Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! 

(Isaiah 9:6) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

(Matthew 1:21 & 23) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save his people from their sins.  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

(Luke 2:11-14) For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

(John 3:16-17) For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.

Introduction

Introduction

You probably don’t really need an introduction to this blog site, but I tend to be one of those people who over analyzes and over explains everything, so here you go!


I have been writing some form of poetry from at least five years of age. My first attempts were usually silly songs I was perpetually singing. I often drove my older sister crazy with my constant singing descriptions from anything to a cat in a tree to a plate of spaghetti. I do not remember specific words or tunes other than two that my family still likes to sing back to me. I guess these two stuck either because I sang them the most, or because they had actual lyrics that made sense.

The first was about a toy metal car my parents purchased for me at a yard sale. I loved toy cars and gave them all names and personalities. This one was about three times the size of my usual Matchbox cars and I guess I must have been super excited about it because on the drive home from the sale, I immediately began to sing, “My jeep, my jeep, my tiny green jeep, my jeep my jeep goes beep beep.” Technically this toy car was not a Jeep., but more like a 1930's (not sure really) something-or-other, but I never knew the difference. Not a terribly profound song but still remembered 48 years later!

The only other song I remember was written around the age of six or seven. I have always been an animal lover, so one day I decided to sing, “I love horses, I love cats, I love dogs and even rats. I love all the animals in the world because God made them all, both great and small.”

I say I “wrote” these songs, but nothing was ever written down, and I certainly didn’t have any musical talent for composing (I still don’t). The first poem I think I actually wrote down (other than maybe for a school assignment which I do not remember) was when I was ten. It was about my favorite doll I had received as a Christmas present. This doll was my adventure buddy, and I created a lot of stories involving her. One evening, I sat down and wrote a poem from her perspective simply titled “Kimberly.” I remember how proud my parents were of that poem and it was circulated among friends and family. It would be awesome if I could now share that with you, and sorry for being anticlimactic, but unfortunately, I lost that poem as well as any others I wrote before 1991.

I am admitting now that I have never been a very good poet, and my poetry has not improved much since I sang about that green jeep. However, it has always been a form of catharsis for me, so I write mostly when I feel sad, frustrated, elated, or want to put thoughts down on paper in a more creative form than my journal.

To some, poetry may not seem like a particularly profound or spiritual thing to share. However, like the book of Psalms, I see poetry as a way to praise the Lord as well as being spiritually and emotionally healing.

I do not believe that God gives me ideas for poems to keep to myself, so even if I only help one person, I pray my words will inspire, uplift, and encourage others. The poems in this weekly devotional series will not be silly poems, but more of a spiritual nature with a few tame love poems I wrote for my husband, Mel.

I am still missing some of my more recent poems written in the last 15 years or so, but what I do have I will share and still search for the others.

This is a week-by-week devotional blog, therefore each poem will include a devotional, sometimes in the form of a short story to explain what I was going through when I wrote that poem. Again, as I said at the beginning, I tend to over-explain things!

Also, in a separate post, each week will also have additional material encouraging you to reflect on the theme of the week and give some suggestions on what to pray about that week.  On occasion, there may be bonus material such as an additional short story posted that week. 

These poems are not in any particular order, mostly chronological (unless that plan changes.) Therefore, though the title of this series is “Heartbreak, Hope, & Salvation,” the order of the poems will not necessarily tell a story in that order.

Oh, one more thing before I end this lengthy introduction.

And as far as the word “heartbreak” is concerned, these are not love poems written by a heartsick younger me, although I wrote plenty of those in my youth. The heartbreak is circumstantial such as loss of my father, and facing my own medical issues, etc. But praise God, I can also include hope and salvation in Jesus Christ to add joy to my poetic tale.

You are always welcome to share my poetry, but please be honorable and give me credit as the author.

To God be all the glory! Julie 

Julie's Christmas Carol

 

I have written an introduction for this site that I will post later, and I am not "officially" starting this new blog until the first week of January, but because it is almost Christmas, I thought I would at least post my one and only Christmas poem.

The format of this site will be a devotional or short story accompanying one of my poems. Therefore, I will start my first post the same way.

Julie's Christmas Carol

In 2010 I was still very much single and living alone. Well, no, not alone, at that time I had five dogs and ten cats. Yes, you read that correctly! I was a veterinary technician at that time and, though I had vowed when I accepted the job in 2007 that I would not obtain any pets from clients, I had already taken home six more cats and one dog that were in great need of rescuing. Yes, I am absolutely a soft-hearted person when it comes to an animal in need!

Most of you will understand when I say my dogs and cats are not mere pets or possessions to me, but they are my family, which was why 2010 proved to be a heartbreaking year. I lost 1 dog and 4 cats in a short span of time. So many losses of those I dearly loved so fast left me barely able to catch my breath and weeping long into the night. I found great comfort in the 4 dogs and 6 cats I still had but missed the precious ones I had bonded with.

As Christmas approached and I found it hard to feel merry or jolly, I cried out to God in my grief. I did not blame Him for the losses as death is an inevitable part of living on this planet. Instead, I allowed His love and comfort to slowly heal the cracks in my heart and though the grief ran its normal course, and I felt sadness for a while, I was still able to remember the sacrifice Jesus made when He came to this world. The awe and beauty of Christmas wrapped me in the love of God, and I wrote this poem to remind myself that grief is temporary, but God's love is eternal.

Julie's Christmas Carol (2010)

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Even if you heart is broken;
When grief has pierced your soul
With pain so deep it cannot be spoken

Remember the little town of Bethlehem,
And the stable that held pure light;
The Christ child that came to heal our wounds
Even on the darkest night

Away in a manger
Is not just about a baby in the hay,
Jesus is alive forever,
And washes sin and sorrow away

Do you see what I see?
When all seems lost and day is night,
It is yours to discover...
Miracles still happen when you seek His Light

(Isaiah 9:6) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.