"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms"
The following poem is reprinted with permission from the author;
Lora Lovin Osburn, Poet Laureate extraordinaire!
When asked if I'd share a dotty ditty
My first thought was, "Oh no! What if it's not pretty?"
What if it's like what I heard in Houston? Purse on a Chain...
Oh my, I can just imagine the disdain.
What if I stand and say: I'm Lora from By the Lamp Light
I can't speak because I'm too insecure and filled with stage fright.
So started my conversation with the LORD
About sharing here, something I thought I abhorred.
LORD, YOU know my knees will knock.
And then, Oh my - What to wear? Capri's or a new party frock?
I'll be just one lonely dot at this Siesta party,
And You know LORD, I am not a smarty.
My heart started racing in a thousand directions
Without seeking HIM with thoughtful reflection.
So in my mind while I'm walking to the podium and taking a tumble,
In quietness at night, I heard Him speak like a distant rumble,
"Read the book and then just tell your story.
I will do all the rest and get all the glory."
I knew immediately which book He meant for me,
Beth had been smiling from the shelf at Walmart (somewhere near aisle 3)
He said, "Dear One, I'm bringing other dots
Tonight to this party, to this very spot.
Don't be insecure and think you are alone
Among the many dots, you can feel at home.
As each lovely dot connects
And views the other with respect,
A lovely picture they will see
The body of Christ in Me.
I've brought each dot on their own journey to this very place,
An act of gracious mercy and abundant and tender grace."
But LORD, I so want to know the final picture.
He says, "Rest, don't speculate or conjecture.
You may not know in full your earthly destiny
But will you dear one, just rest in ME?
As I direct, in faith, go from dot to dot
The journey with Me is part of our story plot.
Hold our time together dear.
Be attuned and ready to hear.
Do each thing I ask you to
Don't question; just do.
I will be with you when your life looks like it has no purpose or form,
When you feel discouraged, one dot, alone and forlorn."
So as I read, at times I thought it was my own story written upon the page;
But God graciously and tenderly took me through the journey, stage by stage.
When I read about those who "never fulfill their destinies because of their own insecurities",
It was like God drew the circle clearly and solely around me.
I would recommend this book to anyone; but along with a tissue box
Because it's not a fairy tale, like The Three Bears and the trespassing Miss Goldilocks
Our enemy too long has encroached on our holy ground,
And as dots we unite and say "he is no longer welcome to hang around!"
This book required action, change and work
And I'm certain, it is why so long, I avoided it with a shirk.
As dots read it and do it, we are changed.
No longer a single dot, but in His plan we are already eternally arranged.
The tears and pain this book unearthed,
I am confident, are fertile soil for His new works to be birthed.
Because deep within me as sins were uprooted, I know,
That as I released insecurities, HIS Spirit within me did grow
The freedom and the joy of saying so long to insecurity
To some of the *things* that for years have tormented me,
And made me feel like one isolated and totally disconnected dot
Has brought me, us, each dot, here tonight, to this very place and spot.
Dearest Jesus,
We turn our fears into
WE TRUST YOU.
Send each dot through Your cleansing wash where our sin turns to passion
And insecurity is totally washed out and no longer in fashion
We pray, that more of You we will intimately know
As on our dotty path, with Your security now, we go.
Connect us LORD,
as the unified body of Christ,
And help us be willing to make personal sacrifice.
The enemy CAN NOT take what we've been given
So in the Mighty Name of Jesus we say,
"So long insecurity and hello abundant living!"
Amen
