Hello Reader. Thank you for spending your time with me today. May you find winds of encouragement in these words to lift your wings so you may soar into the arms of the Author of creation who loves you extravagantly. And sustained by this Love, may you live in unswerving Hope, trusting God with your deepest desires.

Poetry Garden Podcast

Poetry Garden Podcast Episode 13—Desired

Live in Trust, Hope & Extravagant Love

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 MSG

the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do right to the end. 2 Timothy 1:12 MSG

In 1 Samuel chapter 1, we meet Hannah, who pours out heart and soul, praying for her deepest desire. Her wish is granted. And in her gratitude, Hannah promises to return her cherished gift to God.

Walk with me today, as we explore what may have been going through Hannah’s mind in the days where she fulfilled her promise.

The boy's slender finger traces the path of tears down his mother's cheek. “Not all tears are from sorrow, Samuel. Today, I’m so full of joy, it overflows.”

***

This was not the case a few years ago when Hannah took her pain to the only one who could heal it—the Lord, her God. At Shiloh, she gave every last ounce of herself to God, and sorrow and shame flowed from the depths of her heart. A woman who felt she had no control over her own life, she held nothing back. But she prayed silently, mouthing her words with a fervor that caught the attention of the high priest who poured more negativity on her head and barked out an undeserved rebuke about her being drunk.

Hannah remained humble and poignantly answered Eli. “Oh no, sir—please! I’m a woman brokenhearted…. The only thing I’ve been pouring out is my heart, pouring it out to God.”

And the priest (without apology for his wrongful remark) left her with the words “Go in peace. And may the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him.”

Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, “I asked God (El) for him.” And, so grateful for this cherished gift, she promised to return her son into God's hands.

***

Tomorrow, Hannah will fulfill the promise she made to God. But today is Samuel’s birthday and she plans to fill it with nothing but joy. She takes her son in her arms. “You, my son, are a gift. I asked God for you, and God granted me my most desired wish.” She touches her finger to the tip of his nose. The boy giggles, and the music of his laughter fills her ears and her heart. She treasures the sound, storing it deep into the folds of her memory. She runs her fingers through his hair, memorizing the silky texture. She traces the scar above his eyebrow. Every last detail, she treasures and stores away. “Today, my love, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we travel back to the place where my wish was granted.”

The boy is getting restless, wanting to play. She will have to let him go soon. “Samuel,” she places gentle hands on his shoulders and tilts his head so he looks into her eyes. “You are special. You are loved.” She places a hand on the boy's heart, feeling the soft thump under her fingertips. “Your family loves you. I love you. Most of all, God loves you. Keep your heart close to God. Keep your ears open to God.” Her throat tightens on the last words, and she pauses to gather herself together. This day has come too soon.

She knows he might be too young to remember her words, but she speaks them with a prayerful glance to God. “Remember, Samuel. Remember this when lonely or difficult days find you. Reach for this love. You will find new strength. You are treasured. You are a gift from God. Tomorrow, you will return to God's home to serve Him.”

The boy’s eyebrows furrow at this, but her words today won't be enough to help him understand. Time will make this clear to him. Enough talk. Tomorrow, they say goodbye. Today, they are going to celebrate.

Can you imagine how Hannah's heart must have ripped in two when she left Samuel at Shiloh and walked the lonely path home? I wonder if, or how many times, she reconsidered her decision to shift her most treasured gift from her arms into God's hands. How did fear wriggle around in her decision making? Fear for Samuel's health and safety as he lived away from her protection. Fear about the kind of person he’d grow up to be without her. And fear for her own security in widowhood. And yet, even if all these fears played in her mind, she kept her promise and gave her treasured gift back to God.

Trust is not the absence of fear. Trust is a decision to lean into a power greater than our singular self. Trust. Hope. Love. The author of our soul is with us always.

Do I possess such trust?

Hannah’s pain was deep, yet her trust and reverence for God were deeper. She presented her desire to God, and in receiving her deepest desire, she discovered that she, too, was desired. Desired by the Author of creation. In Hannah’s prayer, found in chapter two of 1 Samuel, she rejoices. “I’m bursting with God-news! I’m walking on air.... [God] protectively cares for his faithful friends.”

In Love, Hannah asked for her deepest desire. In Love, she returned Samuel into the hands of God. And through Samuel, God impacted a world in deep need of healing and wisdom.

Where do we find the courage to surrender our God-given gifts back into his nurturing hands so that, through Grace, they grow in strength and wisdom?

Remember the invitation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly...

In Love, we seek our deepest desire, and God, who lives in the deep folds of our heart, reaches for us with outstretched hands. (After all, who plants these deepest desires within?)

The Lover of your soul is seeking a deeper relationship with you. You are desired. Treasured. Loved with an everlasting Love.

Remember the promise: the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do...

We can trust that our treasured gifts are placed within us to show us the path that leads to life. To fill us with the joy of God’s presence. We hope unswervingly for our deepest desire because we know we can do anything through Christ who gives us strength.

Because he cares for his faithful friends, because he delights in us, the mighty Warrior who saves blesses us with treasured gifts. Gifts for healing, gifts for words, artistic gifts, leadership gifts. But the greatest of these is Love. Not the perfect speech, the perfect presentation, the perfect sales record, the perfect meal, but giving our whole heart to our God-given talents and living and breathing and moving in Love.

If our fear runs deep—fear that our gifts are small or imperfect—we dig deeper into our trust, deeper into the Truth that we are Loved, deeply desired by the Author of creation, and with Love, we offer our gifts back into his mighty hands. Through our surrender, we reach our hands and hearts into the world, using the gifts entrusted to us to become God's outstretched hands—the vessels God uses to impact the dark and lonely places of this world with healing and wisdom. And with Love.

Live steadily in Trust—you are Loved with an everlasting Love. Live unswervingly in Hope—ask for your deepest desire. Surrender your God-given gifts back into the hands of the Author of creation and through your actions and your words, live and breathe and love like you believe you are desired—you are Loved extravagantly.

Poetry Garden

Desired

Desire—

a pilgrimage to wide

wildflower fields of wishes

dusty rose-colored wants

one plucked petal

and another consumed

into ashes. Hungry

flames of hurried expectations

sacrifice one burnt offering

and another. Incense

burning each breath... Yet

from the ashes

one small red-winged

hope

rises

takes flight into the world

soars and sails and

returns to outstretched hands. Drinks

from pooled tears cradled

in palms. Lifts head in fervent song

rises again

and hovers. Dawn's

glow, fiery in outstretched

wings. Watching you

watching, sings your song of

Truth.

Breathing Practice

To help refocus attention toward God and away from our fears (or whatever keeps us from boldly using our gifts), I want to share with you a new breathing meditation I learned by participating in a Bible study during Advent. The folks at Living Compass will also offer a meditation practice during Lent, and they offer a free digital copy of their book (English and Spanish) and a Facebook group for discussion (details in future letter).

In this practice, focus on the phrase

Be still and know I am God

and with each breath drop one word, finishing with Be.

This meditation is perfect for a one-minute refocus during a stressful moment anytime during the day. It is also good to help calm your mind before sleeping or focus your mind to begin your day. You choose the rhythm of breathing and how to drop the words that best suits where you are in the moment. If you need a starting point, I will offer one possible way to practice:

Get comfortable and use a few inhalations and exhalations to home in on your body and to open your senses to the world around you. If this feels safe for you, close your eyes and, without judgement, reach into your environment with each of your other senses: taste the quality of air; listen beyond the obvious sounds; feel the warmth or chill on your skin; notice any smells. Follow you inhalation as it travels into your belly and you exhalation as it summersaults up again and out into the world.

Breathe in: Be still and know I am God

Breathe out: Be still and know I am God

Breathe in: Be still and know I am

Breathe out: Be still and know I am

Breathe in: Be still and know

Breathe out: Be still and know

Breathe in: Be still

Breathe out: Be still

Breathe in: Be

Breathe out: Be

Practice and perseverance are always more important than perfection. Adapt this exercise to your needs at any given time and as many times a day as you wish. The important thing is to find a way that draws you close to the Spirit, draws you into a posture of sitting at the feet of Jesus.

Blooms to Share

What I love about this beauty is its natural ability to protect itself. When touched, the leaves fold into narrow lines as seen below.

With life as short as a half-taken breath, don't plant anything but love. — Rumi

In the next letter, another visit from that shy little black-winged redbird and reflections on self-love. Until then, keep breathing and reaching, keep loving and moving with compassion.

For a deeper look into the Bible verses supporting today's Love letter: Matthew 28:20; Jeremiah 31:3; Psalm 16:11; Philippian 4:13; Zephaniah 3:17; 1 John 4:16

Aimee Selah

Live in Trust, Hope & Extravagant Love—Desired

Poetry Garden Podcast

Live in Trust, Hope & Extravagant Love

Poetry Garden

Breathing Practice

Blooms to Share

Kaleidoscope—Life-Light blazing through brokenness

a Surrendered Soul Kindled in Dignity and Grace

Stillness Song—the Voice in the Eye of the Storm