Monday, April 30, 2012

Pick Up a Pen and Write a Poem

I have always enjoyed writing and reading poetry. Poetry is such a wonderful form of expression and creativity. They can rhyme or just be free verse. One word or many. The expression of a feeling or an idea or a story. I believe a poem can be whatever you want it to be. Words are powerfu. Poems form word pictures, evoke emotion and express our  feelings. Some of the most moving, beautiful and heartfelt poetry can be found in the Bible, especially in the Psalms.

April is National Poetry Month. I want to share with you a poem from Dear Dad: Reflections on Fatherhood (WestSide Press, 2011) by my husband, John W. Fountain. Dear Dad is the first book by our publishing company, WestSide Press, and it is a celebration and examination of fatherhood from the poems, letters and stories of my husband and 15 other writers, including myself.

 Dear Dad is available for purchase at http://www.wspbooks.com/ and also at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Order your copy now for Father's Day. Also, Dear Dad will soon be available as an ebook.

I have also included a poem that I wrote a few years ago for my husband entitled, The Strength of Tears.

Although April has come to an end
I encourage you to pick up a pen--
and write a poem.

My Daughter, My Treasure
John W. Fountain

In your brown eyes is the hope of a nation,
The history of queens and kings, of Sojourner Truths, Harriet Tubmans
And golden sunbeams.
In your mahogany skin
Is the reflection of African beauty American style,
Incomparable Nile.
In your face
I see the sun rise and the moon light,
Universe and stars, twinkling light.
Your feet are rooted
In the wisdom of the years
Sown by ancestor slaves in tears.
And your soul baked golden
By that toil and fears
Sown by slaves for years and years.
You are the embodiment of beauty
Creation of God
The treasure that men seek, the treasure I guard
Until that day when
Another man sees as I--your first love--
The treasure you are.
That treasure you are.
My treasure by far.


The Strength of Tears
Monica Fountain

Men don’t cry
Such a lie
Real men cry
And weep
And keep
A tender place in their
Heart
To feel the pain of others
To mourn for the wounded soul
To cry aloud
And spare not
Real men cry
When their babies are born
Real men cry
When children are torn
from this life by a careless bullet


Real men cry
With love in their eyes
I see you
I see a real man in your eyes
When you cry
Real men cry and weep
For the lost sheep
Who have lost their way


There is strength in tears
An overflow of divinity and humanity
That within us God has kept
Real men cry
Jesus wept


Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A Funny Thing Happened on Facebook

“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20

A funny thing happened on Facebook. Not funny in the sense of laughter and jokes, but funny in the sense of the amazing way that God does extraordinary things. You see what happened on the At the Well Facebook group could not have been orchestrated by man. It was created by the divine.

You see, a funny thing happened on Facebook. God created a community. God created a family. God created a safe place where folks could be transparent-- a place where we have become the church-- the body of Christ. God brought people who have never seen each other together to pray for one another. God brought together brothers and sisters who are related by the blood of Jesus and their faith in God and his son Jesus Christ to share each other’s burdens, celebrate one another’s triumphs, encourage one another with our testimonies and pray.

Pray for salvation for our loved ones. Pray for healing for our family and friends. Pray for breakthroughs in our most trying situations. Pray for his blessings in our lives and enlarged territories-- spheres of influence-- for his glory.

About a month ago, during my prayer time, I felt that God was calling us on the At the Well Facebook group to pray specifically for two situations. Here is an excerpt from the post from that day (March 27th):

"I believe God. He said when two are three are gathered in His name, He would be in the midst. I believe that God's presence is here as we touch and agree on At the Well. And where there is God's presence, there is His power. I believe that God will do miracles because miracles are just what God does. The supernatural is natural to him. And I believe that while we say our prayers independently and silently in our own quiet times, there is great power when we come together collectively.

Sometimes we are afraid to pray because we are afraid that what we pray for won't happen or it's not possible. But what we are praying for is for God's will to be done and also praying His Word. And we are making our requests known but we know that whatever God does or whatever we as people may choose contrary to His will, that God's will will be done. We don't understand everything. And in this world, we know we will face trials, tribulations, disappointments and even death. But like the Hebrew boys we say, even if He doesn't do it, we still stand on His Word knowing He is able. But I am trusting God to do some things that will blow our minds. To Him be the glory.”

What happened?

In those specific situations God did the miraculous: a little boy woke up from a coma and is recovering--a miracle. A new house was purchased despite difficulties, a great testimony of God’s faithfulness. We saw other miracles and answers to prayer--a successful operation for cancer. And we said “Amen” when a loved one passed away from cancer.

There is no prayer too big for God to answer and in all things we pray that his will would be done. God has done the miraculous and even when He does not heal in the way that we had hoped, we still praise Him, because what we have learned through our prayer and praise to Him is that He is more than able, that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. We gain His perspective and we know His love. Nothing, not even death, trials or tribulations can separate us from His love. But we thank Him for demonstrating and manifesting His power, not just for us, but so others can believe.

Prayer is our most powerful weapon. God did not tell us we should always sing or preach. But He did say we must continually pray.

Amen.
At the Well Headlines

Join Our Mailing List