The following two poems are from my second book All Is Well.
I wrote both poems during my cancer journey, the first shortly after diagnosis and the second after I had finished all of my cancer treatments.
It wasn't until a couple of years ago, when I was preparing for a poetry reading, that I discovered that the second poem shows a beautiful answer to the prayer in the first.
God doesn't always answer our prayers right away, and He doesn't always give the answer we're hoping for or expect.
But He does always hear our prayers.
Joy for Fear
(Written shortly after a cancer diagnosis)
I'm scared today.
So much ahead.
So much sickness.
The journey is too much for me.
But You've made this path for me.
Help me to walk in it willingly.
Give me the grace
for each moment
You bring me to.
Hold my shaking heart.
Send Your comfort.
Help me be a comfort
to the hurting around me
instead of just dwelling on myself.
Take my fear
and give me Your joy.
Joy
(Written after a year of cancer treatments)
There's a joy in my heart.
Through You. In You. Because of You.
Complete, mind-blowing, body-tingling, stabilizing
joy.
One of Your many, many gifts to me.
A joy that doesn't depend on circumstances,
that doesn't depend on people,
that doesn't depend on what mood I'm in,
what clothes I'm wearing,
what day it is.
A joy that only depends on You.
A joy that warms my heart in snowstorms,
comforts my heart in chaos,
and cradles my heart snuggly
when the world is lost and
confused around me.
A joy that is faithful,
enduring,
trustworthy, and endearing.
A joy that can be spread from heart to heart,
smile to smile,
soul to soul,
at the whisper of Your name,
in the reading of Your word.
A joy that is more powerful than the life around me,
that can smile through tears,
that can hug through hate,
that can hold on when everyone else lets go.
A joy beyond understanding,
beyond comprehension,
beyond my wildest dreams,
but not beyond my reach -
because You've placed it within my heart.
