Mermaids Tears

I was sad today, no particular reason. My family is getting better, we had a great visit with my extended family and a fun, busy weekend. But never the less, today I was blue.

So many things I should be happy about, so many to be thankful for. There was a time I would have been ashamed to be sad. But the older I get the more I realize that life and feelings should be experienced as they come. As we experience the happy so do we experience the sad, each in its own turn. Sickness sometimes turns to healing, and sometimes joy changes to sorrow as well. There is a time for both.

I can see the jar of sea glass on the shelf. Sea glass is also known as 'mermaid's tears,' which I find rather beautiful, especially since I am feeling blue. Sea glass starts as sharp clear broken pieces, then spends years of tumbling in ocean waves, softening the sharp edges of shards of broken glass. The edges smooth, and the color mellows from clear to opaque, as the water is infused into the core. The result is a lovely glistening jewel on the sand. Trash is transformed to treasure.

We experience the highs and lows of life, and as we do our sharp edges are burned away. We are transformed into treasure. Our traumatic metamorphosis in the sea allows us to find the true beauty in our souls. Our purpose is better understood, as we are refined and revealed. We are created and we are transformed. So the hard times come and the great times come and each prepares us for the bigger picture.

So I embrace those "mermaid tears" when they are flowing and the 'mermaid songs' when I am joyful. After all, they are really my true self.

Sea Glass

There is a jar of sea glass
On the bookshelf in the living room
And the colors range from red to green
To aqua shades and teal and blue

And all the glass in the jar, tells a story
Of each piece and its’ shattered broken past
But the beauty within a shard is revealed
As it is tossed and thrown to the sand at last

For We are all shattered and scattered
Taking our chances on the salty sea
Crashing over seas of joy and suffering
Love and loss and life to see….
And the sand is polishing, the waves are washing
Taking us to places never seen before
Preparing all of us for a different purpose
Becoming what we all were created for.

And the glass is no longer clear or whole
It is in pieces in the time and tide
And the colors play with light and shade
Revealing the journey over oceans wide

For we are all born, clear as crystal
And we are all meant to break and go
Scattering out, over deep wide oceans
Changing into something better than before….

For We are all shattered and scattered
Taking our chances on the salty sea
Crashing over seas of joy and suffering
Love and loss and life to see….

And the sand is polishing, the waves are washing
Taking us to places never seen before
Preparing all of us for a different purpose
Becoming what we all were created for.

Angels

My birthday was last Wednesday, and Mermaid #2 gave me a lovely journal and a devotional book. She is a traditionalist when it comes to literature, so the book was The Imitation of Christ, By Thomas a Kempis. Originally written for monastics in the 14th century, the language is beautiful and very "King James." I am a sucker for anything renaissance/restoration, so a perfect gift for me.

During my last night's reading of that devotional tome, I started thinking about quiet service. About the angels that run around on earth, and just do good works. Quietly, not drawing attention, they love and give and make a difference.

I call myself blessed to know, love and be best friends with 3 ladies that are quiet and gently serving, serving. Each in her own way takes extra care with her family, her friends and the people she meets. Quietly, mermaid #2 teaches and reads and prays and serves. Loving and selfless, mermaid #3 mothers in a gentle way everyone she meets, while serving in her quietly gifted way. Not drawing attention, mermaid #4 offers solace and rest and hope and love, and gives gives gives.

So many people aspire to be something great, something seen and heard in a grand way. But the lives of quiet service are beyond worth. We sometimes forget that the unseen and unheard service are the things that are most prized with our God. I would like to pay a tribute to the women in my life, my Mom, Grandmother, Sister in laws, Mother in law and my close dear friends that have touched me in a quiet way that has changed me forever. Changed me to be more giving, less selfish, more generous and less worried about what others might think of me when I am more like Christ.

I wrote this song for Rikie when she moved away. She has always sounded Angelic, but people don't always know that she also has other angelic qualities, working diligently to serve God through serving her family and friends. She is such a loving, gentle mom, and I love her dearly.

I like to think of the four of us as those spirits in Hans Christian Andersons' The Little Mermaid, going around the earth helping quietly, not asking for things in return. They have shown me that the seen is so much less important than the unseen. And I am so grateful, as my mermaids continue to show me what it means to serve, really serve, and know that quiet service really does matter.

Cry Like An Angel

When words are unspoken when heartaches run long
When the mountains are misty and the heather is gone
When winter has frozen your heart to the core
You can cry to me softly, without any words.

Cry like an angel, sing like the sea
Cry like an angel, come cry to me
Dance like the fire, and soar like a bird
Cry like an angel, when there are no words.

When miles are between us and leagues still remain
The river will guide you back home again
When miles are between us and the storms rage and roar
Use the ocean to send your message to shore...

When your soul grows so tired and lonely with fear
Cry out on the western wind, and I will hear.

and Cry like an angel, sing like the sea
Cry like an angel come cry to me,
Dance like the fire, and soar like a bird
Cry like an angel...when there are no words.

Joy in the Morning

The last few nights we have been up all night. Robert has been ill and Ryan has been ill and we have not slept. Excruciating to wait until the morning comes. Sleep is elusive and loneliness is your only companion. After a while you run out of things to pray about, and the prayer becomes a mantra, of "Lord, let me get to sleep!"

But then I was looking through a letter this afternoon...I had put it away to think and pray about it. It was from a friend who has seen some lonely times and has a living testimony to share. She and her husband are adopting a child and I sat and just cried tears of joy and relief.

(of course that is easy to do when you are working on 2 hours of sleep, but I was very happy, too.)

I love to vicariously watch some one's journey from sadness to joy, from darkness into light and from night to morning. I read scripture to Ryan last night, it said "though the sorrow may last through the night, joy comes in the morning."

Much like the dark of night, the sadness that consumes us is consumed by the sun that rises in the east. My friend has always had the metaphor of the caterpillar on her blog and emails. A caterpillar lives and cocoons and then,must think...'this is all there is.' But the darkness of the cocoon is short lived, and the caterpillar must be very surprised, awakening to change and to beauty and to flight.

I thought last night about the garden and about loneliness, and sleeplessness and terrible sorrow. I thought about the lonely nights for the disciples..Friday night, Saturday night. No joy to be found in those mornings. And the nights: long, cold, dark, hopeless and helpless.

But Sunday, Sunday always has a way of coming. And the caterpillar awakens and the night is gone and the Sun rises. And the Son rises.

So I am happy for my friend and I am happy that her morning of joy has come. Welcome, Elora, you are greatly loved, you are greatly wanted. I am ready to see you fly.

See You Fly

In your cocoon
Cozy like a womb
We are waiting for you, keep waiting for you

A love deeper than the sea
A crown of victory
We are waiting for you, keep waiting for you

For God is sending you right into our midst
Keeping all the mysteries hidden in his fist
Finally letting go and looking to the Sky
He has plans for you
And I cant wait to see you fly

Shining like a light
Like a beacon in the night
Hope is calling to us, calling to us

When the night was dark
There was always a spark
When Love was looking for you, and we were looking too.

For God is sending you right into our midst
Keeping all the mysteries hidden in His fist
We are letting go and looking to the sky
He has plans for you
And I cant wait to see you fly

There is coming a day
When I will see your face
And I will look at you, and God will be there too

You will spread your wings
And our heart will sing
Music that will rhyme, our story written before time..


For God is sending you right into our midst
Keeping all the mysteries hidden in His fist
But we are letting go and looking to the sky
He has plans for you
And I cant wait to see you fly