By RTF Editor BJ Hamrick

In the stillness of the quiet
You whisper in my ear
And everything surrounding me
Begins to disappear

You take my disappointment
My anger and my fear
You hold me in your gentle arms
And wipe away my tears

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.

Psalm 103:13

Like trees and their wardrobes, as cold weather arrives,

So nothing remains,

Change touches our lives.

Spring’s gentle innocence, unexplored summer air,

Fall’s changing colors,

Winters cold and bare.

Like trees in a forest, Lives rub against our own,

Each life and each tree,

Stands where it was sown.

Leaves turn as seasons do, and close knit lives may change,

Brighter colors come,

We could not arrange.

New come as old trees go, a different midnight voice,

The first autumn leaf,

Drifting down by choice.

- By Ethan Hamrick (a.k.a. BJ’s Guy)

by Lydia Rule

Happily summer begins
Quickly summer ends
Choices are made
Foundations laid

We sing, dance, and play
But at the end of the day
What did we do or say
To honor our Lord, in every way?

Waves come ashore
Then flee with a roar
Our life oft the same
Leaving as quickly as it came.

What time we possess
Give not to selfish caress
Lift your eyes to see more,
Find a Purpose to live for!

When you sit in the sun
And bask in the fun
Take time to praise
The Giver of Life’s short days.

by Catey Yuen

Drip. Drip.
I do not understand the water
That falls like a birdsong on my face
You say it cleanses
Then why is the dirt pouring on
Me?

You chose me. You chose this
Dark creaking beast to be my Shelter
In a long storm. I didn’t
Choose it for myself.
Why me? I am not
Good or Beautiful and I did not
Know you then. I hardly know you now.

Unworthy is a good word.
It’s who I am right now in the face of
This Great Flood that threatens me
But somehow, you protect.
How is it you could love a fool like me?

Is this who I am? More than just the
Earth on my face or the water in my hands,
I am made in your image
These eyes are to see destruction and live
These hands to cradle in love like you do
This heart to beat like yours
Is this who I am?

Unworthy is a good word.
But that is not who I am.

by Suzie Eller, RTF Founder

I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.  (John 15:5  THE MESSAGE)

Dear God,
When I spend time with you
I grow
Like a vine
Heavy with fruit
Fertilized with your Spirit
Blip! (more…)

by BJ Hamrick, RTF Staff Writer

Crumpled and lost
In a new world
The wind blows hard
I’m tossed and hurled

Wasn’t it best
How I used to be
With legs to crawl
And eyes to see?

What are these frail
And aching things?
I call them pain
You call them wings

I wrote this in an e-mail to a friend one late night. I was struggling because I’d cried out to God so many times to heal me, and yet all of Heaven seemed silent. Then God reached down into my heart and showed me that the sickness I thought was tying me down, was the thing He was using to help me fly to new heights in my relationship with Him.

by Lydia Rule, RTF Staff Writer

(Proverbs 1:20-33)

Waiting in the streets

To rescue from night

Wisdom cries, for people

To follow The Light

Wisdom shoved aside;

People running past

“Listen to my fated plea!

Listen to truth at last!”

Wisdom speaks loudly

Through many voices

Of those around you

Forewarning choices (more…)