Love Song
Sweep the house clean,
hang fresh curtains
in the windows
put on a new dress
and come with me!
The elm is scattering
its little loaves
of sweet smells
from a white sky!
Who shall hear of us
in the time to come?
Let him say there was
a burst of fragrance
from black branches.
-- William Carlos Williams
I love this poem...the last stanza especially speaks to me. I want the fragrance of Christ to burst forth from my frail, lifeless branches in such a way that others will recognize that God is gloriously at work in and through me. After winter comes spring!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
If I Speak...
"If I Speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal..." -- 1 Corinthians 13:1
Yesterday, I FINALLY decided what I would call my blog and my website. For months I've listened, thought, pondered, strategized, searched. Such mighty effort for my meager endeavor. At first, I'd hoped for something straightforward...using my name alone would have been perfect except for the fact that there must be thousands of Stephanie Smith's in the world. No chance of digging up an URL using any variation of my own name.
But, after some thought and set aside moments, the first verse in 1 Corinthians 13 came to mind. After spending a little time with GoDaddy.com and a little more time with Blogger, IfISpeak.com is taking its first breaths of new life. As with each of my children's births, I'm breathing a little more freely now that this "thing" is finally here, and I feel so relieved. Yet, while the baby is so fun to admire in the cradle, this is only the beginning of a long term investment into this new life...so now the work begins.
"If I Speak" doesn't just embody the act of expressing myself; it speaks to the art and the attitude of my expression. My motivation, not just my vocation. I could master the craft of writing and communicating, attend all the writer's conferences in the world, acquaint myself with every grammar book known to man, and align myself with the most like-minded people. But, if my craft does not reflect God's love as it's been poured out in my life, it will only be a "resounding gong" or "clanging cymbal." I'm on my knees.
Yesterday, I FINALLY decided what I would call my blog and my website. For months I've listened, thought, pondered, strategized, searched. Such mighty effort for my meager endeavor. At first, I'd hoped for something straightforward...using my name alone would have been perfect except for the fact that there must be thousands of Stephanie Smith's in the world. No chance of digging up an URL using any variation of my own name.
But, after some thought and set aside moments, the first verse in 1 Corinthians 13 came to mind. After spending a little time with GoDaddy.com and a little more time with Blogger, IfISpeak.com is taking its first breaths of new life. As with each of my children's births, I'm breathing a little more freely now that this "thing" is finally here, and I feel so relieved. Yet, while the baby is so fun to admire in the cradle, this is only the beginning of a long term investment into this new life...so now the work begins.
"If I Speak" doesn't just embody the act of expressing myself; it speaks to the art and the attitude of my expression. My motivation, not just my vocation. I could master the craft of writing and communicating, attend all the writer's conferences in the world, acquaint myself with every grammar book known to man, and align myself with the most like-minded people. But, if my craft does not reflect God's love as it's been poured out in my life, it will only be a "resounding gong" or "clanging cymbal." I'm on my knees.
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