Defeat builds Character and faith sustains it ~ DC
How far will your faith take you? So often we believe in things that we
cannot see. We blindly trust in someone we barely know. We commit to things not
knowing the outcome.
I am reminded each day that it is through tough times that we know our strength,
it through failures that we find success and through faith that we find
direction and the courage to move forward even when we’re not certain of where
we’re going.
The bible says in Jeremiah 29: 11-13
11For
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace,
and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12Then
shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken
unto you.
13And
ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
A few weeks ago while in Toronto, through family members, I met a man with a story.
This story was that of his unshakable faith. He shared with us a piece of his
story.
A story that all started in a
pile of leaves. It was there that his life and his purpose began, where God’s
plan for him was revealed. Not knowing, nor understanding, here he was, a five
year old boy, playing in a pile of leaves when he heard a voice tell him that
he should not stay in Canada, he would return to his home land of Jamaica, have
a beautiful wife and many sons.
He felt
something powerful come over his body and that is when he realized that there
existed something/someone bigger than him. He had not seen where this voice
came from but he knew that from this day on someone higher and bigger than him
was watching over him and that no matter what adversities, trials and
challenges to come his way would be to lead him to where he was supposed to be.
Not knowing, he trusted!
Listening to this man speak I got goose bumps, I was encouraged to hear his
journey. It gave me hope, it gave me strength. To hear all that he had to go
through, all of the hard times that he faced, being brought up in violence,
without tenderness and love. He learned at a very young age what it was to be
hungry on the streets to be incarcerated in the name of survival. Through all
of it, after all of it he remained faithful; he kept his head up and never
asked why, all because of the voice he heard many years go in the pile of
leaves.
Seeing this man today, with his beautiful wife and his beautiful
children you know that God’s promise to him was kept and more is to be revealed
to him.
This story inspired me to write this poem; I called it… In a
pile of leaves.
Weeping day and night for my sadness to end
Not knowing why
Looking around me for a sign
Wishing and praying so hard for a chance to feel the warmth
of the sun
Wanting so much to know what joy feels like
Wanting to know what hearing the words I love you feels like
Then it happened
I heard you
You spoke to me…in a pile of leaves
In a pile of leaves I heard you say that I will be ok
In a pile of leaves I saw your face
In a pile of leaves I saw your hand reaching for mine
In a pile of leaves you promised me today and tomorrow
In a pile of leaves you dried my tears and erased my fears
In a pile of leaves you sat by my side and assured me that
you will never leave me
In a pile of leaves you said “My son, you will know joy and
goodness”
In that very pile of leaves you answered me and carried me
In a pile of leaves I found unconditional love for the very
first time
Danushka Chouloute
A MAN`S STORY indeed....Thank you Father God for your love,guidance and protection every day. Lovely poem DC, you are truly blessed.
ReplyDeletePraise be to God for this art that I carry in my soul.
ReplyDeleteThank you #ShrbAre Dnz for appreciating God's gift!! Be blessed.
Joyful greetings be unto you in the name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, my dear sister Danushka! WOW! Thank you so, so, so much for your excellent composition concerning the experience I had in the pile of leaves.
ReplyDeleteWOW! I feel very fortunate to have a person with your obvious potent natural propensity for writing, expertly and soulfully create a literary piece concerning me, but more so, concerning Our Heavenly Father's willingness to directly or openly intercede in our lives at times when we may be at our lowest or most vulnerable.
My sister, may Good God Almighty bless you, bless your household, bless all your loved ones and may He continually increase you in every manner that is good/positive. DANUSHKA, THE POEM CAUSED ME TO SHED EVEN MORE TEARS THAN THE BLOG ENTRY!!!!!!! Thank you so much sis...my family and I love it!!!
Yes, dear sister Danushka...faith delivers, the Lord's mercy endureth forever upon the sons and daughters of men. By our measure of mercy shall we receive mercy from God who sits as judge over all...according to our level of forgiveness shall we be forgiven the Holy Lord of hosts in heaven. We must always endeavour to remain in high faith in God Almighty especially at our most difficult times in this current world.
We must hold fast to the belief that a better world shall soon be established by Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ wherein all tears will be wiped away, hunger shall cease, no sword will ever be lifted again, the lion will lay beside the lamb in peace and LOVE will overwhelmingly prevail as the theme and constant manner of all things and living beings of that world.
I pray that you and your family along with me and my family will be well-situated in that world, rejoicing and giving God praises on the appointed day at the appointed time. May God who fashioned us in our mother's wombs bless you oh righteous Sister Danushka, may He sanctify you and keep you always.
Sister Danushka, thank you...and continue to stand firm in Christ!
Yours in Christ,
---Brother Dwight----
To my Brother Dwight and your family,
ReplyDeleteIt was no coincidence that I joined my sister and her husband that weekend to Toronto, I usually always have something other to do, too busy to join Greg and Danitsa on their road trips back to T.O. But my last visit in February when I was there last and spent some time with the Deans, God sat and spoke to me and I all of a sudden I felt this honest thirst to be close to my God, so when they invited me to come again this time to witness Kaleb's dedication...how could be too busy for that. And again while in T.O. God spoke to me directly in meeting you Dwight WOW, that was undeniable, HIS presence was felt and your story gave me a blunt reminder and clear example of what faith does and how far it can take you. I am glad that I was there and paid attention. Your story and the goose pumps have been engraved in my heart and soul forever and God gave me the words to put it on paper. I am truly blessed. I feel honored to have met you Dwight and that you appreciate the words i wrote and that you have also shared them with your lovely family. I look forward to seeing all of you again. I and pray for you all daily with thought that I have of you and your story Dwight.
Thank you for your prayers Brother Dwight, continue to be the light that you are, you touched my life without knowing it. That is truly a blessing!!! Thank you and praise God!!
Humbly,
Danushka
My Dear Noukams,
ReplyDeleteYour first few lines completely resonated within me and really needed to hear it, especially now. ``believe in things that we cannot see...`` and ``...commit to things not knowing the outcome.``
We can`t always explain whay we want something so bad, we just know we need it. There is a part of us that has a void, where we beleive that something about that person or situation will fill it and only then can we move on.Possibly a reassurance that we are heading down the right path. The path that will bring us the greatest joy when we reflect on our lives. We all feel there is a greater purpose to our lives. We need to squeeze every ounce out of it. We would be doing great injustice to life itself if we didn`t. In the end it is our personal journey. There are infinit ways to get to the end, but not one single journey is the same. The road can be up, down, left, right, dangerous, unknown, beautiful, breathtaking, challenging, rough, smooth, bumpy... But along the way, we make stops,sometimes willingly and some not. When we stop, we meet people, we cross paths and we then either give a part of us, take a part of them, or both. We need to be able to reflect and see how enriched our lives are because of others. Little did I know that sitting beside you 10 years ago in criminal psych would lead us to this friendship.I am so blessed to have you in my life and I am so proud of you for starting this blog. This is you. Giving so much of yourself. You have always been appreciated by those close to you, now you will be appreciated by so many.
Love you,
Ilona
WOW Loulou,
ReplyDeleteSeriously has it been 10 years already? Well little did we know where this Crim class would take us. Well it gave me a solid friendship that I can count on NO MATTER the distance. God makes no mistakes, He knew what he was doing when He sat us next to eachother. I love you Loulou, for everything that you are and everything you stand for. Thank you for your endless support and unconitional love and friendship.
With Love always,
Danushka(Noukams)