Shadow Prayer

Here
In the sun
Sometimes the heat
Is just too much 
For me to bear
Vulnerable
Exposed
I feel the need 
To hide
To seek solace
In a not-so-light place

Rather than run
To the dark shadows
That deceptively promise relief
May I rush
To the shade
Of Your welcoming wings
And find sweet shelter
There.

Diane Mann
2010

Today

Today I loved you
Not like Christ loves you
Today I treated you
Like He never would
Condemnation He serves not

His fingers don't point

At where you're lacking
Or what you should or shouldn't have done

So pure and right is He!
His fountain flows with forgiveness, cleansing, redemption

A gathering back of His loved ones
To Him

"Come, all who are thirsty! 
Come and Drink!"

God has called me to be a vessel

Of healing love and much-needed grace

To His children

To you

Today I saw you through eyes of fear

And offered my anger

My hurt and resentment

Trying to make you feel as though

You've missed the mark

My actions looked nothing like

The life-giving love

That Christ so freely pours on me

And you

How I hope you'll forgive me
As Jesus forgave me
Today

Diane Mann 2010

Exceedingly Perfect

Our 26th wedding anniversary!

Lovely time

At a wonderful hotel

In a beautiful room

I opened the guestbook

To record our stay

And noticed the entry above ours

It read:

"November 9,

We are on our honeymoon!

The room is perfect!

The food, perfect!

The service, perfect!
(Signed) Vivian
P.S.  The groom exceeds perfection!!"

Twenty-six years ago
I, too, was an exclamation-point bride
In awe of my groom
And he of me
Before too long
We tumbled off those unrealistic pedestals
On which we each placed the other
And admittedly have at times been
Exceedingly imperfect
But we have learned
To love
To forgive
To laugh
To view each other not with "love-is-blind" eyes
But through the lens
Of our Savior's gracious love
And no longer expect perfection from each other
(Whew!)
Together we can exclaim
Praise be to You, God
You have been the Rock on which we stand
On  Whom we rely
You have been
Perfectly faithful
Perfectly loving
Perfectly patient
Perfectly good
To us
You and You alone
Exceed perfection!!

Diane Mann 2009

Song For Karis - Isaiah 26:3

You promised perfect peace
To this mind ill at ease
That my heart so troubled
Would find tranquility
When my mind is stayed on You
And my gaze lifts to You
I begin to see how mighty You are
And all that troubled me seems far

So hold me now like You said You would
Let peace reside where fear once stood
I ask you to give what I cannot give myself
A trusting heart that sings out, "It is well."

When I'm resting in this place
Quieted by grace
Somehow I know, it's where I'm meant to stay
I find such solace here
You're bigger than my fears
Looking only at You, I find the strength to stand
I'm safe here in the palm of Your hand.

So hold me now like you said you would
Let peace reside where fear once stood
I ask you to give what I cannot give myself
A trusting heart that sings out, "It is well."

You held me, Lord, like You said You would
Now peace resides where fear once stood
You gave to me what I could not give myself
A trusting heart that sings out, "It is well."
Diane Mann 2009