Accused

On her knees
she stands accused
like a child.
Again.

Her heart skips straight to her Father.
And in that quiet place
her heart rips and tears to shreds.
Her heart bleeds over the pain she's caused herself and others.

And the tears ...

And she cries out to God -

I can't withstand this much longer.
How long?

How long will this tarry?
Oh, Lord, how long will You tarry.
Because I don't know how long I can tarry.

And He scoops His broken, lifeless child in His hands.
He rips the enemy's accusation.
He resuscitates her with His righteousness.
Because He is completely guilty of loving her.
And He stands her to her feet.
Again.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. - Psalm 34:18

**

The enemy will graze us with guilt-ridden jeers, then he'll turn and graze on our every single tear.

The guile of the enemy is to remind us of our guilt, knowing full well he is guilty, too.

**

Reaching Up

Help me

I want to be

Far from pain

In a world of gain. 

Help me

It’s hard to see

A different me

Yeah, a different me. 

I’m reaching up

Take this cup

You are my hero; you are my rescue; you are my Savior

Come for me. 

Help me

I want to be

Free at last

Far from the past 

Help me

Your face I see

You’ve come for me

Yeah, You’ve come for me. 

I’m reaching up

Take this cup

You are my hero; you are my rescue; you are my Savior

Come for me.

 

Song written for my beloved grandmother.

©Shelli Littleton 2013

 

Choose

When pain pierces into your heart and your head

And sadly, you see where your choices have led

And undoubtedly, you have made your own bed

And you wonder about shelter or will you be fed

And you're tired of a hand out and begging for bread

And you grow weary of tears from living with dread

And being surrounded by the living dead

And you're tired of happiness dependent on meds

And you're tired of finances forever written in red
And you're tired of two steps backwards, only one step ahead

And you're tired of being tired, no strength, not a shred
And you're tired of hanging on by a very thin thread

And you're contemplating relief from a cartridge of lead

 

Choose Jesus instead
 

Born in a lowly manger bed

The disciples He led

5,000 He fed
A price on His head

Sweat drops of red

Up to Calvary was led

Suffered and bled
His blood freely shed
Punished for sin in our stead

Rose 3 days from the dead

The Bridegroom to wed

Our daily bread
Who hates sin, every shred

Who loves you, every thread

Will judge the living and dead
 

Jesus ...

No more tears, no more dread
You will not be misled

And everybody said?



Amen.

By Shelli Littleton Copyright 2014



Storms

 

 

We are in the midst of an ice storm

In Texas.

We are so blessed to still have electricity.

We are doubly blessed to have a warm home

To have food 

To have each other

To have

To have Jesus.

 

 

We have to be prepared for life's storms.

They will come.
 

What will hold us up through life's storms?
The storms that weigh heavy
The storms that threaten to break us
The storms that cloud everything living
The storms that seek to bind
 

"The Lord is my shepherd

I.Shall.Not.Want."

Psalm 23

Simple as that.

 

In other words:

Lord, you are all I need.

Through the cold
He brings warmth
He brings life
He brings stability
He brings freedom

To have

 

And it is that simple.

We can't trust ourselves.

We can't even trust what we think about

Ourselves.

Why?

 

 

Over-rated is self-esteem
So unpredictable it seems
It will lie to you whenever it deems

Self is here
Self is there
Self is everywhere

Self can’t be trusted
Was given a chance, but got busted
For after others it lusted

Christ-esteem is a worthy endeavor
He doesn’t change, the same forever
Will He lie to you? No, not ever

Self-rejection
Is a lethal infection
That needs a Christ injection

 

By Shelli Littleton Copyright 2013


Only in God can we trust.

We can have
electricity
food
shelter
each other
self esteem
life
freedom
stability

But without Jesus
We are utterly destitute.

See the big picture





Do You?

Remembering what our Jesus went through for us ...

So that we could go through life with Him. 

Do You?

Do you ever feel abandoned?

Do you ever feel despair?

Do you watch a loved one turn and go?

Do you watch the fragments tear?

 

Do you hear the words: "I - hate - you"?

Do you feel them pierce your heart?

Do you feel your whole world shatter?

Do you gather broken parts?

 

Do you realize your Jesus knows?

Do you know what He went through?

Do you ponder His heart-wrenching question:

“You do not want to leave too, do you?”

 

 

Inspired by John 6:67 NIV

 

By Shelli Littleton Copyright 2013




Jesus, you are breathtaking.

 

 

Overwhelm

“Your daughter has a Wilms tumor”
And your heart sinks
You grab her sleeping body in your arms and as you rock,
You capture the way that she breathes and the way that she blinks
And you are overwhelmed
And then God came down
Through sisters and brothers just like you
Courage comes and fear seems to drown
And you know that you can face this day
And you can face the next day...
And you walk on stones of faith and hope and love
And at Jesus’ feet, overwhelm is laid.

 

- by Shelli Littleton (copyright 2013)



2001 at Cook Childrens

2001 at The Ronald McDonald House

 

Gain

When you are mourning loss~
And oh, it comes in many forms~

loss of a child
loss of a spouse
loss of sound mind
loss of your house

loss of security
loss of mobility...
loss of acceptance
loss of tranquility

And your throat is tight from restricting the tears
And why the pain for so many years?
And the tears still come
And you wonder is their an escape from ...

 

the pain

 

Gaze upon the Bright Morning Star.
And you "will" gain.

- by Shelli Littleton (copyright 2013)

 

 

 

Dear Martha and Dear Mary

Dear Martha

One sitting at those precious feet

Listening to Jesus sharing

One is steadily working

Accusing Him of not caring.

 

You saw He raised your brother

Surely heard water turned to wine

Saturate the feet of Jesus, Martha

Is there a perfume too fine?

 

Sit at the feet of Jesus, Martha

The distractions will be okay

Emulate Mary; do the best thing

"It will not be taken away."

 

When giving a dinner in Jesus' honor

Let Him graciously pick up the bill

Take off those shoes; recline with Him

And your house He will fragrantly fill.

 

"Martha, Martha, 'Only one thing is needed,'"

Jesus would lovingly chide

Didn't you know by now, Dear Martha

That Jesus would always provide?

- by Shelli Littleton (copyright 2013)

  

***

Dear Mary


One sitting at those precious feet

That will never be taken away

One complaining, "Tell her to help me"

But at Jesus' feet you did stay.

 

You saw He raised your brother

Surely heard water turned to wine

You would saturate the feet of Jesus

There was no perfume too fine.

 

You sat at the feet of Jesus, Mary

The distractions weren't a care

You poured the oil on His precious feet

And wiped them with your hair.

 

When a dinner was given in Jesus' honor

You let Him graciously pick up the bill

When others would scold, He said, "Leave her alone"

And your house He did fragrantly fill.

 

Mary, Mary, you chose the best

As Jesus would lovingly side

Because you knew in your heart, Dear Mary

Jesus would always provide.

- by Shelli Littleton (copyright 2013)

 

 

 

Our family; God's sweet provision





When it Rains

 

When it rains

let a sister or brother help you take cover

so you can capture and conquer it to aid another

 

 

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

who comforts us in all our troubles,

so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort

we ourselves receive from God."

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

"So" Loved

 

When life is tough, you just feel rough,

 

nothing goes right, money is tight,

 

you just feel low, not a thread to sew

 

... remember ...

 

you are

so loved

 

(John 3:16).

 

 

 

 

 

I ran over a curb today,

after digging through my purse at a stop sign to make a donation!

I can't do two things at once.

Karalee said, "Mom, I'm embarrassed."

I was just as embarrassed.

Then we all got tickled about it.

Praising God for a rainy day.

Love, Shelli  

 

 

Life is a Gift

 

 

Once a baby
Tender locks of hair
What a blessed parent
To have embraced you there 

A little child
Hair twirling through air
What a blessed mommy
To have this day to share 


Young lady now
Hair rollers of blue
What a blessed sister
To have these years with you

Time has passed
The hair is gray
What a blessed daughter
To have had you today 

Face is thin
My heart will care
What a blessed grand-daughter
To comb your treasured hair   

Peace has come
Others comb your hair
What a blessed family
The loss is hard to bear 

-By Shelli Littleton
Copyright 2013 

My beloved grandmother's tea set from childhood.

 

The loss is hard to bear.
I will always cherish combing her precious hair.

 

 We often forget: we were all that little child.
Special to someone.
Special to God.

Happy Valentine's Day ... Contentment and Chocolate

Y'all, I wrote this poem on "contentment" several years back. I thought it might bring you a good chuckle on this Valentine's Day. We all face hardships of all kinds ... some easy/ some so hard we aren't sure we can press on. In the midst, we often find it hard to be content, and we grumble and complain. Who doesn't want life on easy-street?! But when we seek God with all our heart, through the hardship, we discover that the hardship brings us closer to Him and allows us to know Him in a way we would have never known Him on easy-street.

Being silly, as usual, I broke the word “con-tent-ment” down to define what “discontent” means:
Con - feeling like a prisoner

Tent - stuck in a tent (prison)

Ment (mint) - wishing one was in a hotel room with a pillow and a mint!

God, I don’t like this tent I’m in

Cause it’s cold outside and I’m shiverin’.

You know I don’t want to be known as a complainer.

But I’d rather be in a hotel room for the remainder.

Cause there’s so much left of the night to go.

I’m freezin’, Lord, cause it’s eight below!

The dust on this old air mattress is making me cough

And I roll on the floor when my husband gets off!

My toes are cold, and my poor ol’ back aches

And I think my husband forgot the tent stakes.

The tent has even fallen down a time or two.

Now, honey, I’m not pointin’ the finger at you.

And I know I look silly in hair rollers of blue.

The curl probably won’t stay anyway cause of the dew.

And I’m afraid of having to go to the potty at night

Cause there are too many critters in Texas that bite!

And the fire has died down …

Oh … what was that sound?!

I feel stuck like a prisoner cause the lightnin’ has changed its direction.

And every time I try to use the cell phone, I lose my connection.

I just don’t know that tent camping is for me.

I’d even be happy with a slightly used RV.

Oh Lord, I’m trying so hard to be content.

But, I’d rather be in a warm hotel room with a pillow and a mint!

Okay, how silly can this poem get?! (pronounced "git" ... Texas slang)

- By Shelli Littleton (copyright)

Y'all, when we begin to see God work through our hardships, being in the tent (our hardship) suddenly won’t be so bad; we’ll trade the hotel room and the chocolate mint because we won’t want to miss out on what God has in store for us.

Psalm 61:14 says, “I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.” Then we will be satisfied and content. Psalm 145:16 says about the LORD: “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”

Dwell with God in your tent … His tent … and He will provide a shelter for you that cannot be shaken, and you will be content. In fact, your idea of what brings contentment may even change. Suddenly, we realize: God is all we need. That realization is sheer deliverance.

“The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”

Psalm 34:7