Ushered In

There's no way those few minutes could have been captured by a lens
or recreated by the artistry of words.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
A, "you-had-to-be-there," thing.

You had to be there to sense the silent anticipation before the sun broke loose.
You had to be there to hear the birds and the left over frogs chirping their chorus of melodies.
You had to be there to see the way the sunlight turned the leaves from dark green to a yellowish shade as it peered curiously through them.
You had to be there to feel touched and caressed by the fingers of light, even before the source was visible.

It turned my hair golden.
It made my heart soften.
It caused the world to lighten.
It ushered in

Morning.

Bound, yet Moving

It's like reaching for something you can barely see
reaching for something you can barely touch. 
Your fingers brush the edge of it
a hair-breadth of a second.
Yet something locks your feet, holds your shins,
keeps you no faster than a snail's-pace.
And this constant barely-seeing and barely-touching and hair-breadth-brushing
is frustrating.
It's hard to feel like you'll ever get there,
ever have it in your grasp.
Because as much as you wiggle your fingers
as long as you hold your breath
as long as you pray you'll reach it
you won't.
Not as long as the season won't change.
Not as long as your ankles are bound.

So what exactly is holding your shins?
What clings to your knees,
glues your shoe soles to the floor?
It's not a thing of words, or substance,
or even a thing of feeling.
It's almost like an inkling,
a happening,
a something that doesn't need to be a something to be a something.

It's not that this Something is a complete hindrance:
it slows you, but you are moving.
It's not that this something will keep you from reaching that which you can barely see:
you'll get there.
It's not a question of "if,"
but of "when."

- "SO IS WINTER INTO SPRING"

05-10-13

Style{in} Skirts : "Up Against Thorny Things"

Photo Credit: Hudson

Always an uphill battle:
There's never rest from the fight of life.

Always a dangerous battle:
As dangerous to retreat as it is to fight.

Always a rewarding battle:
The end is better than what we're in.

Always a victorious battle:
Defeat only happens when we're giving in.

So keep your chin up, soft soul of mine;
Keep your eyes from growing dim.

For what's to come is worth it all:
What is better than knowing Him?

______________________

We're up against thorny things.

Always.

Giving up can't be an option.

Not when there's a race to be run.

"Awed"

If we are awed

By just one glimpse,

If we are enraptured

With just a reflection,

If we are in awe

Of just one hue,

How much more will Your arrival be dazzling . . .

"Until My All"

Please don't stop

This polishing work

Til my face grows dim

As Yours brightens forth

Please don't stop

This carving work

Til this hewing and hacking

Show forth Your greater worth

Please don't stop

This refining work

Til my life's only remembrance

Is a reflection of Your Word

Please don't stop 

This pursuing work

Until my all, my everything

Is nothing less than Yours

[untitled]

You cannot judge

What's to come

By what you think's in store

But you can trust,

Indeed, you must,

The One who's gone before

Snow is for Sweaters .

We didn't bother bundling up. 
We just kind of went as we liked.

We stayed outside 'til our finger fell off
And the flurries had turned our clothes white.

The camera was soaked, our sweaters soggy,
But we laughed as we shook off the flakes.

Then looked at each other, ran right back outside,
Because it's irresistible, this beauty He's made!!

Love, Casey

p.s. model credit: Faith Flick

"Aesthetic"

What could damage beauty

That no human could create?

For that is pure beyond all tarnish

Far beyond what I could make.

So do not fear, my fragile heart

 Refuse to be dismayed.

What is made of Heaven's will

Could not by Earth be swayed.

"Still"

Be still, my heart

Cease your beating

Cease your thoughts

Cease your feelings

Your broken pulse

Is not the end;

Disregard thoughts

Of thoughtless friends

Your confidence

Need not falter;

Your delicate pattern

Need not alter

Be still, my heart

Let worries take flight

Your fretting is futile

To the trials of night

"Lost in it All"

"Lost in beauty

Lost in wonder

'cause everything in You

Is unlike every other

But the deeper I'm lost

The farther I fall

Into such extreme grace

Into indescribable awe

I'm losing myself

It's all too wonderful

I'm losing myself

In the beauty of it all"

Photo Credit: Mother Deer

"Coming"

"The cleanest horizons

The brightest sun rising

Not one temptation to fall

Biggest days coming

Smallest days becoming

The keys to conquer it all"

(photo credit: not me; model credit: Erin Sweeney)

Good Morning.

Morning ushers in grand news

Something totally brand new

Untampered with entirely

Glorious and inspiring

Ready to be conquered...

Capturing Cattails, Day 29 / "Beginning's End"

Jaws agape, rigged teeth

The colors would mean nothing now

Bright beginnings fin'ly meet

The ending; the conductor's bow

For with each day, with each breath

Another Death has called home-bound

Everything that one has built

Has come to the break, has been unwound

How can one be joyous still,

When such is every being's fate?

How can one be hopeful still?

With all Death has made this dinner date

Be joyous still, frail heart of mine

Take up your hope; be happy yet

For if beginnings had no end

Never would be the glory of a sunset

Capturing Cattails, Day 27 / "Mosey"

Come, take my hand, my Dear

We'll mosey down the lane

Weave daisies through our fingertips

While we walk, and laugh, and sing

Come, take me dancing, my Dear

Like it's the very first day of Spring

We'll celebrate what life has come

And what life has yet to bring

Come, take me closer, my Dear

Bring me into better days

Where we'll be past times of loneliness

Never again have to split ways

Come, take my hand, my Dear

Take me to be your only

Take me to be with you for always

And be the only one to hold me

Made Rich in Every Way

He never fails.

To be new every morning.

To know what's best.

To fill me to fullest.

To knock me off my rocking chair.

"Who is He, this King of glory?

     The LORD Almighty - 

     He is the King of glory." 

- Ps. 24:10

How can I not be in awe?

How can I not be humbled?

How can I take my eyes, for one second, off of the wonder, the magnificence, of Your glory?

The KING. Of GLORY.

And He sits with me.

And fills me.

"Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion..." 

- 2 Co. 9:10-11

I will receive until I overflow. 

I will stand in the open, 

Arms flung wide, 

With a mouth gaping,

Hungrily, until I

Experience abundance

Until I'm neck-deep

Until my stomach bursts, even

Until my arms get weak

He is so eager to fill me. He is so good.

Capturing Cattails, Day 24 / "Sailboat for Two"

Won't you take me away

Just steal me away

To a place where there are no tears

Where I can lay there

And simply star-stare

Wash away all the pain of these years

Where all bees are blue

Every day I'm with you

And never again be upset

Where raindrops come down

Without any clouds

And the sky always has a sunset

Oh dear, won't you come

We'll run past the sun

And never come back again

Buy a sailboat for two

Made just for me and you

And forget all the places we've been

Capturing Cattails, Day 16 / Challenges

To so humbly serve, yet never be drained...

To be delicate, yet never break...

To be meek in spirit, yet not afraid...

To be ready to follow, and ready to stay...

Capturing Cattails, Day 15 / "Set Apart"

Like the sunrise brings the promise

Of yet another day

And the day greets us with trials

We meet along the way

Each love demands a sacrifice

If meant to be of worth

For what else sets us apart from

The rest upon this earth

The heartache of a selfless act

Will never go uncured

And tears shed of an breaking heart

Will never go unheard

For His eyes and ears have sought those

Who have sought is heart

And He will hold us closer still

For we have been set apart

To walk along a lonely path

 One barely shoulder-width

Sometimes it is so narrow

Our heavy hearts can hardly fit

So lift your eyes, and cast your gaze

Upon the One who carries us

All sufferings will soon be of naught

So persevere we must

Onward, onward, if but a fight

To drag your tired feet forward

For when we reach the glorious end

FULL will be our reward.

Capturing Cattails, Day 14 / "Cannot Soar"

I can try with every bit of my strength

I can flap every feather of my wings

Yet I still cannot soar with the airplanes

Or embrace the light each day brings

I will still brush the top of the branches

Of the trees I wish to leave far below

I'll stutter, and falter, and fail to forget

Everything I wish I didn't know