Thorns, Thistles, Prostitution, & Assignments: An Unexpected Journey

After writing the poem below, I am still reminded of God message through Hosea, which was one of repentance, encouragement, and love. Also, despite the thistle and thorn bushes amongst us, we need to be concerned about the soil of our heart. What is it receiving, and how is it reacting to the trials and things that surround us and or attack us?

Remember to "Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes and showers His righteousness on you."(Hosea 10:12 NLT).I don't want bitterness rooted in me, and yet, some wounds from people reoccur. It seems almost to test the decisions I make. Will I let the cares of this life corrupt my heart, or will I be a tool for Christ? Will I let Him use me? Will I walk the unexpected road: Thorns, Thistles, and Assignments? I will, and I will pray for rain until it comes! Jesus, make it rain! In Jesus name! He is with you in your journey!

Enjoy the song: "Rain Down" by Rita Springer. This is my prayer today! Rain in my heart Lord and shine through the thorns and thistles that nag at my soul as if to capture it and separate me from Your love. Let Your rain shower on me, Lord! It's supper time; I can taste it! Can you? Press in!

Thorns, Thistles, Prostitution, & Assignments: A Poem
Sometimes things are difficult traveling an unexpected highway.
Hosea married Gomer, a prostitute, and named their children:
God-plants, not-loved, and not-my-people.
God used his life to show Israel the pain their actions caused.
Hosea did not deserve this request and charge;
Yet, he accepted the thistle & thorn bushes making him a tool in God’s hands.

Sometimes life is thorny, and we walk an inconceivable & tedious road.
Jesus puts in the heart of every little girl grand hopes and dreams.
To marry, be loved, have children, grow old, just to name a few!
If one focuses on life’s stings, they could miss the significance of their journey.
He planted us in peoples’ lives to be Christ to His people.
Our fragrance is His love that we bring to everyone’s lives around us.
Like Hosea, we can be God's tool amidst the barbwire and pickers!

Twenty Feet Down

Frozen icicles hanging from a rooftop have a sure destiny.
The ultimate time of their end depends on the temperature of the air,
The wind factors, and the heat that escapes through the attic.
There is no thought about it; it just is.
They will return to the Earth one day.

Veering over a ledge looking twenty feet down.
You have choices to make.
This depends on the heaviness of your sorrow,
The amount of time you think you have left,
And your thoughts on what will happen if they do or don’t.

Neither choice seems well,
So you wait and wait!
You feel frozen like an dead icicle,
But you know that either way,
It will be over one day......
Either way!

It will be ALL over one day!

(C) Ileana Reich 2008

Blink

Blinks
Why, in a split second, a murder is committed, a baby is born,
a hamster dies, a mailman retires, a drunk driver kills a woman,
an earthquake destroys an entire community, a child is kidnapped,
a person finds a job, another looses their job, one faints,
an individual gets an incurable disease,
and then a person is healed?

Why, in the blink of an eye, a soul is saved,
an angel rejoices, a teenager commits suicide, a couple gets divorced,
a couple marries, a dog gets run over by a car,
a puppy is born, a basement floods, a contract is broken,
a vow is made, a car breaks down,
one becomes sick and throws-up?

All in the blink of an eye!

(C) Ileana Reich 2004

Air Keeps Me Alive

Air Keeps Me Alive
I clench my fists and shake them in this space.
I clench my jaws and try to hold in air.
My heart throbs laboriously.
I always come back to this hell-

Clenched fists and jaws.
Expressions escape both painfully and indignantly with each exhale.
Air- it keeps me alive.
As long as I care, I’ll keep beating the air.
Will it always be this awkward?

Air- it keeps me alive!

(C) Ileana Reich 2009

The Unexpected Hour

The Unexpected Hour
What is IT that Stocks the Soul and Wounds the broken heart?
Why do lonely and unfortunate people flock to it?
Does
Death give answers?
Or does pain swelling Cloud the issue?

In the hour of Death one runs to it as if IT is his or her savior.
And Death, Death is often the first thing a prisoner
Considers.
“How, when, where,
And, will anyone care?”

Death crawls under My door enticing Me to embrace its Haven.
The fog creeps in my soul and the cool breeze is
Hypnotizing.
That I must shake myself to awaken my semi-numbed senses!
And, in the hour of Death, I unexpectedly find
Life !

(C) Ileana Reich 2004

Worlds Apart

Worlds Apart
On the far side of my ocean,
That’s where you are.
Our positions never meet,
They find quick defeat!
Confused, frustrated, and determined
Echoes travel across this vast distance.
Only to hit a wall,
Right in the middle of my ocean!

On the far side of the ocean
Is your cold and closed beach.
Our words disconnect over tides,
You live your own life.
Your coded, loaded, and bloated
Stiff echoing noncantankerous
Words rebound right back to your beach,
And my silent ocean is bleak.

On the far side of your scarlet beach,
Across my indigo ocean.
Our opposite worlds never meet.
I swim with shipwrecked sailors.
You fish!

(C) Ileana Reich 2008

Moment In the Sand

A Moment in the Sand
Sand
Sun
Shells
Ocean
Breeze

Hope
Faith
Joy
Mental
Peace

Dedicated to my daughter, Angel Felkins

(C) Ileana Reich 2008

Merry-Go-Round

My head is spinning...

Merry-go-round, merry -go-round.

Surfing, swaying, gliding....

In and out of madness.

And the merry-go-round round...

Plays a merry sound sound.

It haunts me!

Stop! Wait! Get me off!

Confusion, motion, volatile commotion.

I want off this merry-go-round!

So, why do I keep staying on it?

(C) Ileana Reich 2004

On the Edge

On The Edge

Living on the edge of nowhere,

Where the desert meets no oasis,

I look for answers,

There I look for water

(C) Ileana Reich 2004

Blank

Blank
Blank this paper is blank
There are no words to describe it.
So many things, so many plans
When-WHEN?
Mixed thoughts, new thoughts
What does it mean?
What do they mean?

When-WHEN?
Write a novel
Sing a song
The unknown is
BLANK

(C) Ileana Reich 2004

Am

Am

I am the only one
Who knows my life, my shame, and my pain.
My hopes, my dreams, my love, my children, my friends,
My shortcomings, and even my very end.



I am the only one who will eventually know the answers I need.
I am the only one who can know what Jesus wants me to do.
I am the only one who sees my life confused & often
misunderstood,


And, even I have hurt others with my words and actions.
I am the one right, right now,
In this very glimmer of time that truly wants to know what to do.

(C) Ileana Reich 2004

My Dream

My Dream
In this world, we look for a place where we feel safe.
A home to speak, to wonder, and to dream in.
Far beyond the oceans, I can see it.

In this world, I hope for a place where love and joy meet.
A life to live, to laugh, and have peace in.
Far beyond the heavens, I can dream it.

(C) Ileana Reich 2008

Petrified

Petrified

Frozen petrified rock

"Live! Live! Live!"

But a frozen petrified rock will not!

(C) Ileana Reich 2008

Crisis

Crisis

Crisis comes at the most inopportune time.

There is never any reason or rhyme.

Yet it comes, blowing off the lake.

No chance this storm will ever break.

Hurry! Hurricane ___is on its way,

And all I can do is stay!

(C) Ileana Reich 2008