Thirsting
Duo-Haiku – pondering today’s thoughts
THIRSTING
I am thirsting for
Some unconditional love
Where can I find it?
Pull at my heart strings
It’s right there inside of me
Don’t keep it tied up.
Posts tagged ‘unconditional love’
Unconditional Love
U ntil
N eeds
C olor
O n-going
N atural
D ecisions,
I t’s
T ime
I
O wn
N earsightedness
A nd
L earn
L ove
O penly
V isits
E veryone.
Even in my frustration, seeing my granddaughter doesn’t always insist that my great-grandson wear the glasses designed to correct his lazy eye problem, I must check my own vision. Am I so nearsighted that I fail to see her unconditional love? Am I so blind that I can’t recognize the fact that she’s doing her best? Am I so oblivious that I can’t observe her own struggles? Am I too judgmental to tilt the scales toward compassion? Lord, I hope not! What needs need to color my observations? What “natural decisions” need to be modified by unconditional love?
Maybe all of them. You think?
Sit down and play with those thoughts for awhile.
Memories of Daddy
Gentle, kind, considerate
These words describe my dad
Unconditionally loving
Always made me glad.
Everyone should be blessed
With a father such as mine
His faults were few and far between
Except when time to dine.
He burnt the the chicken to a crisp,
But he loved to barbecue
Steaks or hotdogs, ribs and such
Were treats he’d cook for you.
His favorite place was in a car
Driving to The City or Yosemite,
But when we arrived, he’d hate to stop
Even when I’d beg, “I have to pee!”
I’d ask him for help with my math
But he would always say,
”Go ask your mom, I don’t know –
I missed the lesson in school that day!”
He rarely darkened a church’s door
Unless a wedding or funeral required.
He said he had to work on Sundays
Or else, “Surely, you know, I’d be fired!”
Hah, that’s hardly possible, dear Dad,
You own the business; you’re the boss.
But even though we pleaded hard,
He’d never go. So much our loss!
A more endearing, Christ-like man
You’d never hope to meet.
He never spoke an unkind word,
And every stranger he was first to greet.
An alter boy when he was young,
He learned his Catechism well.
Church or not, as an adult,
He sparkled an angelic spell.
My dad was more than I could ask.
He loved me through and through.
Dad, I wish every girl and boy
Could have a Daddy just like you!
Out of Order
OUT OF ORDER
I look at those little feet
So shaped like my granddaughter’s
And I know this little child
Is hers – and ours – not some other family’s.
His lips are just like his mother’s –
And his nose and eyes are from his father.
He’s a precious child of God.
Why did I worry about his arrival?
Well, he came out of order!
In my day, first the couple married.
Then they lived together, and
Then they started their family.
Today the order seems to have changed.
First – live together, and then
Confirm your love with a child, and then
You might get married – but not necessarily.
The order of things as taught by grandparents
and confirmed by parents in most cases
Is not the order of things in today’s world.
Things are out of order!
However, this great-grandma is happy to be
GG to this precious child – so dear.
He didn’t choose his parents’ order of things.
All he needs to know is love.
Unconditional love and support are yours.
You are a precious, gift from God.
Xander Leland Cantwell –
Welcome to this world.
Your order is perfect-
Not out of order at all.
How could I have questioned God’s timing?
It’s always perfect!
GG Jan
– praising the enhanced Beekman/Cantwell Family
5-12-17
Help for Troubled Children
Sermon Notes
Guest Speaker – Michael Kalous
“Intermountain Thoughts”
He lived in one hundred one places –
Cars, tents, parking lots, too,
Foster homes and back roads.
A hard life for years – quite a few.
The boy had a loving mother,
But his dad was a troubled guy.
God sent the boy Christ-like people
Who helped dry the tears he’d cry.
Then God sent him to InterMountain
Where his dorm parents were saints.
They gave him unconditional love –
Listened compassionately to his complaints.
With people behind him like his Grandma Grace,
And people with him who showed Christ’s love,
He found our Lord and Savior
And got to know our God above.
With God’s help and these beautiful people,
The damage of his young life faded.
God is able to use him now
And bless others whose bodies and souls were invaded.
With the common bond of a wounded soul,
He can tell his story and feel others’ pain.
He can reach out to a hurting world.
His road of suffering leads to God’s gain.
About seven years ago, when I first learned about Intermountain in Helena, Montana, I was a new member of Madison Valley Presbyterian Church in Ennis, MT. A boy named Chip came to speak to us that summer about how he and his four siblings had been saved by an adoptive parent and a program at Intermountain that provided Christian counseling to struggling children and families. Kids like Michael who were physically, mentally, and/or sexually abused and young boys like Chip who were abandoned and/or neglected found the loving, professional help they needed. In addition to a school for pre-school through 8th grade children, there are four cottages on the site. Each one is “home” for up to eight children – and a set of highly trained, loving “dorm parents” live with them. The professional staff at Intermountain also goes into homes and public schools to provide support for parents and teachers. Most of the children aided by Intermountain have what is known as “attachment disorder” because of the way the adults who should have loved and protected them the most let them down in one miserable way or another. It is hard for them to trust any adult.
So, when people like Michael “make it good,” survive in spite of the odds, and go on to finish high school and college, become counselors, and return to the facility to “give back,” they have a greater opportunity for success. They create a “common bond with a wounded soul.” Their background makes them believable. It serves as a springboard to convince the troubled, mistrusting youngster that someone else CAN understand their plight. God uses their sad history to save another soul from a lifetime of continued abuse, neglect or abandonment. The cycle can be broken.
My gratitude goes out to Michael and to all the counselors at Intermountain and at children’s shelters across the world. May your rocky path serve as a lighthouse – a beacon to help others find their way toward a healthy and secure future. With God’s help, you can help heal the wounds and allow God’s children to love and trust again.
With gratitude for what you do and an understanding of the financial needs to carry on your programs, my husband and I donate a small amount monthly to Intermountain. I invite my readers to consider doing likewise. If each of us helped a little, it would add up to a lot – and more needs could be met. God bless you! And God bless the givers who help to make your work possible.
To learn more about Intermountain, log on to: http://www.intermountain.org/ Help meet the needs of a troubled child who is learning to trust again!
