When We’re Alone

Do you have a special place to go where you know you’ll find peace? Maybe it’s somewhere in nature? Or it could be in a crowded mall where nobody knows who you are?

I often find peace sitting on my living room couch. I go there to have my morning coffee and quiet time. 

Forget-me-not flowers hold intimate meaning. They signify true love. Faithful love. They also symbolize eternal remembrance.  That’s why I chose to paint these flowers to go along with this poem. The peace I have doesn’t come from some abstract, spiritual experience. It comes out of a relationship of true, faithful and eternal love that lives within me.

You can’t buy a peaceful love like that. It’s priceless. It’s a peace that passes all understanding. A peace that isn’t dependent on circumstances or surroundings. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Do you have a special place where you find peace? What does ‘peace’ mean to you? Do you know true, faithful, intimate love?

Made to connect

Lover of my soul
Will you listen to me
I know you will
My spirit you see
My heart you touch
My soul you shape
My being is yours
I’m here, please take
Me away to that secret place
Where we connect

Do you long for real relationships? Not the fluff ones, which have no real soul or depth.  The superficial ones where you talk about nothing and they don’t have an impact on your life.  Do you long for relationships where you truly sense there’s a connection? I do.

Connectivity.  It’s what we, human beings long for.  It’s what we were made for.  Relationships. 

This poem was written for the one I have the deepest and most profound relationship with.

Do you have a relationship like that with anyone? Is there anyone you can share your innermost secrets with? If not, do you long for that type of connection?

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I wrote this about a year and a half ago, but wanted to post it again because of what I’ve been living recently. As many of you know, I was just in Rio de Janeiro for an arts workshop. When I returned home, there was another big workshop happening here on my YWAM base. It was wonderful connecting with so many people. We really were made for relationship. I believe that with all my heart.

Come away

What do you like to do in the morning?  Where do you find peace and strength?

Connected Endearment

Love
beyond
imagination

our souls rhyme
in the fullness of time
ignited by the sparks of Grace

my reason for living
my nourishment
my breath

when famished
when gasping
You are my base

solace of beneficial
rains falling on
suspended gardens

confidence
that nothing
can efface

when eternity is home
and unearthly treasures
are finally known

revealed
as I’m encompassed
in Your embrace

and I turn my face
towards Your light
I cease to wander

I pray

This poem was written in collaboration with the talented Frederic, of ‘poems & poèmes‘. It was an honor to do this with him because he is a wonderful poet. Please take some time to check out his blog.

When We’re Alone

When we’re alone
Waves of peace
Pouring over me
Rushing

Rushing through me
I taste your love
Your love is sweet
Enveloping

Enveloping me
In a cocoon of safety
In a bubble of whiteness
Purity

Purity you give me
Washing me clean
No more stains
When we’re alone

Do you have a special place to go where you know you’ll find peace? Maybe it’s somewhere in nature? Or it could be in a crowded mall where nobody knows who you are? 

I have a place like that.  It’s on my living room couch. Once everybody in my house has had breakfast, gotten dressed, and are ready for the day, I go there to have my morning quiet time.  I prepare myself a nice hot cup of coffee, grab my tablet and creativity notebook, close my eyes and enter into that special place where peace floods my being. It’s awesome. It’s cleansing. It’s sacred.

You can’t buy a peace like that. It’s priceless. It’s a peace that passes all understanding. A peace that isn’t dependent on circumstances or surroundings. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Now back to you. Do you have a special place where you find peace? What does ‘peace’ mean to you? Do you think one can buy peace?

Simple Place

 

(Photo taken from: http://www.themiraclejournal.com/2012/02/04/the-miracle-of-a-broken-heart/)

 

There is, there is a simple place
Where I can go and be myself
Where I can see him face to face
And in, and in that simple place
I can go and hide away
And I can be alone with him

I can tell him all my secrets
That I share with almost no one else
I can be open and honest, without fear
Cause he knows the deepest needs that are in my heart

I can be, I can be simple with him
That’s what he wants, that I be real with him
And I, I would have it no other way
Then be myself, be who I really am with him

I can tell him all my secrets
That I share with almost no one else
I can be open and honest, without fear
Cause he knows the deepest needs that are in my heart

Is there anyone that you can be totally open and honest with?  Anybody that you can share your deepest thoughts and feelings with, and know that you won’t be judged? I do.

Now, I don’t want to sound like a religious freak here, but I’m going to go out on a limb. This song was written about the quiet times I have alone with God.  Being a Christian, I believe in Jesus and that in him I live, move and have my being.  That said, it is very important to me to spend quality time with Him. To have relationship.  Because ultimately, I believe that is why God created mankind.  For relationship.  I love how Sarah Young puts it in her book, ‘Jesus Calling’, “He and I are intertwined in an intimacy involving every fibre of my being.” I love this quote.

Truth be told, this isn’t my greatest recording.  At times I go flat and it sounds like I’m tired (I did have a baby at the time), but this song was written about these times I have alone with God.  He is my safe place. He is where I can unload all of my crap and know I’ll be understood.

So, back to you. I’m interested to know. Is there anyone you can be totally open and honest with? How do you unload your crap? Do you have a secret place where you go to find peace and unload your burdens?

See also:   https://stacilys.wordpress.com/2013/11/15/food-for-thought-friday-zucchini-crust-pizza-and-intertwined-in-intimacy/

Coram Deo – 1st in the song series

 

I was made to know you
to breathe you
to need you
to live you

Coram Deo, Coram Deo
I am always before your face
I want to live reality
Coram Deo

You live in my being
the core of me
possess me
consume me

Coram Deo, Coram Deo
I am always before your face
I want to live reality
Coram Deo

You are my satisfaction
my joy
delight
my life

Coram Deo, Coram Deo
I am always before your face
I want to live reality
Coram Deo

(This song is the first song in the blog series I am doing on the CD, Coram Deo.)

Coram Deo is a latin expression and it means, “before the face of God”.  It implies that my entire life is constantly lived before Him. It takes away the idea of the separation of the secular and the sacred.

The word secular refers to a state that is worldly rather than spiritual and is not related either to religion, spiritual matters or to a religious body, for instance, secular music or secular buildings (http://www.ask.com/question/what-does-secular-mean).  I would like to add that secular activities would include education, work, taking a shower, eating a meal with my family, chores around the house, etc.   

Sacred means to be devoted or dedicated to a deity or to some religious purpose; consecrated (http://www.ask.com/web?qsrc=1&o=0&l=dir&q=meaning+of+sacred).  In other words, church attendance, worship services, prayer, outward religious acts, etc.

I don’t consider myself to be religious, but someone who has a relationship with her creator that is intimate, vibrant and real.  As a Christian, I believe that the way to God is through relationship, and that we were created with that purpose – Relationship.

No one wants to have a relationship that is forced, fake, dishonest or uncommitted.  True Christianity is exactly the opposite of that.  It’s not hypocritical, nor is it a following of a set of rules.  It is being intertwined in an intimacy that involves every fibre of one’s being (Sarah Young-Jesus Calling).  It is living in freedom to be all that one was created to be.  It is having a way to be forgiven and restored.  It is Coram Deo.

How do you see God?  Do you believe that He values relationship or rules?  And if you like, please let me know of what you think of the song.   How does it speak to you?  How does it make you feel?

Food For Thought Friday – Zucchini Crust Pizza and Intertwined in Intimacy

For the Body: I am always interested in new, different and healthy ways to prepare food.  And, of course, how to incorporate more and more veggies into my and my family’s diet.  This week I made a pizza for my family, however, I made it with a zucchini crust.  It was so yummy and it’s a great way to get your veggies, not to mention, get veggies into your kids.  It is also a lot lighter than your traditional pizza and is gluten/wheat/simple carb- free.  The following recipe has been tweaked from here: http://www.foodandnewyorkcity.com/2013/09/skinny-zucchini-pizza-crust.html

Crust: 2-3 small zucchinis, 1 egg, 1 egg white, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese shredded, 1 tsp garlic powder, black pepper to taste, a pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp cumin, any other seasoning you like

Toppings: 1 cup ground chicken or turkey seasoned, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded, 4 Tbsp tomato or pizza sauce, 1/2 onion, 1 bell pepper, 1 tomato, 1Tbsp olive oil, 1/8 – 1/4 cup thinly sliced olives

Directions: First make the pizza crust.  Shred the zucchinis and extract the maximum amount of water possible.  You can either put in a cheese cloth and wring it until you just can’t wring anymore, or you can place in a strainer and press with a bowl to allow the excess liquid to come out.  Place in a medium sized bowl and add the shredded cheese, egg, egg white, garlic powder, pepper, salt, cumin and other seasonings.  Then line a pizza pan with parchment paper and press the mixture into it to form the crust.  Bake in a preheated oven at 230C (450F) for 20-40 minutes (depending on your oven – here, in Brazil we use a gas oven and it took a good 40-45 minutes).

Cook up the ground meat and season it as desired.  Cut up the onion, bell pepper and tomato and saute in the olive oil over low heat.  I also add a little salt, but you don’t have to if you don’t like.

Once the crust is done, place the toppings in the following order.  First the tomato or pizza sauce, then the cheese, onion/peppers/tomato mixture, ground meat, olives, and cilantro.  I also put a bit of spinach, but it’s up to you.

Check out my facebook page for the nutritional benefits of Zucchini-good and healthy. Please leave a comment and the bottom and let me know what you think.  Or if you have any other ideas or suggestions for other uses with zucchini.

 

For the Spirit: I love my morning quiet times.  I also love my late afternoon prayer walks.  Oh my goodness, they’re so refreshing.  They’re a time for me to be renewed, to get centered and to be strengthened in my spirit.  Most importantly though, it’s the time I come to meet with my creator.  He lives in me, and without Him I am nothing.  He and I are intertwined in an intimacy involving every fibre of my being (quoted by: Jesus Calling – Sarah Young).  I used to struggle with my morning quiet times.  I am not an early morning person.  Just ask my mom and brother.  They can tell you the horror stories of my morning attitudes and of me coming out of my bedroom, looking like a ghost.  I have recently, however, found a system that really works for me.  And not just for me, but for my whole family as well.  I love my morning coffee.  However, I don’t get around to having it until everyone has had their breakfast, made their beds, had their shower and gotten dressed.  By that time I am wide awake and alert.  I put on Youtube educational videos for Caue (my son) in my room and a short dvd for Hannah (my daughter) in her room.  I then sit down with my tablet (which has my devotional book and Bible) and hot cup of coffee, close my eyes and enter into that place of peace, tranquility, stillness of spirit, soul and being. I lift my thoughts and prayers up to the Almighty and He sits with me in that time and strengthens me.  I read His word and my devotional and am fully fed.  And once again, I can sense that I am not my own.  That He’s with me.  That He’s in me.  That He knows be better than I know myself.  And life just becomes so simple, stress-less and free.  I wouldn’t change that for anything.

How about you?  Do you have a special place or a special time that you come away to be with your maker?  How does God touch your heart and meet with you?  I would love to hear your experience.  Please leave a comment and let me know.