Front porch night

Sun light off...Porch light on
Another year has come and gone
On this day, I am never more aware of footsteps on my porch.
Stomp. Stomp. Ding. Dong.
Gimme candy. Sing a song.
Blue beards, green foreheads, and rumpled wrinkles greet me with toothless grins and eyeballs patched
Expressions of fear, exhuberance, and sorrow are matched
with varying ages,
and decomposed stages
Begging me for candy with crackled voices, pillow cases, and
suspect faces
Screaming in the distance!
Yet so much persistence...
Illegal fireworks, crisp leaves, running feet
jumping on my porch to meet
my very placid, skin-colored, normal face.
Still they come.
To meet the dead flowers still in pots
Two pumpkins with low watts
I scuttle to my door again
and scratch my brain
on no other night but this
For memories of my childhood call me to
reminisce.

Peace of Cake

I don't know about you, but at the core of my being, I long to please God.

This is more easily done than said
(It's awkward to say, feels selfish, demanding, spoiled.)
But it's true, nonetheless, for I love Him, and I want to know if He is pleased
with me...?

Something else lingers at the core of my being
It's confidence,
a quiet place of contentment,
where I know that I do please God.

For no sooner does the question leave my lips then I just know
He is smiling.
It has nothing to do with my actions, but everything to do with
who I am.
And who He is.
For I am His beloved. And He is mine.

Thus, my thoughts form a rippled reflection of the fruit of PEACE in my life...
a pocket-sized portion of its manifestation in my walk.

Sometimes Peace doesn't come until I quiet myself
But it is always there,
waiting for me.

Other times Peace weeps for me
as I struggle against its current,
fighting,
striving for it,
not realizing I am already
immersed
and would flow freely if I just
rest
trust
go

If Peace is a river, I am baptized in it.

Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be
afraid."

But I fear what I do not
understand.
And when I stand at the edge of a
swiftly flowing river
it appears chaotic and scary
because I don't understand
the flow of the currents.

Once I begin to recognize that the
currents of Peace
are made up of distinct features…
pathways begin to open up in the middle of life's chaos.

The pathway
is not passive
Nor is it aggressive
It's deliberately
in between
conquering
anxiety and doubt
Always flowing
around the rocks
the currents
deep and shallow
fresh and foul
lie just beneath the surface
edges defined clearly
yet surging in season
spreading life
wherever it goes

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast,

because he trusts in you."

Ps. 26:3