Sonnets For Thought by Grace

Eternal Choices

Shaking pressure tearing me apart
Separate worlds warring for my soul
Torn between two choices for my heart
Broken spirit longing to be whole
Promises of life and endless glory
Suffering and shame I'd have to bear
Both are present, both sides of the story
Promise these to me, with more to share
Which one should I choose, if what I take
Will seal my fate forever, good or bad?
Tell me, what eternal choices should I make
That when I end my life, I should be glad?
Choose that which will give you life forever
Choose to bow to Jesus, ceasing never.

Dancing on the Waters

Dancing on the waters made by him

Light feet tapping over shiny waves

Giving God the praise through thick and thin

Jesus, Son of Man who freed us slaves

He took the chains and sunk them in the sea

My manacles will rust on ocean floor

So now I walk on water, full of glee

Rejoicing that my sin's recalled no more

I dance on waves so billowed by the wind

No longer tossed by worries of this life

I know that through the fire I'll come unsinged

And should I be destroyed by earthly strife

I know that God will carry me through death

His love unlimited by height or breadth!

Temptation

Watching, edging, just to jerk away

Then, a moment later, back again

Knowing that I really should not stay

Yet drawn by sweet temptation, like all men.

I'm torn in two by two opposing fires

My earthly flesh against the heav'nly call

Oh Lord, to be with you is my desire

Please free me from this war - don't let me fall

Give me strength to fight against these lies

Save me from this war I cannot win

Because, Lord Jesus, You're my sacrifice

I beg You, set me free from this my sin:

To linger by the path I should not take

To wish for what is evil, for flesh's sake.

Dawn Watch

Hold on, my child, until the night is past

Remember there will one day be a dawn

For e'en within the night the shadows cast

They flicker in the fire and are gone

The wind blows cold and ice is in the land

So many lights have flickered and gone out

Fear not, my child, and hold on to my hand

Take courage, he has said we must not doubt

The darkness screams with cries of dying souls

Unending pains of loss strike hearts again

We must stand fast, my child, we must keep hold

And keep our fire alight until the end

No matter how our suffering goes on

We keep our weary watch until the dawn.

On the Other Side

Awake! Come quickly, death is close at hand

The soldiers black are knocking on the door

Get out of bed and run, just like we planned

They've found us and they've come to settle scores

They smash the door and drag you through the street

They throw your precious treasures on the ground

They lash us for each friendly eye we meet

The secret of our story has been found

And now we stand before the blazing fire

To take the mark or to the fire fall

I'll make my stand and set my love up higher

But will you bear the trial to which we're called?

God give you strength and in His peace abide

And soon I'll see you on the other side

The Greatest End

Come drink from water pure and ever-flowing

Come take and eat the fruit of tree of life

Come buy pure gold refined, no money owing

Come climb the hill and enter in God's light

Receive the joy of Jesus ever living

Receive the grace that brought you to this life

Receive the crown for suffering, enduring

Receive the rest He promised, no more strife

No more will sin and sorrow plague the planet

No more will we have wrenching tears and pain

No more will there be liars, thieves, or bandits

No more will God's great name be put to shame

Forever Satan dies in fires infernal

Forever we will praise the King eternal

A Few Things of Note This Week

 We got out to our Chinese classes again - and discovered that Aiden needs a bigger bike, we've been learning online long enough for him to nearly grow out of his bike!

Aiden close to finishing the year's school work - that what comes of lots of time at home uninterrupted but lots of outings....

Dreaming of some time away - all of us have mentioned the desire to get away for a holiday just as soon as we can. It is tantalizing that some states have begun to allow for cross border travel, but not yet Penang.

Marble jars - We packed up a marble machine box and handed it off to a younger friend this week. She's super pleased, and we've rediscovered the beauty of a jar full of marbles. We're scheming about how we can hang them safely where the light will shine through.

"cable knit" crochet - Mom started a new crochet project after messing around with snowflakes since Christmas. It is a somewhat challenging project: Celtic knot squares for a blanket. It took at least 4 remakes before this square was satisfyingly correct. Since she's using crochet cotton and not yarn, it might take a long time to get enough squares to make a useful blanket!

Everyday pool time - Since the pool has reopened this week, Aiden is getting nearly everyday pool time with his friend even though his friend is now back to school in person.

Jasmin's first time seeing someone other than family in nearly 2 months - the girls got to visit a friend yesterday afternoon, and we were shocked to realize it is Jasmin's first time seeing someone other than family in such a long time!

It has been very dry here, unnaturally so as the rainy season was late and quite short. Then today we've had very stormy weather. It is much needed rain for the area and will break the heat and dry streak we've been having.

Aiden and Mom were caught out totally unprepared though, and even after prudently waiting until the rain stopped, it didn't stop them from getting soaked on the way home as it was simply a pause in the storm rather than the storm being over! Mom was as wet as if she'd jumped in for a swim in her clothes rather than simply biked home. Aiden was fortunate enough to have an emergency raincoat bag for him, but even then he was pretty wet.

March's Gift

 If a big gift of God to us in February was the rediscovery of beach time and in particular a fantastic new beach, a big gift for March is the reopening of our pool. We have missed it over this whole last year!  

Yesterday was the first day it was open, so it was well used. The SOPs for use are quite stringent, and we were brought up short a few times during our time there, but it felt so good to be swimming there again. 

The kids discovered just how much they have grown in the last year as Aiden can now touch bottom all over the pool, and the girls are both head and shoulders out of the water in most places. Still, foot fish, theatre, and other games were still good fun.

As one of the new rules is that we only get 45min swims at a time (because the capacity is set so super low at 10 people), we still had plenty of time for a long game of Catan Seafarers as well. A definite bonus for not going out to the beach. 

Forward March

Serendipitous discoveries of new beach playgrounds

Thrills of new challenging rocks to scale

Shoreline to explore

But barnacled and oyster encrusted rocks

High surf churning sand

Unknown rock locations for unsuspecting feet

Send us home with cuts and scrapes

Regularly necessitating minor surgery

To remove bits of shell, rock, sand from those rock cuts and scrapes

Dad had enough, "no more beach till our feet are safe!"

So Friday off to the mall we went

Feels strange...

When was the last time we went to the mall?

When was the last time we went out together?

When was the last time we biked this far?

When was the last time we shopped for something more than food?

How celebratory it felt

We met with friends!

We ate out!

We browsed in real life, not online!

And, best of all, we came home with water shoes for the beach.

So Sunday, off we went again

And the kids certainly tested their new shoes -

Exploring with a goal in mind

'Round the shore, conquering rocks to the next beach

It was 2 hours plus later that mom and dad saw them again

They had almost made their goal

Aiden ran out of steam and melted down within sight of the goal

But an overpriced milkshake brought him back from the edge

To practice floating in rough water

To cheer on the girls swimming out to the far rocks

To delay our return home "just a little be more"

Our Sunday beach times certainly keep us going through the weeks!