Becoming like Christ for the sake of others

The Cat 8/5/19

If my mom was still alive she would have turned 105 this Thursday. Sounds very old but I just read about an 110 year old woman who celebrated her birthday today and Bruce Ungerland’s mother turns 102 this week. Wow! How I loved my mom who was a poet. And a pretty good poet at that. I have shared her poetry before and this week I will again.

The Cat

The Lord was most beneficial
When He designed the cat
So beautiful, so graceful
Yet strong for all of that
God then inserted razor claws
A tail to show emotion
Expressive eyes to give one pause
A suddenness of motion
It patiently endures our love
But limits our caresses
Man loves and feeds this royal beast
But man the cat possesses
It feels no obligation
It does no task or job
This gem of God’s creation
At times is just a snob

From Generation to Generation

If my parents only –
I once heard him say
I turned him right off
From that very day
For his parents
Had parents
Whose parents
Were grim
Because their grandparents
Had parents like him!

She

She had an enigmatic style
Her comments sparse and brief
She had a fluid, flawless smile
Man viewed her with relief
She didn’t rail, expose a cause
Oh how men did succumb
She did not even seek applause
The poor sweet thing was dumb

Writing

Sometimes on my bad days
I do my best
As if passing a test
I get an A
The hard way

Harmony

Sometimes
A note of music
Plucks at something
In me
Like God
Plucking on a ligament
Or beating the drum
Of my heart

Lonely

Deserts of time
Stretch out before me
I sink
Into sand
Of constant anxiety
Lizards of fear
Dart near
Rock-bound loneliness
Not even mirages
Beckon me forward

Tempest in a Teenage Teapot 

I’ll grind him up like liver
I’ll cut him up like meat
I’ll drop him from an airplane
On to an asphalt street
I’ll put him in a rubber raft
And shove him out to sea
Then shoot the damn thing full of holes
And giggle cheerfully
I’ll tie him to the railroad tracks
Before a truck I’ll shove him
If he would cease I would have peace
or
If I didn’t love him.

Prayer Focus This Week…Pray for Pastor Johnson Asare and the Radach Center in Ghana, Africa as Kids Camp 2019 has begun. Theme is: GOD CARES. From August 2-21. In Tamale, Wa and Bolgatanga. Johnson is expecting 1050 children and 62 camp staff. Pray many will give their hearts to Christ.

Closing Scripture: And one angel cried out to another, “Holy. Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”  Isaiah 6:3

Finally: Be sure and watch Jonah McStay’s music video on the Church by the Sea website.

May God’s love capture your heart this week in a fresh way.

Pastor Jay