I’ll be honest with you … I’ve feeling a little fragile today. My family is in flux. Everything feels fragile—jobs and studies and my children’s future. Over the last week or so, a heaviness has settled into me that is quite at odds with my generally upbeat outlook on life. The mood doesn’t lend itself to the writing of encouraging blog posts, especially not ones that seek to bring blessing to others. So, I’m cheating a little. Instead of writing a blessing, I’m sharing one written by my daughter Nicole in 2014, when she was in Grade 11 at school. These words lifted something in me today and my prayer is that they do the same for you.
At the threshold of this day
by Nicole Campbell
As you awaken,
with eyes slowly taking in the morning sights,
Perhaps yearning for the day
Or perhaps longing to snuggle deeper into bed
And forget the worries,
May your soul urge you to greater excitement
Fill you with a tiny taste of wonder:
What a gift — you are alive.
As the day marches on,
May you be present in each passing moment,
Holding them lightly in the hands of your soul
As if clasping a delicate flower.
Appreciating the beauty and wonder
But then setting them down
With nothing more than a ripple
On the lake of memories.
May the love and peace of God
Wrap around you like a cloak,
Warding off the chill that takes many forms:
Fear, loneliness, anger, despair.
Instead, may you feel his presence
Deep in your innermost being,
Gentle tendrils reaching out
To touch all your darkest places,
Changing slowly, like the growth
Of a giant oak tree,
Barely noticeable
Until you take a step back.
Other blog posts in this series
A Season of Blessing: Rekindling a Lost Art
A Season of Blessing: For Those who Grieve
Thank you for sharing! If you do not feel brittle at times, this Covid-19 pandemic, you are not human. Take care
Beautiful poem by Nicole
How lovely this is, Nicole. And thank you for sharing it, Joan.
Thanks for the reminder of this wonderful picture of God’s love and peace wrapping around you like a cloak to ward off the experiences and emotions that trouble us. God is faithful and will encompass His people with His loving arms to help us journey through the trials of life.
Thanks Joan, I so enjoyed reading this blessing by Nicole. The fresh wonder of life through young eyes made me remember to look for that each day and see out wonderful God in that wonder.
It also reminded me of this Scripture. A few lines of wonder overarching the other many lines of despair in this chapter of Lamentations.
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end
Lamentations 3:21
I love your candor. Thank you for sharing Nicole’s lovely poem. I will surely need it for another day. Such days are a special yarn for weaving peculiar patterns in the fabric of our lives. God threads both pleasant and trying times together as we move along. What an incredible story each of us is. It is well my friend.