Author / tracycpoetry

by tracycpoetry

Growing Young

Anyone who has met my Dad knows that one of his favorite pastimes is joking around with anybody and everybody around him.

Well…. he’s met his match in pranksters in the teaching team of West Park Baptist’ Church’s Parent’s Day Out program (where my amazing Mom loved teaching preschoolers before heading to Heaven and my Dad now volunteers)!

Dad gets there every morning before anyone else so he can have the coffee made and be at his post by the door to greet the little ones with his infamous “high five” from “Mr. Jay”. He starts his day by hanging his hat on a hook before he goes about his business.

Over the past few weeks, Dad goes to retrieve his hat at day’s end often finds that one of the teachers has “kidnapped” it. Dad then must go on a hunt – sometimes complete with ransom notes and clues – to find it.

On the last day of school before Thanksgiving, the hat was still on its hook – but it had been turned into a turkey!

At age 82, Dad is showing me that there is an alternative to growing old. We can choose to grow young by never taking ourselves too seriously and not missing opportunities to make someone else smile.

Thanks, Dad! You’ll always be my favorite turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

by tracycpoetry

The Two-Step to God’s Best: A Dance Move for Your Soul

1) Let God reveal….

Listen. Be still. Be present. Be aware. (This is not an easy task in today’s world filled with these little screens in our hands).

And…. Don’t limit the way He speaks to a sermon, Bible verse, or some seemingly theological insight. He may speak to you through a friend, a movie, the top 40 on the radio, or -most often- a quiet whisper to your own soul.

2)Stay steady.

Remain consistent. Sync your every step with the Maker of your soul.

And notice…. I didn’t say (nor did the Bible) that this is a two-step plan to happiness or to the Westernized world’s version of success.

God’s best may not feel good in the moment. It may not look good or smell right or put you in the limelight.

But it will create a stronger connection to our Creator and to His most favorite creation, other people.

And… in the end, isn’t that all that matters?

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” – Jesus, Matthew 22:37-39

by tracycpoetry

The Toughest Love

I stayed.

I prayed.

For decades.

But finally I knew the marriage was dead and draining the life from both of us. And the only way for either us to have a chance at surviving was to create a necessary ending.

Even though I know that, for me, leaving was the only choice left and became a matter of survival – sometimes the “what if’s” and “if only’s” begin to drop anchor on my soul.

I see friends celebrate anniversaries by sharing social media posts about how they stuck with it through the hard times and prayed and fasted through the tough spots…. As I keep scrolling, I start wondering…. Should I have prayed more? Should I have endured more? Improved myself more? Fasted more? Covered the house with more anointing oil although the place was pretty much slick with it?

But I have to step away from the shoulds about the past or they will shroud my present.

So I blogged the blurb below as a reminder to myself and hopefully an encouragement to others….

You prayed about that decision like crazy. You probably even delayed what your God was telling you to do because of what other people were telling you to do.

Now…. let’s give ourselves the grace to move freely forward… leaving the “would if’s” and “should of’s” and that piece of ourselves wrapped up in that other person in the hands of our Maker.

by tracycpoetry

Move forward: Not because you are perfect. But because He is and you are in Him.

To my fellow pilgrims on a faith journey: It is so important to remember that our righteousness (right standing with God) is not up to us – it’s up to Him. If we try to be perfect in our own efforts – it will never happen. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll just turn overwhelmed and lethargic at the impossible feat and just give up. But if we truly grasp the grace that our Maker chose to wrap us in the righteousness of His own Son, we’ll skip forward like a happy toddler with nothing to prove to a doting parent. We will want to run forward because of the knowing that even the most wavering of steps brings a smile to the face of our Father. And we are His. No matter what.

by tracycpoetry

What would your warning label say?

This “What would your warning label say?” question floating around social media triggered a lot of thought (and, of course a new blog post) in me this morning.

My warning label would say, “Stronger and more complicated than meets the eye.” – A “still water runs deep” kind of vibe. I think I’ve been sized up more than once in my life as the quiet compliant one; someone others might be able to mold into whomever they want or need her to be. But those who made those assumptions were often later caught off guard by the stubborn fierceness of a complicated soul.

It’s a good thing our Maker is not surprised or put off by our warning labels. I’m thankful that my #GoodGoodFather is big enough to handle this big personality with even bigger dreams and ideas sometimes hidden beneath a thin layer of quiet and calm. Know this friends: however foreboding your fictitious warning label may be to others, God can handle all of you – and very much wants you to place all of you in His hands so He can.