would not have been possible without the support, iMac skills and music of my husband. All I had to do was read the poem and he did everything else. He's an amazing blessing to me.

So there you go! Thanks for reading and I pray that this new avenue will bring you closer to God through the poems! God bless everyone!

Flame of Faith

2010-06-18T08:51:00.002-04:00

Well, summer is going to busier than I thought! Where did my week go?

Today I offer up "Flame of Faith" to you. It was inspired by the lyrics of "Stir Up the Flame" by Misty Edwards, a worship leader at KC-IHOP. The poem talks about how our faith is a flickering flame and must be nurtured before it goes out.

During last night's meditation, I was granted a phenomenal idea by the Lord. I don't want to say too much before I have it fleshed out, but I promise it will be a great way for you to experience the poetry you find here. As soon as I know the specifics, I will post here and let you know. I am so excited about this and I cannot wait to share it with everyone!

Have a fabulous weekend and stay tuned for the announcement! God bless!

Back to Normal

2010-06-10T06:36:00.005-04:00

Life is at last starting to slow down again!

On Tuesday, I posted Encounter, a poem about the first time I encountered the Holy Spirit. I was watching the KC-IHOP live feed of the IHOPU Student Awakening service. I'd been having a rough time with some things and I wrote some rather scathing things in my journal towards God. He answered rather quickly with a song, and then I was very literally overwhelmed by the Spirit, forced to my knees while my husband prayed over me.

Today brings Cloudy, my first poem of the spring. I just could not find any inspiration during the dark of winter, and this was my re-entry into writing. It also speaks to me about the darkness overtaking the world right now, and the renewal Christ will bring when He returns.

On a personal note, ten years ago today I was laboring away, awaiting the arrival of our first child. It's hard to believe, but today she turns ten, growing up every day. I wrote poems about each of my kids last year that you can see on my personal blog here, here, and here. Boy, has the time flown by.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and may God continue to bless you all!

Witness

2010-06-03T10:24:00.002-04:00

A new poem! Gasp!

Witness is similar in style to At the Foot of the Cross as it gives differing viewpoints on the hours of Jesus' death. The cross was a huge focus for me at the time of both poems, stemming from my visions during meditation. It became very clear that He intended for me to write about the cross in many different ways.

I pray you all have a great weekend and I will be back with you next week! God bless!

Long Overdue

2010-05-31T21:26:00.003-04:00

I'm assuming that most of you have executed at least one move in your adulthood. And as such you understand how stressful and exhausting it is. Add in three kids and it gets really crazy!

So that's where I've been lately. We've been packing, moving, unpacking, lather, rinse, repeat for the past couple weeks. My husband getting sick slowed us down considerably, so until today, we weren't really sure we were going to make it.

But we did. So, this week I am going to make every effort to get back on schedule. At least one poem before Saturday.

Thanks for your patience with me while we moved! God bless everyone!

Oh Boy

2010-05-10T11:13:00.000-04:00

Well ... I thought the week before last was busy. I was wrong.

Last week contained a trip to the Indianapolis Zoo, a devotional set at WVIHOP, a trip to the ER, a trip to the doctor, and a lot of fretting over my husband's health. This week contains some of the same! Add in a lot of packing and you've got a full schedule.

I'm only going to try to do one poem this week because I am still getting used to my new MacBook. Lullabye is a message of love and peace from God as we try to sleep.

I pray that all the mother's had a wonderful day yesterday. I received many gifts of love and a homecooked meal by my husband.

Have a great week everyone and God bless!

Changes

2010-05-03T08:10:00.001-04:00

Whew ... what a couple weeks! We've been busy and there's no sign of stopping!

Our family is getting ready to move at the end of this month, so things are starting to ramp up around here. I am going to do my very best to post poems, if not a blog post, every week. If don't, however, you'll know why.

In case you missed it, last week I posted a poem called Servant's Hands. It speaks of the different ways we can choose (or not) to serve our Lord, and what good our hands can do.

Today you'll be able to read At the Foot of the Cross. It's the first in a series of poems about the cross, borne out of visions I was having during meditation at the time. My husband and I would have about twenty minutes of meditation, and I was repeatedly shown the cross, in varying scenes, degrees of clarity and distances. It became very clear that was the place God wanted me to stay at the time.

Wednesday will be Crisscrossed. It speaks of the image of the cross splashed across our society today. It's intended to be a thought provoking piece, and could be a little controversial in its frankness.

Finally, on Friday, is Life of Choices. This one I worked on for a long time, completely re-writing it once. It is also intended to make you think and perhaps recenter yourself in your decision-making process.

This week's poems are somewhat challenging, but I think that's a good thing. As hard as it is (and as much as I dislike it most of the time) being challenged almost always brings me out better on the other end. It is a refining that God puts me through to make me more of what He wants. I hope that maybe a poem will strike you and start a process of refinement in you as well.

Thank you for your support on Twitter and Facebook and here on the blog. I really do appreciate it, and I hope I contribute something back to your lives with this poetry. I am here for my God first and then for other people. As the saying goes, "Love God and love people". I pray that I am doing a good job of that with my poetry. May God bless you always!

Lightbulb Preparation

2010-04-19T12:13:00.000-04:00

This is going to be a crazy week!

Monday through Wednesday will be spent getting ready for my husband to be gone to work an Emmaus Walk Thursday through Sunday. This leaves me alone with three kids for four days! Oh boy.

This week brings you two poems, Lightbulb and Preparation (hence the blog post title). Lightbulb talks about those moments when everything just clicks for you. Preparation is about the coming kingdom and who is bringing it.

Thank you for your continuing support and I pray that my poetry is reaching out to you in a wonderful, spiritual way. God bless all and have a great week!

Undone

2010-04-14T09:06:00.006-04:00

The poem today is one that has tremendous meaning to me. I explain briefly in the comments of the poem about where it comes from, but I want to do a more thorough job here.

I was nervous about attending the Good Friday service that our local IHOP (International House of Prayer) hosted at a high school nearby. See, I had never The Passion of the Christ and was very afraid of the violence I knew was contained within it. The IHOP service was going to feature music, dancing and painting surrounding the movie, which interested me, but the movie still frightened me. So I struggled with the choice for several days.

After prayer and a promise from my husband, who had seen the movie, that he would tell when the worst was coming, I went. The movie was shown on a large screen, with the sound down, as the team sang a selection of songs. From the beginning the mood was somber and tears were not scarce, but things really got intense when the scourging began.

For anyone who has seen the movie, you know the imagery that is presented in those scenes. I made it through the first stage with them simply whipping Him with what appeared to be rods, but as they lifted the rods with barbs, I buried my head in my husband's shoulder. Tears began streaming down my face and I literally was wracked with sobs. I had to take off my glasses and tuck them into my purse. Even being unable to clearly see the screen, or hear what was happening, pain and sorrow raced through me. He did this for me, to erase my sins, and even if I was the only person on Earth, He would have done it. How overwhelming is that?

Mary cleaning up the blood her son had shed, which covered a vast area after the beating from the Romans, as well as the scene where she remembered comforting Him as a child, brought more tears. I have a son. I cannot imagine seeing him suffer, and die, like that and have no power to stop it.

So I made it through the movie and the service, and we gathered up our stuff, emotionally drained from the experience. My husband plays twice a week at IHOP so the leader, Marvin, is well known to both of us. He came down to thank Larry and give us both hugs as we started to walk out, then seeing my face, told me to, "Stay undone."

So I have done my best to do that. Every time I get frustrated or angry or feel alone in my struggles I think back on those striking images of my Lord, drenched in blood, hanging on a cross, dying for me. And it works almost every time.

This is a video with clips from The Passion, set to one of my favorite songs, 'By Your Side'. If you've never seen the movie, it will give you a taste of what it is like. Hopefully it will cause you to come undone.

Success!

2010-04-06T11:38:00.003-04:00

I am in week two of successfully posting poems and blog posts!

Now, that is in big part because of the efforts of my fabulous webmaster, who has arranged things on the site so that I can schedule poems to post throughout the week. It allows me to take one day to set everything up and be hands off for the rest of the week. He's awesome.

So, this week you get two new poems, Expectant and Indecision (Rev 3:15-16).

The first is about the way we all plan our lives and then ask God to bless what we've done, not let God carry out His plans for us.

The second is based on the Scripture referenced in the title. We are all lukewarm at times, with one foot in the Kingdom and one foot in the world's ways. He won't have it that way.

So I pray that you will enjoy the poems this week. Have a blessed week and may God's grace shine on you each and every day.

Wondrous Day

2010-04-04T09:12:00.000-04:00

He is risen!

This is the second half of the surprise I spoke of many months ago. Wondrous Night came back in December for Christmas, and it's sister Wondrous Day arrives for Easter. You'll notice great similarities and it is on purpose. I wanted to show how the events are inexorably tied together, and not just by the child/man they are centered on.

Have a blessed day everyone!

-----

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

- Matthew 28: 5-10 (NIV)

Circlet

2010-04-02T09:59:00.000-04:00

A blessed Good Friday to you all.

Today's poem, Circlet, has been written for many months, and has one of my favorite titles yet. The thorns Jesus wore are typically referred to as a crown, but I have always loved the term circlet. The image of Christ, sitting at the right hand of God, in pure white, with a circlet of gold replacing those thorns is a glorious one indeed.

-----

And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.

And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,

And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!

And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.

And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.

- Mark 15:16-20 (KJV)

Priceless

2010-03-31T14:10:00.005-04:00

It is, arguably, the most important week of the Christian faith. This week, almost 2,000 years ago, our Lord and Savior was hung on a tree, died bearing all our sin, and then, as he foretold, rose again. Wow.

I have three poems for this week, the first of which is Priceless. The second will come on Good Friday and the last on Easter. I figured there was no better time to restart my poetry than this week.

I'm going to be much more loose with a schedule of posting. I always felt a lot of pressure when I had a rigid schedule. God has really been speaking about peace and freedom and following the Spirit's lead lately, so I'm going to do that. You may get three poems in one week and none the next. I will do my best to never go two weeks without posting unless something is seriously wrong.

To peak your interest, here are some titles coming your way soon:

Crisscrossed
Encounter
Cloudy
Expectant
Witness

I pray that you all have a blessed Easter, and every day beyond. He is risen!

---

And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”

- Luke 24:4-7 (NKJV)

Welcome back!

2010-03-12T09:27:00.000-05:00

So ... I've been away for a while. A long while actually.

This winter has been trying for me. I felt alone in many ways as the days grew shorter and nights drug on forever. In essence, my life entered winter about the same time the world did. Inspiration, and joy, left me. I would sit down to write and nothing came. Blank paper stared back at me.

Our church, along with about 17 others, entered a time of seeking the Lord for three weeks from January 25th to February 14th called the Divine Experiment. A time to turn off the world's influence and chase God. Great time to write, right?

Still nothing. No poetry anyway. I found the love of God and was invaded by the Spirit during that time (and no I am NOT complaining) but poetic words still escaped me. I thought about it off and on, and had somewhat resigned myself to the fact that He'd moved me on from this ministry.

But ... spring is here. And as I looked outside today, inspiration struck. The sunshine seemed to infiltrate me and stir something in me that had stayed dormant with all the cold and snow around.

So expect to see more of me these days. It might be a slow restart, but it will be a restart. God bless you all.

Christmas

2009-12-25T15:13:00.000-05:00

I hope that every one of you has a blessed Christmas. My gift to you is three poems I have been saving for months for just this time. God bless!

Finest Gift

Mother of God

Wondrous Night

Mirage

2009-12-02T14:01:00.002-05:00

I am really proud of my recent string of poems. My writing has evolved quite a bit over this year, and things are going deeper as I create. The rhyming has passed except in rare cases, and I am very happy with the changes. The latest poem, Mirage, is about being tempted by all Satan can offer us in the world.

As we enter the holiday season, things get really busy, and I hope you all can keep perspective through it all. Above all we have to remember why we celebrate. In the week, leading up to Christmas I have several new poems to add, all related to the holiday. I look forward to sharing them with you all.

Have a great weekend everyone and God bless!

Thanks Be To God

2009-11-25T16:45:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Have a blessed weekend!

Broken Trust

2009-11-19T10:42:00.000-05:00

Broken Trust is an inquiry to God about what to do when someone hurts us. I had a real rough period where I grappled with that question.

We have added a very exciting feature to the website! You can now sign up to receive newsletters from me about new poems, new features on the website, or any other exciting news about the poetry. And no worries about spam. You'll only get the periodic newsletters I send out.

My pastor sent me an e-mail the other day about a writing contest through our church's affiliated denomination. I have to tell you I am absolutely terrified about the thought of any of my poetry being "judged" for anything. Prayer would be appreciated while I consider what to submit. The deadline is December 31st.

Finally, I've been very pleased with the response to the new posting schedule via Twitter and Facebook. Thank you all for your support!

God bless and have a GREAT weekend!

Lost (John 14:6)

2009-11-11T09:58:00.001-05:00

I don't really know how to introduce this poem. My husband told me it was the best thing I had ever written when I showed it to him. I can't even tell you how I wrote it, because honestly, I didn't. God took ahold of my pencil that night and guided my hand through every word. I've had a feeling of His presence when I was writing before, but never like this. God had His way with me. Mark Hall from Casting Crowns said once that he was writing songs he wasn't good enough to write, and now I know what he meant. These words aren't mine. They are His.

Speaking of Casting Crowns, their new album, Until the Whole World Hears, comes out in about a week. I won't push products here very often, but this album ... it is amazing. You can preview the whole thing at Yahoo Music right now and I would highly recommend that. I can tell you that this album will inspire many poems in the future, particularly 'At Your Feet' and 'Blessed Redeemer'.

Have a wonderful rest of your week and may God bless you all.

The Time Has Come

2009-11-02T14:59:00.004-05:00

It is time to get back on track!

I am back and (hopefully) better than ever with clarity and a simple plan. I am going to be posting to my Twitter account every weekday. At least one of those will be for a brand new poem. The rest will be archived poems that you may or may not have seen before.

I won't be perfect. I'll miss a day here and there. But I will do my best. And that is all that counts.

So, without waiting another second, here we go! Cursed is up on the website for you to read.

Also, coming soon will be an e-mail list you can sign up for to receive notification when new poems go up, and a monthly review of blog posts and poems in case you missed something. Making prints of poems available to buy as well as a year-end anthology are in the planning stages.

I hope that you enjoy the poetry, and as always, God bless everyone!

Long Time, No See

2009-10-30T07:14:00.001-04:00

It's been two weeks since I posted a new poem and a week and a half since I posted to the Twitter account. I've been sick the past few days, but that's not the reason I've been absent. I could blame it on being busy or any number of others things, but I won't. It's not a lack of poems or ideas for poems. No, it's simpler than that.

God told me to slow down.

I had been getting the feeling I was simply going through the motions with my poetry. Write, post, blog, write, post, blog, and so on. God confirmed this for me during one of the recent meditation sessions my husband and I have been doing. I needed to regain my focus and passion for what I was doing. I was no longer doing it for Him, but just to be doing it. There was no longer any grace on it and it was not succeeding.

So, I'm rethinking all the planning I've done (and frankly I should have known better than to plan months ahead) to see what exactly He wants for this ministry. And in His time I will return to it. That maybe tomorrow. That maybe six months from now. I suspect it will be sooner than later, but only He knows.

-----

Psalm 5:3 (NIV)

³ In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.

Angels on Earth

2009-10-07T16:00:00.002-04:00

New poem up on the website called Angels on Earth.

Have you ever had a week where you just feel one step behind? That's me this week. I didn't get curriculum done until Monday morning. I woke up this morning with tasks to finish, but could not get organized for anything. I have not been able to write in a couple weeks now just because of my schedule and how tired I've been.

I pray that your week is going better than mine! God bless everyone!

Back in the Saddle

2009-09-30T12:50:00.003-04:00

Well, here I am! I'm hoping that you missed me.

Last week was absolutely crazy as I prepared to sponsor my brother for an Emmaus Walk, and my husband got ready to work at the same. Anyone who has been to a Walk knows how fun it must be to juggle three kids and the responsibility of being a sponsor. I don't know what I would have done without my mother-in-law and my pastor and his wife.

Anyway, I am back and this time with two new poems to make up for the lack of one last week. The first is called Let Go and is about releasing your hold on anger and frustrations that come up in life.

The second is called The Gray, and was inspired by a message our pastor gave recently. The poem talks about those areas of life that aren't black and white.

I'm hoping the normal schedule will resume now, so keep checking back for new stuff. Have a great week and God bless!

Be Still

2009-09-16T12:46:00.002-04:00

There is a new poem on the website called Be Still.

I'm not feeling well today, so I'll leave it at that. Have a good rest of the week everyone and God bless.

A Hobbit Birthday

2009-09-11T11:51:00.003-04:00

Here is my hobbit gift to you on my birthday. A bonus new poem, written specifically for this occasion. Have a great weekend and God bless.

Armor of God and New Features

2009-09-09T11:17:00.003-04:00

There is a new poem up on the website called Armor of God based on Ephesians 6:10-17.

Also, I am thrilled to announce there are two new features on the website. First, you can now browse the collection of poems by tags that have been applied, such as prayer or hope or Bible verse. You will find the link to do this on the right hand side of the main page. Every poem also lists its tags at the bottom of its individual page. You can click on those to go to the page with a list of tags as well.

Second, poems are now listed by publication date rather than composition date on the main page. This way you can see what was most recently added to the page, not what was most recently written. It also lets you know the page has been updated within the last week, instead of showing dates from July. On the full collection page at the bottom, you can choose to sort the poems by composition date, publication date, or alphabetically.

I wrote four new poems last night, which was very good, but has left me very tired. I am glad that the creative flow has started again though. I've been mired in administrative stuff for a while now.

Finally, there will be a bonus new poem this week on Friday, my birthday. So keep your eyes open for that. Have a great week and God bless!

Refresh Me

2009-09-02T09:18:00.004-04:00

There is a new poem on the website called Refresh Me.

I've been writing sporadically lately, but it's not for a lack of ideas. I literally have a notebook page filled with titles I want to use. It's more for a lack of concentration. I'm having trouble zeroing in on one poem to focus on. I want to write them all at once!

So I've started putting together a binder of my poetry "supplies". One of those supplies is a schedule. I can plan ahead some to see what's coming up and help me focus rather than worry about that. I have this month tentatively planned, and it's already helping me relax a bit.

Yesterday was an amazing day for our family. God really showed His presence and it was special. I pray that you all have an experience like that soon. God Bless!

Loss

2009-08-27T18:12:00.002-04:00

There is a new poem up on the website called Loss.

I apologize for being late with the update. I'm just overwhelmed right now.

God's Gifts (Romans 12)

2009-08-19T21:25:00.003-04:00

There's a new poem up on the website called God's Gifts.

I apologize for the lack of posts the past week. As I wrote in a post on my personal blog, beginning Thursday my week was a whirlwind. Monday continued the trend, and there seems to be no real end in sight. However, there's a thunderstorm raging outside as I write this; the second of the night. That makes me very happy. I have a candle lit and I'm listening to music on my Zune. Tomorrow evening I'll be alone for a few hours. Peace and quiet comes in little bits right now.

Another thing that's been plaguing me is a lack of closeness to God. My husband and I had a good long talk about it last night, and He reinforced things during the WVIHOP service at our church this afternoon. So, I may be in and out of the blogosphere for a while as I seek my Lord.

God bless everyone!

Night

2009-08-12T13:45:00.003-04:00

There is a new poem on the website called Night.

This is actually my least favorite of the new group of poems. My husband however thought it was the best of them all. It's funny how everything is relative to your own perspective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder definitely applies to poetry.

Trouble in Paradise

2009-08-10T15:34:00.003-04:00

You will have to forgive any rambling I do in this post. I was awake for unknown reasons until 4 AM, so I'm a little tired.

I have entered a phase of struggle with my poetry. I have too many ideas. Now, you might think that would be a good thing, but having too many ideas can be just as bad as having none. I am having trouble concentrating on just one thing. Several concepts and poems are pulling at my brain every time I try to sit down and write, and I end up confused and scattering my attention. The administration of the website and Twitter and Facebook are also causing me issue.

However ...

I still love what I do. I don't want anyone to think that I am giving up, because I'm not. I just don't want everyone to think it's all great, all the time. I like to be honest and realistic. As much as I wish it wasn't so, life gets in the way sometimes. The nice thing to know is that God's still there and is only a prayer away if we need Him.

New poem up on Wednesday as usual. God bless everyone!

Explanation and Preview

2009-08-07T10:40:00.003-04:00

Something that I am sure some people are wondering about is why the titles of my poems are so short. They are short because I like to be concise. I want people to know what they are about to read about in my poetry. Something that annoys me when I am reading is a generic or vague title.

Speaking of titles, here is a peek at the titles of some of the upcoming poems:

Night
Be Still
Loss
Mirage
Refresh Me

I'm putting pressure on myself, since some of those aren't even written yet, but that never hurt anything, right?

God Is

2009-08-05T13:44:00.003-04:00

There is a new poem on the website called God Is.

I took every notion I could think of for God and put it in this poem. Part of the "creative download" was the concept of 'Who is God?'. I think many people wonder that these days after all they've been told in church. I see a lot of misconceptions out there, but in Christians, not the lost!

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God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' " - Exodus 3:14

More Than I Could Chew

2009-08-03T23:19:00.004-04:00

I think perhaps my ambition to try and post three times a week was a bit too much. Our homeschool year began today, taking up much of my time. So, here I am, getting ready for bed, and I realized I missed Friday and today. I also missed my projected date to send out the monthly update on Facebook.

Oh well, let's pick up and try again. There will be a new poem on Wednesday and a blog post to accompany it. I will attempt to get the Facebook recap update out tomorrow. By the grace of God, I'll get this figured out yet.

Remember My Name

2009-07-29T15:50:00.003-04:00

There is a new poem on the website, as promised, called Remember My Name.

I wanted to let those of you who follow me on Facebook know that at the end/beginning of each month, depending on how the days fall, I will send out a recap update of poems and blog posts from the previous month. That way if you missed something you'll be able to catch up at that point. I will always post on Twitter when anything new happens as well.

My webmaster and I have a couple new features in the works for the website, which I am looking forward to, so I'll keep you in the loop about those.

Have a great day everyone, and God bless!

My Modus Operandi

2009-07-28T21:30:00.001-04:00

I thought that those of you who read my poems might be interested in how I write them.

If not, my apologies.

A majority of the time ideas for a topic or title come to me randomly during the day, as I'm sitting at the library or driving down the road or things like that. I try to always keep my notebook with me for that reason. The "creative download" was a unique occurrence.

The writing, however, almost exclusively happens at night. Late at night. My husband and I spend time together until around 11:00 each night, and then he starts getting ready for bed. I am rarely ready to sleep at that point so I sit on the bed and try to write.

The funny thing is I usually can't. For some reason, my husband has to be asleep and I have to be writing by a little book light clipped to my notebook (yes, I still write my first drafts by hand) for it to work. My best concentration comes in the silence between 12 AM and 2 AM it seems. After that, my brain is mush and nothing gets used that I scribble down.

My husband used to work from 11 PM to 4 AM when our kids were in bed because that garnered him the most useful time and he finished more in that time than in 8 normal work hours. I think I get that now.

I am going to attempt to blog on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, using Wednesday as my new poem day. (Yes, I'm posting this on a Tuesday. I know.) We'll see how the schedule pans out and go from there. Three more poems in the book last night!

God bless everyone.

Christmas in July

2009-07-27T23:36:00.002-04:00

I'm sure everyone has been in this position ...

You've got something really great that only you know about, and you desperately want to share it ... but you can't.

That's where I am. I've got two new poems written that I'm SO excited about ... but it's not time for them. So I have to wait; something I am in no way good at.

I do have three others finished though that I can post, and I will do that soon. Right now, to not exhaust what I have to offer and not put pressure on myself to write faster, I'm planning to post a new poem once a week. If I find myself with a huge backlog I will change that, but this schedule is something I am comfortable with for the moment.

Thank you to everyone who has added me on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, or just visited the website to read my poetry. I appreciate your support and your interest. God bless you all!

Best Friend

2009-07-20T01:37:00.005-04:00

There's a new poem up on the website called Best Friend.

Something you will find as you read my poetry and get to know me is that I am very influenced and inspired by music. Music has been a huge part of my life since I can remember. I was always in choir, there were were always records playing at home, and it just became ingrained in me. There are songs that define an event for me, even a time period in my life.

Last week was full of havoc, so I didn't get much writing done. I hoping to have something to put up later this week, so stay tuned! God bless!

Bringing You Up to Speed

2009-07-15T10:09:00.000-04:00

Here all the posts from my personal blog containing anything about my poetry if you're interested in the history.

Now, I don't always write Christian poetry. I've written a poem for each of my children that you won't find on the website or here on this blog. For those poems, you have to check my personal blog under the tag poetry. That should get you all caught up on the journey since January!

Guilty

2009-07-14T10:04:00.002-04:00

A new poem has been added to the website called Guilty.

I'm going to create a post soon that will include a link to every post from my personal blog containing a poem I have written. Hopefully that will help everyone get caught up to where we are now.

Not much else to say right now, so God bless and enjoy the poem!

Your Download is Finished

2009-07-13T16:08:00.005-04:00

I've been worried lately because I was coming to the end of my list of God granted inspirations for my poetry. It's taken about five months, but on Friday I wrote the final poem I had any ideas for. Needless to say, I was a little concerned.

Oh, me of little faith.

Last night as I laid down to sleep at about 1:30, I prayed that God would refresh me and grant me new ideas. And the creative "download" began immediately. I spent the next half an hour constantly writing as wave after wave of topics, titles, and ideas flowed into my mind. I literally filled a page of my bedside notepad with these things.

Wow. Talk about instant gratification.

I continue to be amazed at His grace and desire to give if only I will ask. I was living under a misconception for a long time that you should never ask for a blessing for yourself. Boy, was I wrong!

I'll get the new poem, Guilty, up tomorrow. It's a style I've never done before so I am anxious to see what others think. God bless!

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"For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." - Matthew 7:8

Quick Update

2009-07-11T14:33:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to pop in real quick to let everyone know there is a new poem up on the website called Wanderers. Now back to my Sabbath!

New Additions

2009-07-09T19:48:00.006-04:00

There is a new poem up on the website called Scourge.

Also, the website has a new header lovingly created by my webmaster. There is a Facebook feed on the front page where you can sign up to be a fan of my poetry, and as I mentioned in my last post, you can now send a poem to a friend.

I have added a poll here to get an idea for how people found out about my poetry. Please take minute to answer it. I am also adding links here as I think of them, so be sure to keep an eye out for those too!

Share the Love

2009-07-08T19:41:00.003-04:00

My fantastic webmaster added a new feature to my website yesterday. You can now e-mail a link to any of the poems to a friend by using a form at the bottom of every page. I've been wanting to do this so that if you see a poem that really strikes you as being helpful to someone you know, there's an easy way to pass it along. I hope it ends up being a great way for you to connect with friends and encourage them in a new way.

As always, let me know what you think of the website and the new feature. I'll keep you updated as new things go up!

Beginnings

2009-07-07T19:31:00.000-04:00

So, here we go!

I wanted to differentiate my personal stuff from my work with words, so we're starting anew with a fresh blog, a Twitter account, and renewed vigor. You'll find links to a Facebook page, the Twitter account, my personal blog, and the website that is the basis for this blog to your right. If you have comments, complaints, suggestions, feel free to log them. I can't promise I'll accept them, but I'll at least listen.

God's been telling me for a while that poetry is my ministry. I've been passively working on it for a while, but I get the feeling it's time to kick it into gear. So, here I am, pulling stuff together, doing everything I can to get my message out there. We'll see what happens. Thanks for joining me on the ride.