{"id":3780,"date":"2022-05-12T06:34:16","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T11:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/?p=3780"},"modified":"2022-05-11T22:48:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T03:48:40","slug":"poetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/?p=3780","title":{"rendered":"poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image003\"<\/a>\"image002\"<\/a>This time each year our family has a flurry of birthdays. Macy turned a big 5 this week; my mom celebrated her 88th birthday on Mother\u2019s Day; and my brother Delane turned 60 on April 30th.<\/p>\n

I guess I should finally admit Delane was the best athlete in the family. He won many honors in the city as a high school football player, but when age 60 arrives, you\u2019ve got to find other passions. For several years Delane has written poetry. He usually just shares his poems with loved ones, but recently he self-published a second collection.<\/p>\n

\"image001\"<\/a>Of course our mother thinks he is another Robert Frost, just like she thinks I am another C. S. Lewis. We both try not to let her praises go to our heads, but it is hard.<\/p>\n

For almost four decades Delane has worked with teenagers and young adults who struggle with mental illness. He knows the huge needs families face and the challenges in our society to provide help. I am proud of his life and the way He points to God as our true Helper.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a recent poem entitled: \u2018I Used To\u2019:<\/p>\n

I used to get up early,
\nAnd go to my favorite spot,
\nWith my trusty rod and reel,
\nWith hopes of catching a lot.<\/p>\n

An old man with gray hair,
\nWho fished on the nearby dock,
\nWould calmly field my questions,
\nAnd say, \u2018Cast over by that rock.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Patience is very important,\u2019
\nWas his advice most days,
\n\u2018Not only in fishing but in life,\u2019
\nHe would wisely say.<\/p>\n

I am the old man now,
\nWith years of fishing past,
\nPassing on that same advice,
\nTo youngsters as they cast.<\/p>\n

You will catch more fish,
\nIf you wait on them to bite,
\nAnd better handle problems,
\nBeing patient throughout your life.<\/p>\n

Pray that God will give you patience,
\nAnd He will graciously supply,
\nAll that you faithfully ask,
\nOn that you can rely.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“My child, if you take My words to heart,
\nif you set store by My commandments,<\/span>
\ntuning your ear to wisdom,
\ntuning your heart to understanding,<\/span>
\nyes, if your plea is for clear perception,
\nif you cry out for understanding,<\/span>
\nif you look for it as though for silver,
\nsearch for it as though for buried treasure,<\/span>
\nthen you will understand what the fear of the Lord is,
\nand discover the knowledge of God.<\/span>
\nFor the Lord Himself is giver of wisdom,
\nfrom His mouth issue knowledge and understanding.”<\/span>
\nProverbs 2:1-6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This time each year our family has a flurry of birthdays. Macy turned a big 5 this week; my mom celebrated her 88th birthday on Mother\u2019s Day; and my brother Delane turned 60 on April 30th. I guess I should finally admit Delane was the best athlete in the family. He won many honors in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3780"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3786,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3780\/revisions\/3786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}