ONE WEEK IN MY LIFE
I recently returned from a six day stay at a local Bed and Breakfast and Lunch and Dinner. It wasn’t a decision I freely made. It wasn’t that I needed to get away from home and work. No, it was because my body told me I needed time away from the hustle and bustle I had in my life. During my quiet time in my single room I had plenty of time to reflect on my faith, pray for a better understanding of my life and to pray for others. I also had several conversations each day with God.
When I left my human heart still was in need of healing, but my spiritual heart was healed. God knew what I needed and gave me six days to spend with Him as my main focus. God is great, He is loving, He is faithful in His promises.
The following poems are in the order I wrote while lying in bed with one exception; the last poem was written first after fourteen hours in the ER waiting for my B&B&L&D room to become available. They were part of the healing process also.
MY BROKEN HEART (7/12/21)
My broken heart has been healed
And now forever sealed.
By the blood of God’s Son
This is forever done.
I am set free
So that can see
The healing power of God’s grace
As I now continue my race.
I had been praying for healing and knew that a healing would come.
4 WALLS & A DOOR (7/12/21)
4 walls & a door.
It took nothing more,
As God had placed me
So that I could see.
On the door I knocked,
And I heard it unlocked.
As it was opened I could see
All God had for me.
I saw into eternity.
This was my hope as I lay in bed. I knew it was true.
UNTITLED (7/13/21)
At the center of it all
I hear my heart’s call.
I take in a breath of fresh air,
Knowing many will share
The goodness of God’s care,
Knowing in the end we will not fall.
My thoughts were my heart, my soul is the at the center of who I am; the breath of the Holy Spirit is on me if I am with God; and at the end of my life I will not fall, God has lifted me up. I will, however, fall on my knees in praise of God’s grace.
OUR TIME (7/14/21)
There is time
And a place
For every rhyme
As we face
Our daily living
And all we are giving.
We are beyond demanding
With God’s understanding
Of living for today,
Of living to pray,
So every tomorrow
Will overcome sorrow.
We live and breathe
In the Spirit’s breeze.
We will overcome,
And not succumb
To earthly desires
And quagmires.
The rhyme
Of our time
Is what was done
Through God’s Son,
He who saves us,
God’s Son, Jesus.
This was a result of my continuous need to rhyme and profess God’s love.
A WEEK OF DAYS (7/15/21)
The days became a week
Of prayer for what I did seek.
Day and night,
Through sunlight,
With candle light,
And with shaded sight,
I prayed not for myself,
But for someone else.
There were many on my mind,
Their memories easy to find.
As I lay in that bed
I thought of them instead.
They were in need of healing,
And the return of feeling
Whole again,
To what had been,
That time when
Their wealth
Was their health,
In body and soul.
It was their daily role.
Once weak, at times in faith,
In prayer I saw God’s face.
Lifting me up from my bed
I will follow where I am led.
Then He laid me down
And said to rest.
My sins confessed,
I would not drown
In the sea of infirmity.
My prayer heard,
The quiet word
I prayed for me,
That I would be
With Him through eternity.
He is faithful,
I am grateful.
He is forgiving
Life I am living.
He is the God of glory
Who knows my story.
My whispered word
He again heard,
And has healed me,
And he loves me.
My remaining days at the B&B&L&D were numbered. These were among my final thoughts.
HEALING OF SMILES (7/11/21), Emergency Dept, Room 6)
I wonder if a nurse
Ever has to rehearse
The words of kindness
The words of encouragement
The words of sympathy
They must say
Every day
As they walk the mile
Their constant smiles
Say more than the word
From a doctor we have ever heard
Those miles walked in the halls
Answering their patient’s calls
Speak of their dedication
To our body’s rehabilitation
Their smile
All the while
Lights up our hearts
As we pray for a new start
God bless you all
I wrote this maybe four hours after in the Emergency Dept. I was absolutely amazed that the nurses had smiles on their faces. Hearing the pain that other patients were suffering and the anguish some patients were taking out on the nurses, along with my previous visits, I was moved to write this poem. I shared it with the nurses in the Emergency Dept. and on the patient floor.
(Maybe one day we’ll have a podcast on turning a dirty sock right side in.)
God bless you all,
Tim