Not Far to Go

Did you ever want to take a journey, one seemingly a long distance from where you are to escape? But in terms of distance and time you really don't have the energy to vest yourself in a drawn out fight for survival even though that is what you need. I read Amy Carmichael's Not Far to Go and it is a marching song for those days. I think I want to tape it to my desk to remind me each day that the journey is not that far and I can make it.

Not Far to Go

It is not far to go
for you are near.
It is not far to go
for you are here.
And not by
traveling, Lord,
men come to you,
but by the way of love,
and we love you.

So Near

My journey continues through Amy Carmichael's Mountain Breezes. So Near is a short poem with her exclamation of His love, "like clearness of blue air." The eight lines of poem ends with her wonderment of if the way of love is near to her and how by that way she will come to Him. As her poem is short and simple, so is the knowledge that the distance to Him is short.

Amy, as should we, trusts in God as is proclaimed in Psalm 52:8

But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God's unfailing love
for ever and ever.

We should flourish in the air we breathe as all things God has given life to.

And trust forever.

This is the day the Lord has made

So here will begin my day. Writing. Trying to get back on the mark, so many areas of my life to reclaim religion, family life, my craft and work. I'm actually up before the kids, of course three weeks from now and they are late for school. But I will sit in the quiet, the summer sounds ringing outside in the early still morning.

I've grabbed a copy of Mountain Breezes, The Collected Poems of Amy Carmichael and have started at the beginning, God of the Stars. "I am the God of the stars. They do not lose their way; Not one do I mislay. Their times are in My Hand; They move at My command."

I haven't lost my way, I am right where God has put me in this time. I will move at His command.

I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Back to God

I've had a bit of a break. I've been busy with work and not so busy with God. My devotional readings are behind and spiritually speaking I am a bit dry. It is the last three weeks before school starts in our neck of the woods and I can only pray I'm prepared for the onslaught of school shopping followed by school paperwork. I've taken some steps toward organizing my writing time and hopefully with a few new tools and a plan I can post more regularly.

I'm fortunate enough to know that while I've been lax in my God time, he has not held back on the blessings he has given me. I've a wonderful family, food and shelter, and a job. I need a roof, peace of mind that all work will get done, and to remember that after 20 years a marriage we have been rewarded greatly with God's love.

Now it is time to find my way back to His shining love. How do you bring God back to the forefront when you've fallen off the path?