Showing posts with label songs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label songs. Show all posts

Saturday, March 6, 2010

about the link we share



as long as i remembered. when one hurts, so does the other.
when one experiences joy, so does the other.
when one is feeling beaten down so is the other...
its just how its always been.
how it always will be.
i remember being 8. laying in a hospital bed. a routine surgery didn’t turn out as planned.
i reacted to medicine the normal person can handle. what should have been in-and-out,
lasted for 3 days. or was it more, mom? i can’t remember...
i do remember being so sick...and hurting so much....
and dad brought abi and joey to see me. i remember his face, my baby brother, not even 3.
we strangarity’s might not always say our emotions well, but we have always worn them well.
seeing me so sick traumatized the poor kid.
not even 4 hours later, out shopping with dad he decided he was going to start throwing up too.
because i was. because he hurt for me. 
so he literally became sick too. 
all over the grocery cart, check-out counter, everything.*
thats how its always been with us.
when i'd have a giggle and joy rise up for boxing out someone twice my size, because you can do that when you box out properly, he'd smile too.
when he'd smash some tail back out of nowhere, cause a fumble, because thats what he did
as one of top linebackers in the state, i'd laugh with him. 
an innate sense of joy and accomplishment after destroying "the enemy," 
(the other team).

there's always been an unspoken trust. 
a shared form of mental processing that is weird and off but perfectly normal to each other.

february stole a lot of energy. good and bad. 
from me, from you.
and its amazing how catching up reveals all that.
two hours skyping is almost as good as getting coffee at chestnut cafe in person.
ok, ok, not even close. but the next best thing, right, joey?

i wrote a song this morning for us, brother.

about Him. and His new grace each day. about how He forgets every stain, every choice, everything, when we but ask. about how i can't and don't and wish i could. about how i don't know how to forgive myself. about how i miss you. i wrote it out sitting behind my lapa in the trees. monkeys danced in the limbs above me and i said my heart. for you, for me. then i stole away to roelene's and the piano. and i sat and created melody and music. melody and music that is fitting for hope. for future. because we have hope and future, and He isn't finished with us and will complete what He started. melody that is about Him and His blood making me new. about music that says what words always fail to communicate. about me feeling so sweetly comforted knowing you understand. knowing you believe for me, for yourself.....
it was the weirdest fastest its ever come. but that doesn't surprise me. it always comes so fast when i'm overwhelmed and words fail...

i love you, little brother. don't you want to fly to me for spring break?

*this could be one of our favorite family stories. it certainly is up there.

and momma....because you always worry and remind me of our 'link,'
i'm ok.
really, mom. He is very big today. i love you, too; 
and daddy, also you.
jealous you're all getting together to see Joseph. may it be good and sweet and may you miss me there less than i will miss you all together, here..

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

fall: the song that is, and other stuff.

i'm gonna marry a worship pastor.
i decided yesterday.
i think so anyway.
i've just decided there is nothing more attractive then a man worshiping.
if he isn't a worship leader, he'll most certainly be a
worshiper. (or pastor. i also like seeing men passionate about teaching and living the Word)
but i figure i have every right to pray for someone who plays guitar and sings.
and geez if he can play the harmonica, violin, and piano too... all the better! *grin*

its hard to have a corrupt heart when your job is to worship.
i also love the team dynamic.
i think there's a lot of safeguards in that.
so, all that to say...if ya think of it, or read this... wanna say a prayer for my future worship leader husband, and myself?!?
*wry grin*
.......................
this is the song i mentioned thinking about yesterday: 
(christina. *grins*)
i never saw beauty in dead and dying things
but the colors sway and spin all across the sky
is that how it is with me?
is that how you see me?

crisp, cool air
in long lonely nights, i am laid bare
everything is falling from me
in crisp, cool air

red, gold, bronze they fall
no longer needed to shade the heart, my bark
so too i am stripped bare
so too i dance, float in the air

i've fallen to make brand new
no longer so i can be wholly used
stripped bare i cling to you
with a fierce devotion, i will not be moved
what's no longer is what gives new life
i will blossom, free in time.
....................................
so my church is coming this Aug/Sept and in the day time building a little basketball/four square/ tetherball cement area for my kids, and in the afternoons/evenings doing a vacation bible school in the *local area.* i can't believe it!!!! apparently they found tickets for like $600 roundtrip. HELLO cheapo!! i mean, personally, the Lord's provided tickets for me under $1000 round trip, but $600 is unheard of! ahhhh i'm so excited and blessed to have a church body support me so much and believe in what i do and want to come help me. i think the realization they are coming is slowly making itself apparent. i just can't believe it.
side note: it isn't too late, yet, to come along. send me an email if you're interested!
.............................
a bit ago i shared my fascination with the whole idea of living nakedly before the Lord and before your closest friends. that sort of intimacy is difficult to achieve. scary & beautiful. apparently, my pastor in the states (hey, les!), used naked a lot this past sunday. hahahahah i love it!!! love you and twila, les!
hey my Kaleidoscope family, in general!
*you'll all blog stalkers! comment for once!*
 ahhhhhahaha
*huge grin*
,.............................
tonight i'm making my favorite peach cupcakes and brown sugar cream cheese icing. YUMMY.
its bound to be a good night as i eat 'em and read and sleep.
........................................
the boys are tired and grumpy today.
i am tired and grumpy today.
...............................................
i emailed my dad yesterday about taxes.
thinking to myself: i'm so early! its not even march yet!
but also, thinking: i need to get this all sorted since it could be a weird process this year. with me living overseas and what not.
he emailed me back that its already taken care of. he's already got them done.
HELLO!?
oh, thank you, daddy! you are the best!

Monday, February 22, 2010

a few weeks ago i mentioned the difference between south africans and americans.
another thing i want to add is this:
in america, girls shave their legs. boys do not.
in SA, girls shave their legs, and SO do BOYS!
ahhhhhhhh
can't tell you how many times i'll be out with friends and feel ashamed that my guy-friends legs have a cleaner shave than mine!
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
what is up with THAT?!
*huge laughter*
for real, its a little un-nerving. and a bit funny.
.........................................................
i'm the worst blogger ever. when i really get going with something i really want to share, it ends up being pages long. ahhhhhh i just can't edit myself! sorry, friends! 
..........................................................
i wrote this earlier this month. ok, ok...a few days ago *smile*
it wasn't meant to be a poem. more a leaking of my soul from my heart...
a venting.
a hopeful venting, for sure.
and a desire to reaffirm for myself, that death
Fall
can it be march is almost here?
almost peeking around the corner?
taunting to me...‘fall is coming.’*
fall comes.
ahhh fall comes.
the sweet season of death for new life.
the leaves dance.
float
high.
blown about in the nightsky.
enriching the ground.
the process starts anew.
death for new life.
death for new life.
death for new life.
and, for me too.
death for new life.
his death, my life.
my death, new life.
leaves frolic in the sky.
my branches lay bare.
a swollen tree stands bare.
stripped of its covering.
nothing shielding the heart, the bark of who he really is.
lonely tree standing tall.
no shelter against the wind.
all the forces come pounding
hoping to uproot, expel the roots.
death in the fall.
death in the fall.
death in the fall.

tree stands strong.
wondering if his roots are deep enough?
will he withstand the onslaught
of forces beyond his control?
lonely tree you stand upon a hill.
nothing warming the shivers the night air brings.
rain, snow, hail, ice fall from the sky.
cold, cold, cold.
bare,
but still you stand tall.
spring arrives.
the tears shed, fallen to the ground.
new life begins.
little buddings of hope sprout on 
achy lonely limbs.
green against brown. colors of life.
green and brown. colors of life.
green and brown.

new leaves. 
standing no longer unshielded. 
swaying in the breeze, a respite,
nourish me! he cries. 
he prepares again to
kill his covering.
over and over.
so new life can again grow.
stronger the next time.
lovely continuous cycle.
death, for new life.
death, for new life.
new life.

this was all written in response to a song i wrote almost two years ago. well, it began two years ago. it finished itself this past nov.
i travel, always, with pen and my journal notebook.
i remember driving across the PA turnpike in the hight of fall and having to pull over to write.
so i did. 
i sat on the side of the road, and 10 minutes later i finished.
when songs start, they come fast.
always.
this is a photo from that day.
(clearly, i did not pull over to take the photo. priorities people. i break to write. i sometimes break to phototake.)

*remember, peeps...i'm in the southern hemisphere. everything, including seasons, is reversed. *smiles*