Forever and a Day

You are the one...

the one who kneels under heaven
and asks, 'why am I here?
The one who's smile is a simple reflection
of a life filled with laughter, love, joy, and peace
You are the one who in time and past lives
secured a space in the deepest part of my heart
The one who captivates me with a smile each day

The one who loves me just the way I am
I will love you... forever and a day

These words were written in May of this year by my soulmate and love of my life, Nathan.  He was killed on Dec 20th. I'm heartbroken and lost without him. Even as I write, I feel like I'm in a horrible nightmare and I'm going to wake up and he's going to be here with me.  He loved me more than anyone in this world.  It was a once in a lifetime kind of love.  He was my very best friend and the sunshine of my day.  His love was pure and unconditional.  He respected me and treated me as his Queen.  He was planning a surprise wedding next year.  I learned of his plans from his friends. 

A part of me is confused, angry, hurt and well, there are no words.  All I know is that he was so proud of me for starting this blog and enjoyed my talk of all of you.  He loved reading your comments and had good laughs with some of your posts. I knew he would want me to post this. 

This post is dedicated to the memory of his neverending love for me and the love I will forever hold in my heart for him. Please keep me and his family in your prayers so God can give us the strength to overcome this great loss.  I take comfort in the knowledge that his soul is in a better place, although I miss him dearly.  The funeral is on Thursday.  Thank you all in advance for your warm thoughts and prayers.

For those of you who haven't read our love story, you can read Finding Each Other One Last Time Pt.I and Pt.II

I'm sure you can all understand, I will not be posting for a while.  As much as I want to hide away alone, give up and let it all go, I know in my heart that that's not what he would've wanted. I will return, but I don't know when.  

Much love,

Ellie

*art by joey remmers

Stop Beating

(This is a slow to fast beat piece)


Still alive…

Still my heart is beating; even though there are times when I wish it would just stop!

Stop beating… I tell my heart 

Stop beating, I want to be with my God

Stop beating, help me stop hurting 

Stop beating, help me stop crying

Stop beating, so there’s no pain- no more feeling

Only numbness left behind

The sleep of peace is all I ask for

Did you hear me, old foolish heart of mine?

Stop beating, I say to you my ruthless heart; don’t you see I’m tired of crying out

Stop beating you blood-thirsty heart surrounded by vessels and walls of tissue to protect you from the harms and pains this body endures

Stop beating, I tell this wicked heart of mine who disobeys, strays away, grows rebellious and justifies itself with the “I-am-in-control-of-this-body”…

Knowing if it wasn’t for its pumping-thumping-pounding… this body would crash and cave in

Stop beating, I tell this crazy heart of mine who wants to disobey my voice and do not my will, but God’s

Stop beating, so I could lay my head and never wake to the light of a new day

Stop beating, so I don’t have to go through the daily motions of where I’ve been, where I am headed and what the future brings

Collapse, you selfish heart!

Thinking you’re in control of my life

Thinking you’re going to keep me alive...
When all I want to do is forsake this skin and die!

Why should I live in a world that is out of control?

Suffering the pains of past mistakes and failures

Fighting the could’ve, should’ve battles

This monster of a heart grows in me like Goliath, who will not quit but fight

Thinking in the end, he will win the war

You see just like Goliath you’ll be defeated, in the end you’ll die

 I can’t wait for that day when you’re hit against the head and fall to your destruction

But you tell me that time is on your side…That the moment hasn’t come for you to stop pounding

That the choice is not yours
You have a higher Master who started your ticking and gave you a time to stop

You say He told you not to quit or stop breathing even if I pleaded you to stop

Even if you heard my cries, like an echo carried through pulses of veins, screaming out …

I beg you to stop! For I can’t bear the pain

I beg you stop! For I can’t see in darkness

I beg you…please stop! There’s nothing to live for

Stop beating! I command you… let me go in peace

Stop beating … let me rest from the troubles of this world

Don’t you know? My time is up; this life is much too long

Please let me go be with my God

If you should hear such a cry, oh convoluted heart of mine

Why don’t we make a bargain and you just let me die!

But your response is not to my surprise

You tell me that Your Master sends messages traveling through my veins

It’s the blood you tell me… It’s His blood that runs to me…

Roaming through your body, going straight to what you call me…heart

You see I cannot listen, even in your begging; for there are things

you must endure, in spite of all the pain

It’s through much suffering and tears that you come close to God

So don’t ask me to stop beating, for HE commands me to remember that specific time

When He made you, He hovered over me and whispered a set date and time

When I was to stop ticking and thumping and pumping the blood of the One who chose to die…

Not from all your suffering but because He himself became the Bruised

Through grief, He wrapped himself in the entire affliction and oppression of the world

and took it to his death so that you may now continue living

You see, I cannot stop beating because I hold in memory your time just like I held His time of death

But you and I both know that He was special so I had to start pumping up again

And if I were to tell you this, said the heart to me, you’d probably think it crazy

I am only the pump that beats in the cavity of your chest and keeps your physical body alive

The real element here, holding the seat to your emotions…the root of all your sorrows;

Your pain, anger and frustration; your hurt, misery, and tears… is actually the Mind!

Where all of your memories remain…the thing that haunts you and feeds you fear

So if you’re looking for someone to blame or a solution to your problem

don’t order me to stop beating but give command to your mind to stop thinking!

For the heart of man is deceiving, who can know it says the Lord

Think how it can be possible for the heart to be deceiving when it doesn’t have a brain of its own 

So I say again… speak to your mind and tell it to die from all the past pains you’ve endured

so that we may both live together and do the work of the Lord…

You see, you are not finished yet! I keep hearing God say to you

For when your destiny is complete…your heart and mind will know the truth

To stop ticking like a clock that has served its purpose and lived the span of its lifetime

They’ll both say to you … No more!

The hands of the clock will no longer tell time, they will never give the hour passed your counted days, weeks, months or years to come… for your time on Earth has ended

But until that time arrives and God, Himself gives word

Learn to live … and please sing me a new song, for I am sick of your request

Tell me that you are happy and full of greater joy… smile at me on this day and the next

Say I, your Heart to thee…for I have not stopped beating… like you once ordered me!

Copyright © 2003 Ellie Kings

Note: This Spoken Word piece birthed out from the darkness I spoke of in my last post.  Please excuse grammatical errors.  It’s merely for the benefit of my performance. Also, Blogger gave me difficulties getting it to look the way it should.

Art by Madalina Iordache

Can You Hear Me?

Our burden is heavy.  Our baggage weighs much.  The things that once made us laugh no longer do.  We walk the path of the heavy laden.  We carry burdens that keep us bound.  We suppress anger.  We walk into our dark room and shut the door behind.  We seek relief, but relief doesn't live here anymore.   

The prayer wick is dimming.  The candle is almost out and fear creeps in just like it did before.  You know, when we were younger and were afraid of the dark. When we were naïve and didn't know the boogie-man wasn't real. When we felt helpless and utterly alone with no one to save us from darkness. 


Now that we're all grown up, should we still be afraid of the dark?  Should we still feel helpless?


These were my thoughts when I was fighting depression a few years back.  I couldn't understand how a cheerful, bubbly person like me could go from bouncing off walls and slaying dragons, so to speak, to staring out my window with a dazed look on my face.  It was as if I was hypnotized.  I could actually see myself floating over my body, yelling at myself, "Wake up! Wake up! Get out of the dark! You have much to do! You have to live!"  But I was deaf to my own voice. 


As the months went by, I grew lethargic and weary.  My muscles ached all the time.  I couldn't sleep at night and had difficulty getting out of bed during the day.  I suffered crying spells, migraines, anxiety, loss of appetite, and couldn't concentrate on anything.  I wanted to crawl in a hole and simply die.  I didn't want to end it myself, but I did welcome death with open arms.


Silence choked my voice.  My song died.  My dance slumped.  All I wanted to do was scream!!! with every fiber of my soul.  Scream!!! loud enough until my voice was heard.  Scream!!! until I returned to me.  But no one heard and no one cared.  They were all too busy to really see.
  

Still my soul peeked out through tiny windows of my eyes, my hands on the bars of my prison and whispered in anguish...

...Can you hear me?  ... Can you hear me?

Have you been here?  When the burdens feel too heavy to carry? When your voice is not heard?  When you search for rest but can't seem to find it?  If you listen closely, you'll understand that the Lord wants to exchange our burdens for his yoke.  


"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Mat 11:28-30 NIV 


When I traveled that path, if nothing else, all I heard was the Word of God resonating in my ears.  His comforting words speaking life back into me.  He breathed his peace over me, everyday...slowly... until I actually felt him close once more.  Until He had become Real to me again. 

When you find yourself lost in darkness and can't seem to find your way back, allow Him to walk you back into the light.  Allow Him to breathe life back into you.  And understand that even if no one else hears you when your soul screams out or simply whispers... Can you hear me?  God hears... He knows... He sees. 


Copyright © 2009 Ellie Kings 
Photo by Joseph Hicklin
Art by Alexandra Louie and Bill Stephens

Vengeance vs Justice

:~:

Many of us have suffered injustice at some point of our lives, whether it's by someone we know or a complete stranger.  They've hurt us with their vicious words, despicable acts, or fierce brutality.  When we least expect it, we become their victim.  We endure a loss.  We lose our innocence, self-respect, and our will to live.  We are vulnerable to the fear they instilled in us.   Fear now wears their face.


The hands of time move forward but our memory is frozen in the moment.  We dwell on their vile whispers and remember their smug faces.  After a while, our anger erupts like a volcano and we seek revenge.  We think of the many others who will be spared if we avenge it now.  We convince ourselves that vengeance and justice amount to the same thing.


But we are not called to take vengeance.  We've been called to seek justice.  Although there is a fine line between them and they resemble each other, there is a difference.  Vengeance is a harmful action against the individual(s) in response to a grievance; while, justice implies actions undertaken and supported by a legitimate judicial system, by a system of ethics.  Revenge works outside the boundaries of judicial or ethical conduct.  The goal of revenge usually consists of forcing the (perceived)wrongdoer to suffer the same or greater pain than that which was originally inflicted.*


Let us not deceive ourselves.  Revenge will not make us feel better.  It will not help us bury the past.  It will only bandage the wound while it really needs to breathe.  Justice,  on the other hand, is the ointment for the pain.  It will heal us in time.  In the end, it will give us the satisfaction that we didn't raise a finger against the person, yet they were brought to justice all on their own.  Be it in a courtroom by a judicial system or an intervening Higher Power, someday the heinous act(s) they committed will be avenged.  Not by us but by the God who loves us so much,  He makes everything come to a full circle.  "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Romans 12:19


In my last post, I spoke of wrongs that were done against me and some of the things I survived.  It took much courage on my part to write that post  (I thank you all for your warm response).  I debated if I should be so open with you all, but then realized we are called to minister healing onto others.  We are God's ambassadors, appointed to carry the torches of  love, truth and peace.  Not repaying anyone evil for evil but we are to overcome evil with good.


After all, only God knows and only God can.  We continue to hold onto our faith and allow Him to do what He does best.  He will pull us out of the fire and though sometimes there are scars left behind, we survive.  We live on knowing sooner or later, He will avenge our pain and heal our wounded hearts.  Justice will prevail.

:~:

Copyright © 2009 by Ellie Kings
Art by Jim Murphy
*notes from Wikipedia