My faith has pretty much been in a box in my shed for several years now, but it did used to bring me a lot of comfort and recently I got the box out and started having a read through, thought I would share some of the poetry here for anyone who chooses to read it (photograph on this page is my own)…Kate

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I take you my child from your place of despair
I reach down low to meet with you there
I say to you that it is okay, I know your need
& I bind your heart no more to bleed
I take from you your robe of shame
& I wrap you in my precious sons name
I bid the critical to be quiet, to leave you in peace
I hold you in my arms and give your captive heart release
I take you my child to a higher place
You are lifted high as you seek my face.

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Though I feel anxious at heart
I can feel you lifting me up, bidding the storm to depart
I draw ever closer to you while the waves rage around me
In my fathers hand is a place of total safety
Though there are things that I don’t understand
I have my Fathers strength therefore I can meet the demand
I don’t always feel in control of the every day swirling sea
The world holds us bound and the Father sets us free
Though the sky be grey, a rainbow waits for me up ahead
& God is watching over me in my day and in my bed
Nothing is impossible for the Lord God Almighty
His love looks after me.

~

The Wilderness

I found myself in a wilderness, round and round I did roam
So black was that place, so far away from home
The scream of silence pierced my ears
Blinded from time to time by the tears
Unfamiliar was the ground I stumbled on
In the mist my purpose had gone
I wondered how and why they could function on the other side
I wanted to join them but the gap felt so wide
So tired but I could not sleep
Too dry to weep
The pain was like a mist that I struggled to journey through
Someone was calling me out of the wilderness…
My Lord it was you
I came to a clearing and I could see my Lord again
He held me in his loving arms and began to dissolve the pain.

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Worry

Why do you worry? Why be troubled in your heart
My promise of salvation in you I depart
My child by worrying you cannot change a single thing
Rest in your Father, comfort he alone can bring
Drink of his promises, promises to you
What the Father speaks of he will do
The one who placed the sun in the sky, the moon at night
The one who created you, loves you and holds you tight
So my child why be so anxious, why so afraid?
The Lord is in control of everything he made.

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‘Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store
away in barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
much more valuable than they’ Matthew 6:26

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I can’t answer all your questions, I can’t answer all of mine
But I know with all my heart the Lord understands, is good and kind
We may never know what or why
But for every bad thing the Son of God came to die
When you cry tears of frustration, tears of anger and shame
I know God takes you in his arms and dissolves the pain
& Rocky is the path we walk as we struggle to understand
But possible it is to walk that path when we hold the Saviours nail marked hand.

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Come, come leave the world outside
Many are the struggles and the tears you have cried
I want to be with you, do you not see?
You are loved and adored by me
Come, come leave the world outside
& Your struggles will cease, your tears will be dried.

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I am challenged but I am not beaten
I am questioned but I am not phased
I am tested but I am not deceived
I am anxious but I am not crushed
I am bruised but I am not broken
I am alone but I am not deserted
I am a child of God
I am raised up by his strength
I am being renewed by his spirit
I am loved and treasured by him
I am made new by his grace
Therefore I can face today.

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Chaos and confusion are exchanged at the feet of the King
As my burdens to Gods throne of grace and mercy I bring
All the struggles of the week begin to cease
& I am left with Gods perfect peace
The tears and the pain
My God has heard and they are not borne in vain
& Though I may have to carry the burdens a little longer
Though they many not have an instant remedy
I know with all my heart and soul His love looks down on me.

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Lord no complicated words on my page
I need no help or prompting or stage
I don’t have to think long and hard
Don’t need to be in a good mood or caught off guard
To tell you…daddy I love you.

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D-aughter you are
A-dored
D-o you know how precious?
D-you know how loved?
Y-ou are my delight.

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Loved by the Lord…

We are beautiful to him, totally adored
The child you were, the adult you have become
Oh so special to him, right from day one
Joyful or troubled, a laughter or a tear
Your Lord is always near
Despite the parts of ourselves we long to change
We are precious to him, right to the frame
If you are broken, if you are needing repair
Your Lord will meet you there
Some measure their value on how much they do each day
Active or still his love does not alter either way
There is no checklist, no points to be scored
Now and always…we truly are loved by the Lord.

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The Waters of Gods Love

As you watch the sea calm after a mighty storm
So my love sustains you in troubles, feeds and keeps you warm
As you watch the tiny boat drifting on the sea all alone
You are like the boat, you are my vessel whom I lead safely home
As you watch the beauty of sea and sky and land…
Remember I made it and I present it to you each morning with my
loving and giving hand.

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You In Me

The power of your love Lord makes me strong
The love of you Lord forgiving my wrong
The joy in you Lord causes my lips to sing
The reason I live, my everything
You are one and all
Inscribed on the tablet of my heart
And nothing, no nothing can set us apart.

(Written in 1997)

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I only said three words, yet you did not listen to me
Complex things you understand, why is it this you cannot see?
I whisper to you often and I wait to hear
I long that you would just be still so I can draw you near
I want you to hear what I am saying, my child please listen do
I – LOVE – YOU

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I could speak so many words into the valleys you find yourself in today
I have heard every request you pray
Today I am whispering one thing, nothing I want you to go and do
Just hear this from me…you are my precious child and as you are before me now I love you.

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I give peace to my children…
Shalom my child, Shalom…my peace
I surround you in my love, bid your fears to cease
There is nothing for which you need to be afraid
Look around you , my mighty power is displayed
Feast on my word to comfort your troubled mind
No harm can come to you, for you are mine
Shalom my child, shalom…my peace
I surround you in y love and I bid your fears to cease.

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When he walked away and left me in despairing tears
There was a second person crying, crying over your sin and my fears
When I curled up and hid in shame
The wounded healer sat beside me though I did not know his name
When I found strength when strength was gone, Lord it was you
When he laid his hands on me your heart was breaking too
When I felt rejected, when I didn’t understand and was alone
My Lord had already written my name on his hand and prepared for me a home
& When I turned to him…
I was no longer a wretched broken child but a beloved daughter of the King.

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Though you despise her, I love her so
Though you turn away, I want you to know
That she is precious and loved by me
& I have made her clean and I will set her free
Though you think her worthless and a pain
I think she is a princess and in her I will remain
I made her perfect and she is perfect this very day
I made her unique and I will never send her away.

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I saw her there on the floor and I loved her with all my heart
I saw her there held down by him and it broke me apart
My precious child, I saw what happened to you
I never stopped loving you all the way through
When you cried in shame I loved you even then
When he stole your innocence I promised to restore it again
I loved you in your abusive silent world
Though you are hurting in my arms you are held
I saw her crying in the night
Though you could not hear me, I said it will be alright
I breathed my spirit into your soul
I watched over you and I longed to make you whole
I loved you as you were…a child at the mercy of the strong
I love you when you get it right and when you get it wrong
My love is not like the love you have ever known
It has never diminished, only ever grown
~ I loved you as you was ~

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Lord I thought I knew my name
Abused, bad girl, shame
In the wrong hands a worthless rag doll
Yet you picked me up and work to make me whole
Why Lord you want a broken child like me
Is more than I can comprehend, a true mystery
My name was abused, bad girl, shame and anything less
Until you spoke Lord and told the rag doll she is your princess.

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Lord sometimes I can only see the chrysalis
Sometimes I feel trapped and question was I really made for this?
I look at myself and feel frustrated by what I see
I gaze too long at the imperfections that dwell in me
Lord sometimes I can only see the chrysalis and with tears of frustration ask why?
But you do not just see a chrysalis – for each and every one of us is
being made into a butterfly.

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Daughter To The King

Child stop weeping, please look at me
I know what he did, but my son has set you free
I know all the shame and pain, I carried it with you
I love you so much that my love will see you through
I cried for you my daughter, precious one
Anything bad was nailed to the cross with my son
Nothing to hide and nothing to fear
Nothing for you to tell me, no need to explain your feelings
In you I have set my healing
You are crowned in glory, cleansed and made whole
You are daughter to the King who will restore your soul.

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Lord your world is so beautiful
& You reign above it all
Your hands smoothed out green fields, meadow lands
Cool rock pools and golden sands
The lapping waves, the ocean wide
The oyster shell and the pearl inside
Grasshopper, beetle, butterfly
An ever changing sky
Diamond stars of night
The sun to wake the earth with light
I thank-you for the stunning scenery I can view
I know that everything is created and held together by you.

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The God of beauty…
Sustaining earth and sky and sea
Giving new birth
As Spring embraces the earth
Flowers of vibrant colours and incredible design
All governed by Gods perfect time.

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Natures Hymn Of Praise

Listen can you hear natures silent hymn?
Look can you see all of creation praising the King?
Beauty in abundance, natures bounty
The blue skies and birds flying free
Every shade and colour of the rainbow
A million different flowers that grow
Intricate shapes display a God of incredible design
The changing seasons, whispering Gods perfect time
The perfume of the flowers, the warmth of the sun
All sing Gods praises to everyone
So beautiful is the God who created the vision before my eyes
Sunset, sunrise, a grey cloud, blue skies
Lord I love the beauty you have made, the creation you sustain
You bless us with your goodness time and again
I thank you for natures silent hymn
For today I can see all of creation praising the King.

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Beautiful isn’t he…

He who made the birds to fly so free
He who filled the world with wonder
Created the midday sun and the rolling thunder
A mighty ocean, a quiet stream
The sky so blue and the fields of green
So beautiful isn’t he…
I cannot stop the praise flowing from me.

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YOUR WORKS

Awesome are your works indeed
From the mighty oak to the tiny seed
All of creation is singing out your glory
The big and bold, small and intricate, everything the eye can see
What a beautiful God who made all of these things
Who gave legs to spiders and to the birds he gave wings
Whatever in a lifetime we see, we only see a tiny part…
Of a wonderful world God made and loves with all his heart.

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The cup I hold in my hands now empty
Jesus tormented and suffering, poured out for me
Emptied himself of everything
My sin soaked and unworthy soul to win
A cup that once overflowed with life like you and I
A cup poured out to die
The cup I hold in my hands now empty
Jesus gave His all so you and I can be free
& We will never be able to understand the extent of his pain
The nails, the cross, my soul to gain
Emptied for you and I, for generations to come
Such is the Fathers love for us that he gave his only son.

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I look at the palms of my hands, try to imagine the pain
The nails driven through your hands, my soul to gain
O Jesus that you should do that for a sin soaked child such as I
For me the Son of God came to suffer and die
I look at the palms of my hands, try to imagine the pain
& I am reduced to my knees to give thanks
To bless your holy name.

~

In the shadow of the crown twisted with thorn
I am washed clean, made new, re-born
For me
You wept alone in Gethesemane
For my sin
They pierced your skin
For my heart
From your Father you were set apart
For my foolishness
You surrendered to Judas’ kiss
For my ignorance and pride
You were crucified
For all the times I fail
Your hand bore the nail
For me
You endured the shame of calvary.

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My Saviours love is visible…he died
Scarred hands, feet and side
His love touched the depths of all human sin
So no one would ever have to die like him
His love is not clumsy, but elegance itself
It cares not for skill, clever deeds or wealth
Like a river his love washes over me
Cleansing human impurity
My Father sent his only son
To die a common criminals death, victory to be won
And redemptions song is the sweetest I have heard
Free, go free as a bird
Never could I have a friend closer than him
Never again could one person be Saviour, Teacher and King.

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What I am saying when I raise my hand…
Is between me and my Father, it is not for you to understand
It is the response of my heart, spontaneous and sincere
It is silent to those in my presence, it is for my Father to hear
A gesture that means so much in a moment gone too soon
It is a heart overflowing with adorations tune.

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I woke to the promise of a brand new day
Feasted on your word, paused to pray
Now another busy day is through
I stand in awe and wonder of you
& I thank you all for that has filled my time
Release my cares, they are no longer mine
Oh master of all my days
Take from me the highest praise.

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JUST YOU & I

I want to worship you my King
My whole self I bring
Nowhere else I would rather be
Than standing before you cleansed and free
I want to bow down before your throne
And thank the one who made me his own
Worship; worship your majestic name
Heart and soul I am being changed
I will raise my hand and will sing forever
In praise I feel we are closer together
I will come before you time and again
I will reflect on calvarys pain
Here I am standing before you…
There is nothing I would rather do.