The Shadow Portal: Love Is In The Air Blog Tour

Cover (Attached)

Title Poetic Praise: For Seasons of Singleness

Genre Inspirational Poetry

Blurb During the intermediate years of my singleness journey I discovered the humanity of the Psalms. One study states that over 40% of the recorded Psalms are laments (songs expressing sorrow or regret). David, King of Israel, wrote 73 of the 150 Psalms. One of my favorite is the 13^th Psalm. It sums up my seasons of singleness in six little verses.

In the first two verses, David asks God “How long?” four times. He follows with a request in verse three and a worry in verse four. What surprised me was how honest he was with God about his fears and his impatience. But more than that, I was encouraged by how he ended the Psalm. The last two verses, like many of the lamenting Psalms, ended with praise. In spite of David’s inner turmoil, he sealed his Psalm with praise.

Poetic Praise is a collection of 35 poems I wrote in various seasons of my singleness. Some poems will make you laugh. A few will make you shed a tear. Several will give you a selah moment - a moment of quiet introspection. But like the Psalms of David, most of these poems the will lead you into praise.

Excerpt

LOVE LIFTED ME

Love had done many things to me,

Some too terrible to tell,

Love almost made me take my life,

Love almost put me in hell.

Love would send me to the highest heights,

Only to bring me crashing to the ground,

Love would be there every day,

Then suddenly love was nowhere to be found.

Love told me I would be beautiful,

If only I would change,

If only I would stop or start,

If only I would rearrange.

I’d finally take two steps forward,

Then love would cause me to fall,

But I didn’t know that what I thought was love,

Wasn’t really love at all.

One day LOVE gently touched me,

With a little nudge here and there,

Before I knew what was happening,

The sadness began to clear.

LOVE lifted my eyes heavenward,

Until I was finally able to see,

Beyond the pain and heartache,

LOVE was shining back at me.

LOVE lifted the burdens from my shoulders,

LOVE softly tilted my chin,

LOVE gave me the strength I needed,

To stand back up again.

God is LOVE. 1 John 4:8

VICTORY

Yes, I may be hurting,

But the victory is mine.

I've learned to be obedient,

And I've learned to sacrifice.

Sure, I'm disappointed,

But I still have the victory.

I've traded in what I want,

For what God wants for me.

Yes, I may be crying,

But the victory is won.

Mingled with tears of what could have been

Are tears of joy for what's to come.

I GIVE YOU PRAISE

My heart is full of fears

But my words are full of thanks

I’m fighting back my tears

And I’m offering up my praise

Thank You Lord for it could have been

Much worse than it is now

Though I’m hurting I will make it

Even though I don’t know how

Thank You Lord for a heart to heal

Though it seems that I can’t cope

I know as sure as there’s a God

For me that means there’s hope

So yes, my heart is full of fears

But my words are full of thanks

And yes, I’m fighting back these tears

But still I offer up my praise

Because praise will lead me closer to You

And away from all this pain

Praise will bring me closer to You

And to all You have ordained

So I’ll thank You and I’ll praise You

For the rest of all my days

I’ll thank You and I’ll praise You

For the blessings and the pain

Thank You for Your forgiveness

When from Your will I strayed

And thank You for Your faithfulness

When broken to You I came

And for everything in my future

That You have already ordained

I give you praise

KEEP MY LOVE

Living deep inside of me,
Is a love so pure and true,
Waiting until the day that I,
Will finally say I do.

Sometimes this love bubbles over,
When I think I’ve met the one,
That I have been fashioned for,
By Jesus Christ God’s Son.

Only to realize it’s another case,
Of mistaken identity,
I thought he was one for me,
But instead I was deceived.

The last time as I walked away,
And checked my love supply,
I silently said this prayer,
And as I began to cry:

“Lord I need a favor,
Would You please do this for me?
Keep my love safe and sure,
Under heaven’s lock and key.

“And don’t allow me access,
Until the one ordained by You,
Comes into my life and declares,
’My heart’s desire is You’.

“But until then, Lord, keep my love,
Believe me I have tried,

But one thing I am sure of:
You’re much better at it than I”.