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!
Showing posts with label sneak peek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sneak peek. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Influential Music
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:
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!
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!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Exciting News!
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!
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!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Changes
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!
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!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Undone
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Priceless
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:
---
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)
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
---
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)
Friday, August 7, 2009
Explanation and Preview
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:
Speaking of titles, here is a peek at the titles of some of the upcoming poems:
- Night
- Be Still
- Loss
- Mirage
- Refresh Me
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