I HAVE THESE HOLES
by ANNE PETERSON

Last night my sadness woke me up,
And I sobbed uncontrollably,
The world was sleeping,
So i turned to the Lord for conversation,

I feel like I'm getting my life together, Lord,
Except for these holes...
The losses I have had, have left these holes in me,
And now my life keeps seeping out the holes.

I've tried filling the holes with all kinds of things,
Business, food, sympathy from others;
But nothng works, I still have these holes.
And the grief from memories past enveloped me again.

And i sat rocking myself, holding myself,
Trying to give comfort to my pain,
Wanting to gain understanding,
This pain sure hurts, Lord.

And then as early morning came,
I heard Him softly call my name,
With nail-scarred hands, outstretched to me
He said so very tenderly, "I have holes too"
And then I knew,
He understands, as no one could.

We must learn to live together as brothers
or perish together as fools.

Hatred paralyzes life;
love releases it.

Hatred confuses life;
love harmonizes it.

Hatred darkens life;
love illuminates it."

~Martin Luther King Jr.~

A king may move a man.
A father may claim a son.

But remember that even when those who move you be kings
or men of power...

your soul is in your keeping alone.

When you stand before God, you cannot say,
"But I was told by others to do thus, or that virtue was not
convenient at the time."

This will not suffice.
Remember that.

~Spoken by the king in the movie, "Kingdom of Heaven"~

There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat.

He had an old rifle and three bullets. So, he decided that he
would go out hunting and kill some wild game for dinner.

As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit. He shot at the rabbit
and missed it.

The rabbit ran away.

Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and
missed it.

The squirrel disappeared into a hole in a cottonwood tree.

As he went further, he saw a large wild "Tom" turkey in the
tree, but he had only one bullet remaining.

A voice spoke to him and said, "Pray first, aim high and stay
focused."

However, at the same time, he saw a deer which was a better
kill.

He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer, but then he saw
a rattlesnake between his legs about to bite him so he
naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattlesnake.

Still, the voice said again to him, "I said, 'Pray, Aim high and
Stay focused.'"

So, the man decided to listen to God's voice.

He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree and shot the
wild turkey.

The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer.

The handle fell off the gun and hit the snake in the head and
killed it. And when the gun had gone off, it knocked him into
a pond.

When he stood up to look around, he had fish in all his pockets,
a dead deer and a turkey to eat for his family.

The snake (Satan) was dead simply because the man listened to
God.

Moral of the story:

Pray first before you do anything, aim and shoot high in your
goals, and stay focused on God.

Never let others discourage you concerning your past.
The past is exactly that, "the past."

Live every day one day at a time and remember that only God
knows our future and that He will not put you through any more
than you can bear.

Do not look to man for your blessings, but look to the doors
that only He has prepared in advance for you in your favor.

Wait, be still and patient; keep God first and everything else
will follow.

~Author Unknown~

He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.