Inspirational Poems and Quotes

There are several poems or quotes that have touched my life and/or inspired me over the years. I have shared some of them with you in previous posts during the past two years.

Here are some more:

God has a plan for your life.

You do not have to know everything in advance. You only need to keep moving ahead one step at a time, knowing that the way is being made clear.

God has a plan for your life.

Know that your Higher Power is working through you to accomplish whatever is for your highest good. Relax in this knowing.

God has a plan for your life.

Keep your eyes open for opportunities to serve. Keep your ears open for guidance. Stop fretting and start letting God be in charge.

Listen, obey, and enjoy!

Here is a quote from one of Jimmy Buffett’s books:

“The simple and beautiful idea of a songline is that music is the way to measure time. Life is a journey that’s measured not in miles or years but in experiences, and the route your life takes is built not of roads but of songs. How far is it from Key West to Miami? To some it is 147 miles. To me, it is about eleven songs.” Jimmy Buffett from his book A Pirate Looks at Fifty.

THE BIKE RIDE

At first I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there sort of like the President. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I didn’t really know Him.

But later on when I recognized my Higher Power, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride; but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that God was in the back helping me pedal.

I don’t know just when it was that He suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since… life with my Higher Power, that is. God makes life exciting.

When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points.

But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places, and at breakneck speeds. It was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He said “pedal.”

I worried and was anxious and asked, “Where are You taking me?” He laughed and didn’t answer, and I started to trust.

I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure; and when I’d say, “I’m scared,” He’d lean back and touch my hand.

He took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance, and joy. They gave me their gifts to take on my journey; God’s and mine.

And we were off again. He said, “Give the gifts away. They’re extra baggage, too much weight.” So I did, to the people we met, and I found that in giving I received, and still our burden was light.

I did not trust Him at first, in control of my life. I thought He’d wreck it. But He knew bike secrets, knew how to make it bend to take sharp corners, jump to clear high places filled with rocks, fly to shorten scary passages.

And I’m learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I’m beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, my Higher Power.

And when I’m sure I can’t do any more, He just smiles and says, “PEDAL”!

I periodically remind myself to just pedal!!!

For some reason, I’m having a challenging time aligning the spacing between the poems and lines.

We have all lost people we love, someone sent this to me when my dad passed away:

TAPESTRY

My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue

An everlasting vision of the ever changing view

A wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold

A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hole

Words from the old Carole King song “Tapestry”

In fact our lives are “tapestries,” and the death of a loved one is a ripping, gaping, bleeding hole in the very midst of the tapestry of our life. How, then, is the tapestry rewoven? It does not, with the mere passage of time, magically pull itself back together. Rather, it is rewoven only with the initiative, energy, and strength of the survivor reaching in and grasping the torn ends of threads, painfully pulling back and tying them together. And it is rewoven only with those persons around the survivor cutting threads from their own tapestries and bringing them to the survivor, with love and support and caring and tears and strength, helping to further tie the threads and fill in that gaping hole.

So, eventually, the tapestry is rewoven. But that “glitch” is always there, the roughness of that reweaving is, and always will be, apparent. In fact it may be twenty years from now, as the survivor reviews the tapestry of his or her life, or is in a particular setting, or hears a song on the radio, or remembers a special day of the month, that the rewoven seam is seen and felt again, and the survivor remembers and cries, or feels sad, or is touched by the love and caring expressed by those whose threads are apparent there – and that is perfectly normal. We do not recover from a death, but, when we allow others to help, we can reweave our tapestry, which may include continuing to grieve from time to time in varying degrees of intensity for the rest of our lives.

Many people want to know how to identify “abnormal” grieving. Obviously bizarre behavior that is out of character for the survivor is relatively easy to recognize. But less blatantly, if it seems clear that the emotional intensity of the survivor is consistently getting in the way of regular patterns of functioning (shopping, eating, work, health), then additional support in the form of counseling or medication could well be in order.

In any case, understanding the framework of grieving is useful both to survivors and their support system. It is only as these two work together that resolution and healing may occur.

God Said No

I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, No.
It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, No.
His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary

I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, No.
Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn’t granted, it is learned.

I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, No.
I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.

I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No.
Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, No.
You must grow on your own! But I will prune you to make you fruitful.

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, No.
I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.

I ask God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.
God said…Ahhhh, finally you have the idea.

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