chadash

                                                     
 The word to begin my year and serve as a comfort and a reminder is renew. The Hebrew, chadash, means to be new, to repair, make anew. It stood out to me as I read over Psalm 103 from my devotional/poem journal.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,

 who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

 who redeems your life from the pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

In all my weariness, I have lost the remembrance of what it is like to be renewed. I yearn to brim with Yeshua's life that others may catch the overflow and rejoice with me. I long to have a smile that is not so rare, forced, or tainted with an inner ache. I want to create as naturally as it is to breathe. I want to affirm all the precious lives that make up my days and speak renewal into their vessels. I desire abundance in simplicity. So, I am learning thanksgiving again, eucharisteo. Every day, I am giving time to cultivate this through pictures and words as I have begun yesterday through my little space on Instagram here.

I end my afternoon reflecting on something I wrote four years ago during a vastly different season than today, but still experiencing the same hunger for the touch of my Father.

Soft hands
A clover of warmth
You unfold me
Drawing in my heart by a silkened touch.
Velvet melodies
Of luminous lullabies
You sing to me
Empty this calloused vessel to fill.
Soulful echoes
An intimate hush
You quiet me
By the lightest strain of a whisper.
{written in spring of 2009}