More from the winter section of my book Dandelions and Destiny

We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them. Paul to the Ephesians

Those Darn Jeans

Custom designed to fit One
wearing of her legs—
twisting, resisting, wish-
listing—
she fell.

Give your burdens to the LORD,
And he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
David the destitute

For God loved the world so much that He gave
His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him
will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John the beloved

Dark's Dark

The life of the godly is full of light
and joy... King Solomon

Dark’s dark
to woo closed eyes
open. Blindly risk it.
Brave one innocent glimpse at Love,
lights’ light.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light
so that you can understand the confident hope
he has given to those he called…Paul to the Ephesians

He will listen to the prayers of the
destitute. He will not reject their pleas.
David the man after God’s heart

He came to seek and save
that which was lost.

Lost in London
Slept
in a nine hundred year old house
in Highgate
with brandy stained glass,
stone cold Lamb eaters
and the Vicar’s son.

Surely, your goodness and unfailing love
will pursue me all the days of my life
and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
David the shepherd boy

Home

Close place—
enclose, cover—
make fast those who wander.
Tenderly tuck in our naked
secrets.

Love covers a multitude of sins

LORD, through all the generations you have
been our home! Before the mountains were born,
before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
from beginning to end, you are God.
A prayer of Moses

Rich Niche

A

rich
niche

grace
place


wish
list

space,


your

peace
sure
ease—


best
rest.

Jerry the Donkey

Jerry the Donkey

He stood glued to the gravel road
in front of her Grandpa’s log cabin.
Stuck like the friends she cut from Grandma’s catalogs
and pasted pose after pose
on to the stiff pages of her scrap book.

He looked dull next to her paper friends,
until she cut close
and he took her breath away with one kick.


c. Laurel Turner
December 2010

Black Friday 2008

When I look at the night sky and see
The work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
what are…mere mortals that you should care for them?
Yet, you made them only a little lower than God
And crowned them with glory and honor.
You gave them charge of everything you made,
Putting all things under their authority.

A psalm of David




Black Friday 2008
__________________________________________________________________


In front of Macy’s
the vendor sells his knock offs.
Checking your bills for counterfeit,
he smiles.



Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.
He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith…
what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you.
Stand firm in this grace. The apostle Peter




Are any of you suffering hardships?
You should pray… Such a prayer offered in faith
will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.
And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

James the apostle



from Dandelions and Destiny
Winter
c. 2009 by Laurel Turner

The Upright Grand

The Upright Grand

Then God said,
“Let us make human beings in our image,
to be like ourselves. They will reign…”

She moaned,
pitchy, keys stuck,
too fragile to fix mis-
taken, sold cheap—
hand-strung, vibrant
antique.


A bruised reed He will not break
and a smoldering wick He will not put out.

You…knit me together in my mother’s womb…
Your workmanship is marvelous.
David the shepherd king



from Dandelions and Destiny
Winter
c. 2009 by Laurel Turner

Canadian Rockies in Late October

…As mountains fall and crumble
and as rocks fall from a cliff,
as water wears away stones
and floods wash away the soil,
so you destroy people’s hope. Job



Canadian Rockies in Late October
__________________________________________________________________

The stones jag
like a boxer’s broken nose.
They rise and brace their brittle bones
against water and ice.

A warm breeze nudges at their locked knees
as the muscular mountains go down
shattering piece after piece.


If by the one man’s offense death reigned through
the one, much more those who receive abundance
of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign
in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Paul to the Romans


from Dandelions and Destiny
Winter
c. 2009 by Laurel Turner
c. Laurel Turner 2009

Dawn

Dawn

He brings light to the deepest gloom. Job


When your blind half-sister,
Dawn, was ripped off
and jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge

her other half plunged
head first down, down after her,
swallowing the dark, suffocating.

Against the black water rushing
to break your neck
and smoke your breath,

you turn around,
lift your red eyes
and rise.





Adam brought death to many.
But, even greater is God’s wonderful grace,
and his gift of forgiveness through this other
man Jesus Christ. Paul to the Romans


from Dandelions and Destiny
Winter
c. 2009 by Laurel Turner

A Father and Friend Until the End

I am like the sixteen year old weeping beauty that I spoke with this weekend. She has been an orphan much of her life. All we want is someone to love us. Maybe you're like us, too. Our Heavenly Father prepares a feast for us and sits down as our friend and eats with us. We live in His house forever so His goodness and unfailing love pursues us for the rest of our lives. As His children all that He has is ours. He has made us accepted in the Beloved. We aren't accepted cuz of our good behavior, but because Father God loves us so much He sent Jesus so we could be with Him always.