My oldest daughter wrote this poem. I think many people may be blessed by it as I was.
Back to the Beginning
There was a time that I remember when
giving thanks was easy
having patience was common
and honoring others was normal
Those were the days in the beginning of me and You.
As weeks, months, and years passed by
my heart instead turned to cynicism, passivity, and laziness.
Far gone were the meetings between me and my Lover
in the places that were made just for us.
Far gone was the passion of conversation with the Creator
in the secret places.
Far gone were the thoughts that were directed towards pleasing Him
in the caverns of my mind.
Rather those things were replaced by time only to please man.
Having eyes for the things that would bring immediate satisfaction to me.
Working just enough that I blessed no one but myself.
The slippery slope led me to a place of no hope.
Promising redemption, cleansing, and freedom,
Satan chained me quietly and methodically.
Chains of guilt, secrecy, and indifference
weighed heavily down on me.
Being bound by so much it prevented me from my calling.
While so many around me were headed straight for hell,
I sat in my American prosperity struggling to say “It is well.”
Focused so much on myself I was made completely inactive, inoperative, immobile.
Grace stopped the train that was delivering me to the station of destruction.
God life alerted my broken, bleeding, brittle heart.
Shining light through the shadowy, gloomy, murky corners of my hidden self.
He rescued me.
He reclaimed me.
He redeemed me.
My life is not my own.
I give until I am nothing and He is everything.
I serve that I receive no praise and He receives the glory.
I praise not myself, but His marvelous name.
Detachment from humanity and the needs of others are no longer in my vocabulary.
Fixated on my luxury and comfort level disappear in the realization of an inheritance in heaven.
Consumed by selfishness and greed are gone with the giving of hand of Jesus working through me.
In your pews, chairs, and benches at church
Reevaluate why you call yourself a Christian.
Reexamine the attitudes and motivations of your heart.
Retrace the reasons why He died for you.
Jesus wants us to have abundant life.
When bitterness and negligence threaten to deplete your joy
chances are it’s time to remember where He has brought you from
and how He has the perfect plan for you.
Thank you, Jesus, for taking me back to the beginning of me and You.
Brittany Arn, 2014
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