No day but today.

twloha day '09

The vision is that we actually believe these things…

You were created to love and be loved.
You were meant to live life in relationship
with other people, to know and be known.
You need to know that your story is important
and that you're part of a bigger story.
You need to know that your life matters.

We live in a difficult world, a broken world.
My friend Byron is very smart - he says that
life is hard for most people most of the time.
We believe that everyone can relate to pain,
that all of us live with questions, and all of
us get stuck in moments.

You need to know that you're not alone in the places you feel stuck.

We all wake to the human condition.
We wake to mystery and beauty
but also to tragedy and loss.
Millions of people live with problems of pain.
Millions of homes are filled with questions –
moments and seasons and cycles that
come as thieves and aim to stay.

We know that pain is very real.
It is our privilege to suggest
that hope is real, and that help is real.
You need to know that rescue is possible,
that freedom is possible, that God is
still in the business of redemption.

We're seeing it happen.
We're seeing lives change as people
get the help they need.
People sitting across from a counselor for the first time.
People stepping into treatment. In desperate moments,
people calling a suicide hotline.

We know that the first step to recovery is the hardest to take.
We want to say here that it's worth it,
that your life is worth fighting for,
that it's possible to change.

Beyond treatment,
we believe that community is essential,
that people need other people,
that we were never meant to do life alone.
                                                                                             

Lord I need a new start.

I need to breathe a wider air,

I need to climb a mountain

and see the bigger picture.

Will you help me Lord?

I've got bogged down

by things I've done

and things I should have done

but never quite got round to.

There are words I should have spoken,

and others which would have been better unsaid.

There are people I should have been in touch with

and others I should have left alone.

You sent your Son to be with us

to lift the burden of the past,

to lighten the present.

Forgive me and help me begin again

in the name and strength of Jesus.

I am climbing now, Lord,

with renewed energy, moving up into the bigger spaces.

The Sun is rising.

I feel a fresh wind on my face

the breath of life in my lungs your Holy Spirit is moving.

Will I meet you on the mountain, Lord?

Will you be there for me

transformed, transfigured?

Amen, so let it be

Yes Lord

(Life&Work, Sept.'09)

Here is where I am Lord,

together yet falling apart.

I've lost my sight along the way

so blind I try to follow.

My world is full of darkness

My body wretched with pain

If you are always with me,

Then please, just call my name.

It's too hard to see your light

It's too hard to feel your joy

It's too hard to share your love

When inside I'm empty and worn

I've lost sight of my dreams

I've lost sight of your love

I've been dead inside

For far too long.

But now I feel things changing

The woods seem not so thick

Help me take this leap Lord,

I am your daughter, I am lost.

The jump is far too far for me

I cannot walk alone

I must build a bridge of love

Founded through this pain

                              

Why is this so hard,

To focus on my God

When he is here beside me

Reading what I write.

To have a dream for a day

Seems harder than one for a lifetime

Today will soon be over

I risk knowing I have failed.

(Heather, Sept.'09)

Then there was talking and changing. Now there are no drugs and more challenges. It is also nearly day break.