First Love contd
That night’s sleep was deep and so peaceful
I awoke refreshed,
Devotions and prayers felt like a celebration
A huge country-style breakfast awaited
Bible study followed
Everything rang with Truth,
Tastes, smells, sounds, colours textures
Clearer, brighter than ever before
It was a large, old, double brick house
Full of creaking stairways and polished wood panelling
Deep in the basement kitchen
An Aga cooker gave out physical warmth and wholesome meals
The table wide and long, opened to common plenty & conversations,
Laughter & Togetherness
On the menu for dinner – chicken casserole & apple blackberry pie
Our task was to search out and harvest wild blackberries
We piled into cars and drove to Fingle Bridge
Here an ancient stone bridge spans a small river valley
Lush with verdant woodland
High above, rolling moorland hills kept guard
Here, wandering the dell, we collected fruit
Here wandering the Dell God chose to teach
As He teaches daily those who are open
I noticed so much, and lessons would suddenly occur
God was my first thought, He was top of the order
When that balance is right such revelations just happen
Thorny brambles revealed how temptations catch at us
Then in one step how easy to become entangled if care isn’t taken
Better to stay on the right path…
Thorns made goals more difficult,
Prickles made reaching for fruit complicated
I would take time reaching for ripe, plump fruit
Hanging just out of reach, only for it to fall away as I pressed in
Such a waste of time and effort
But on pulling back in disappointment
I’d suddenly find right there in front of me
Equally luscious fruits
I smiled then, and smile now
For so often that same lesson has returned to remind me
To set expectations a little lower, aim for a little bit less
The river running beneath Fingle Bridge is crisp and clean,
Upstream I discovered a deep pool surrounded by a shelf of stony shallows
near one bank
It looked as if long ago it had been purposely placed
A half-moon ridge with gaps could still be seen
I wonder did ancients farm fish here?
The spawn could easily make a way across the shallows, into the safety of the pool
And there grow fat and too big to leave
So many dangerous choices lead us in easy
The pleasure we take in them making it so hard to leave
The river that day displayed so many faces, moods and moments
In Riverbank shadows Death’s darkness loomed
The water hung deep, heavy and cold
In the shallow, stony watercourse the water chattered busily
Lively, sparkling Brightwater
Deepwater, Slow with Stronger pull
So the river sweeps in its quest to reach the sea
Kingdom living is all of these…
Same River,
Same Faith,
Same Spirit,
Same Journey
Different Seasons
That special day soon ended
All too soon ‘normal’ crowded in
I kept faith with God growing in many ways,
That Special Day remained a treasured memory
As Faith grows, and Relationship deepens
It returns from time to time
I see lessons in everyday beauty
I sense Whispered Reminders
I am reassured, encouraged that He is near
Like taking a walk in the First Garden
With a close, very Dear Friend
Watercolour, Words and Pictures © Denise Stanford 2010
Within the Vine 