Vulnerability

"We share with people who earned the right to hear our story" - Dr. Brene Brown

Today marked a new season for me. Just as the changing colors of the foliage and falling leaves showcase the incoming autumn in NY so did the ripened scent of the harvest in my life ruminate my world. This day began much like many other Sundays for me. Getting the children ready for church, prepping music for our monthly visit to a local juvenile detention center. Nothing seeming different, yet everything had changed. As I began to sing to the small group of teen boys and girls gathered in the chapel something in my heart broke as it did the first time I stepped into this arena. A long misplaced sense of urgency to meet the needs of these youth, to advocate, to pray and intercede for them rose up within me. A resolve to do more than share a song...it was the beginning of the harvest.

As I later made my way to service I was moved to tears, repentance and restoration by our guest speaker who voiced an inspired word on giving God "Ugly Praise" that didn't worry about what others thought or said, but only about conveying our love and devotion to the God who has always loved us. I stood prostrate before my savior overwhelmed and humbled in the presence of his majesty. I felt him whisper into my soul how deeply and truly he loved me, how he carried me through this storm when I could no longer go on, how he would never let harm come my way. How he will always be there, devoted wholly to me. 

Today I fell deeper in love with my God, my Lord, my friend, my everything. Today he told me its over now, it's time to move forward. No more mourning, no more shame, just love, just peace, just His grace. 

And so as I "dare greatly" to once again put pen to paper (or fingers to keypad) I know that I have a story to share, a song to sing, a book to write. I hope to use this medium to share these growing pains, to hold myself accountable to moving forward as God accomplishes the good works he has planned for me long ago. I ask that you join me on the ride of lifetime...stay tuned. 

Sex.God.

Sex with the wrong person leaves you empty, unsatisfied and ashamed. It's more than a physical connection...it's spirit meeting spirit and saying "commune with me, be one with me, let us worship together"
But if there is no love, the type demonstrated through commitment all you worship is yourself, each other and the feeling that will last only as long as your bodies are joined. And if in the intercourse you realize he's not the one, the truth that these puzzle pieces were never meant to join is as clear as when you realize you were trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. But I want the pieces to fit. The freedom to lay with a man and feel no shame after, no regret or remorse...the freedom to know that he was made to fit me and I him...by the Word that spoke all things into existence. I want my life to count, I want my love to count, my sex to be more than just an act...I want it to be worship to my creator that says I can see the big picture now...You are the big picture.

©2012 by Elaine Glover

Rebuild

Broken down walls reflect a broken down people
Tattered streets strewn with trash
Bare witness to the tattered hearts
Discarded, displaced
Knee deep in despair




We dig beneath the rubble
Praying for signs of life
We tell them to hold on
To cling to hope
But where is ours?

Is it in man?
Who can only do but so much
Or is it in a God who can do the impossible?

God who within me placed a dream
Not for myself, but for His people
A dream to rebuild the ruined walls
To heal the broken bodies beneath the rubble
To show a cynical world that He is God

So take in hand your weapons and your tools
and complete the work that He has given you to do

© 2011 by Elaine Glover

Sacrifice

"So the Lord said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon." Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away." - Gen. 15: 9-11

As I meditated on this portion of scripture this morning, the following questions came into my mind:

How often does our sacrifice come under attack as we lay it on the altar?
Do we respond as Abram did by driving the birds of prey away or do we allow these vultures to take what we are giving to the Lord?

If we would fight to keep our sacrifice on the altar as Abram did we would see God's hand move on our behalf and experience what it truly means to see God's covenant fulfilled in our lives.

My final question to myself and anyone whose eyes have glanced across this page...
How far are we willing to go to keep our sacrifice on the altar?

© 2011 by Elaine Glover

In Your Garden

To be in your garden for just one day

To sit in the glory of what your hands have made

To taste of your fruits and drink in your smells

To wal kdown the paths your feet have tread

To sit and talk awhile, this is what the heart longs for

Life with you before the fall.