Tag: hope

Peace

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Present places
present faces
in the moment here with you

Touching sunlight
touching evening
side by side in all I do

In comings
follow goings
always knowing you have space

Quiet moments
hectic motions
anchored inside grace

Such protection
unseen deflection
learning ever to remain

In the sphere
of your promise
knowing every tear of pain

is treasured
measured
in the palm of your hand

Ensuring
your enduring
present peace before me spanned

Copyright ©2023 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Titles by Mary Grace van der Kroef

Joy

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Found in simple spaces
when lights have dimmed to ease
weariness of day from shoulders prone.

In the morning beams
where radiance sings
reserving stage for feathered accompaniment notes.

Shimmers in the shadows
like the fuzziness of heat,
but greats in bells that chime with chirping mirth.

Often hid amid
wide open space
blending with a magic you can not trace.

Given to the few
who look beyond circumstance
to find the lines God painted beneath.

Even when awash,
paying untold cost,
finding treasure hid and hold relief.

Copyright ©2023 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Available titles by Mary Grace van der Kroef

Six Word Story (93)

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Fruit that is not harvested will fall.

Produce that is not consumed, will spoil.

This is natural.

Not evil.

When they fall they feed the earth by nourishing its smallest creatures.

It’s not their fault if we didn’t have space, time, or the desire to make use of them first.

But…

What about when people fall?

Decay kisses everyone.

Still, it’s not evil. But maybe it is wasteful.

Have you harvested yourself? Used your potential?

I may not be to everyone’s taste, but I am worth harvesting.

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Six Word Story (91)

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Do you wear your heart on your sleeves?

Are you an open book to family, friends, and even strangers?

Some might view this as a bad thing, but is it really?

An open and honest heart is a beautiful thing. It means there is natural trust flourishing inside. The gates are not closed. A guard and a lookout are always important things to place at an entrance, and it takes practice to get the balance of open and careful right. But someone who can trust, someone who can share… Their halls are filled with light and trust me, a warm welcome doesn’t mean there aren’t exciting mysteries to discover while getting to know them.

I have often been called an open book in the past, but I found myself losing that natural trust in the last few years.

Today my prayer is we would all learn to once again open our gates and trust.

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Six Word Story (87)

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Sundown, a time of glorious beauty. An ending.

Endings can feel so scary, final, even deflating. But they are also a time of transition. Where one thing ends, something else begins.

I wonder if that is why God placed so many circular patterns within creation.

To give humanity hope that where we end, he continues.

Where life ends, it also begins.

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

Photo sourced from unsplash.com

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Pristine Floor

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I turned it over in my hand
This broken piece
Of self
Traced the cracks
Noted the gaps
Counted the missing particles
Now marking
A pristine floor

A broom passed by
Grabbing flecks that soiled
This hallowed place.

Its bristles shush
My shameful grief
Watching
In silence

I should have protested
asked for time
Told my story
Before
This piece of self
Crumbled
And I was left to mourn.

Alone
Or so perceived

Untill
Generous Silence
Gave them back to me
Cupped
In recognition
Bound tightly
With the string of memories
As I prayed

He gave no rebuke
As bits poured into my hands
Losing fragments
Between hesitant fingers
He helped me count the loss
That again littered marble paths
Highlighted against its wealth
As human filth

He waited
Cupping tears that spilled
Adding his own to the soiled floor
Besmirched in regrets as thick as aged blood

Patient
He shushed the onlookers
Ready to jeer the fallen

Then I was ready
He pulled each speck to himself
Dirtying his own hands to lift my loss
Into his apron furled
It was him who shook my remnant free
Of any last dust
It was my King who carried my shame
Out the door
And when returned
Knowing it no more

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Helping Hands

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‘Helping Hands’

Hands outstretched
Confession            on quivering lips
“I broke it.”
Be it cup or figurine knocked upon the ground
By careless elbows
Compassion leaks from love itself
Dripping into cracks as
Helping hands hold the pieces together
Waiting

Release is gradual
Will it hold?           Is it strong?
In the cup of gentleness
When it’s ready
“It’s okay. We fixed it.”
A young soul learns forgiveness
And trust
When asked to place the treasure
Back home

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Six Word Story (71)

marygracewriting2 Comments

Do you have an arrow you follow? A compass? Something that guides you when you lose sight of land?

We all do, whether or not we realise it.

Sometimes, the guides that we follow are not very clear. Or, their arrows are not true and it’s difficult to discern if we are heading the right way.

How do we know if our guiding arrows are trustworthy? Have you ever had to find a new one?

I have.

Now, my compass is the Holy Bible. What is yours?

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Six Word Story (70)

marygracewriting2 Comments

The worlds that we are.

The magnificence that each body represents.

Even when flawed, or experiencing illness.

I have had to sit and watch the IV drop in silence, more than once in my life. Have you? I didn’t feel like a masterpiece in the middle of my pain. But that doesn’t change the fact that I was and still am, one.

So are you.

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

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Six Word Story (69)

marygracewriting7 Comments

Who?

Why?

There is always a reason someone turns on the lights, strikes a match, or opens shutters. It takes intention.

The effects of that one action go beyond the single act and affect everyone who inhabits the darkness. be them human, bug, or bacteria.

Light, and the act of lighting. Such small things, such large changes.

©2022 Mary Grace van der Kroef

Photo sourced from unsplash.com

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