A Series of Small Compromises

 A Series of Small Compromises 

I don’t know about you but I’ve made mistakes

I’ve been wrong and I’ve been weak

Lord knows I haven’t found the words 

when I’ve had my moment to speak

I’ve stumbled headlong into troubles

When I could have walked away

The serpent was sweet-talkin and that fruit was right in front of me

I should have known better

I should have turned right back around

Mistakes never start as big as they become

When you wander unintentionally into the dark

And find yourself in waters deep enough to float an ark

I knew the moment I wandered astray

That the horizon had changed

Love was lost, love was broken, 

love would have to find another way

no matter now how much I wished 

I could Retrace my steps, 

It was like a door was opened 

and through it entered death

A series of small compromises

so inconsequential at the time 

Each another footprint off the path

I’d like to have a few of those steps back

I should have known better

I should have turned right back around

Mistakes never start as big as they become

When you wander out into the dark

And find yourself in waters deep enough to float an ark

Looking at it now I’ve drifted 

farther than I should

Carried along by waves of voices 

that simply weren’t that good

walking my own way so long 

I couldn’t recognize the stumble

Created nearly every minute of my own trouble 

Made things just that much harder

Its time to turn around and put my face back toward my father

I should have known better

I should have turned right back around

Mistakes never start as big as they become

When you wander out into the dark

And find yourself in waters deep enough to float an ark

Building Cathedrals

 Building Cathedrals 

I’ve been working on this design

And it’s grander than it looks

Brick by brick I’ve built this wall

It’s a fair amount of work

And I’m staring at this structure

As impressive as it is tall

An altar to be sure

A testament to the God I say I serve

Building cathedrals - 

halls and theaters in my mind

Trying to do and to build 

Like I thought you would want me to

Building cathedrals - 

Holy buildings and shrines

Things I was never meant to follow

This building stands still 

while you continue to move

I’ve spent too much time 

without examining my heart

There’s walls here that seem far too high 

and should be torn apart

Looking closer at all this work I’ve done

Left to wonder really, is this helping anyone

Silly - thinking you needed me to act

While you gently remind me 

That the heart is where it’s at

Building cathedrals - 

stained glass and tapestries

Confusing the working of my hands

As what you want from me

Building cathedrals - 

Not just walls and limestone rooms

But carving in in my heart 

Barriers I never intended to

Let me get back to the cross

To the curtain torn in two

Remind me again and again 

It’s less about me than it is about you

Building cathedrals - maybe not this time

Building cathedrals - can I follow you inside 

This one’s gonna leave a mark

 This one’s gonna leave a mark

Well Some things you choose 

and some things just find you.  

There’s things you probably wouldn’t believe even if I told you. A series of notches made on a mind and heart - a litany of stories leaving their marks

I was only twelve when my mother died,

man, that cancer’s hell and 

it’s hard to set that one right

That cut’s deep and that scar is wide

A memory not quite faded but seasoned over time…

These marks ain’t much - 

but at least they’re mine

Stories etched deep 

in every scratch, cut, and line

Stories to most of an unremarkable life

Unfinished tales, told one page at a time.

This one’s the wedding, over here’s the kids…on the left there’s a scar from some things I can’t believe that I did. Some marks from mistakes, marks there from regret, some mark sweet memories, some mark things we’d rather forget.  Each grown deep into roots of who you see me to be 

I suppose yours are different - and I’d expect them to be.  What makes you you isn’t what makes me me. Look - I don’t know the shapes in which your memories may lie, but I know some marks are too deep to hide and can’t be concealed in those eyes

These marks ain’t much - 

And yours may not be just like mine

But still these Stories are etched deep 

in every scratch, cut, and line

Stories to most of an unremarkable life

Unfinished tales, told one page at a time.

The truth is the greatest marks - they aren’t owned by you or me.  They’re made on a savior who died on a tree.  Marks on his hands, marks on his feet - a story through the ages of the cost to be set free.  they tell us the story of how he loved  you and me…

And those marks they mean so much - more than just our own.  They’re marks in a story - that make us long for home.

Yeah these marks may not look like much but they’re all they need to be.  (X2)

Things I never knew

 Things i never knew

I never knew in my childhood

Just how God’s plan would turn out good

How the many broken flawed things

Would be made new, they’d be made new

I never knew the first time I met her

I wouldn’t be able imagine life without her

I never knew our kids would grow so tall

Or how proud i’d be to see them 

Follow the dreams to which they’re called

I guess you could say that I was naive 

Not understanding these things 

But every day I wake and learn

What was previously unclear to me

Things just beyond my vision

Coming closer into focus

At every opening with every decision

I never knew the world would shift 

so wildly In merely just one lifetime

I never knew that things I held dear

I’d have to rethink again and again

Listening for whispers as the king draws near

I never knew the way some decisions 

Would shape the things these eyes see

I never knew how I’d be molded 

By the places you’ve carried me, 

you’ve carried me

Now I guess you could say I’m clueless

That I’m so uninformed it’s crazy

You may think that I’m blind 

With all things I didn’t see

I never knew how God would move things 

In and out of focus

Sawing off and sanding down

Shaping the rough edges of my heart

I never knew just how short time was

And how these years would fly by 

I never knew just what I should say

To find the words to be remembered by

I never knew if what I’d say

Would reach you in some way

If you’d hear my voice in your head

Long after I’m …..