January 2022 – Choose Joy: Poems, Prayers and Prose

Snow Haiku 3

I gaze at the trees

Their branches covered with snow –

I shiver, in awe.

Prayer Haiku

Still in bed, praying —

taking deep breaths, reflecting

on God’s faithfulness.

Early Morning Prayer

Gracious, loving God,

On this cold, wintry day

I thank you for the warmth of your love

that covers me like a blanket,

keeping me safe and secure.

As the snow lays on the ground.

I am comforted by your words through the prophet Isaiah,

that though my “sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow.”

Thank you for your grace and forgiveness.

Help me to fall asleep again, and in the darkness breathe

deeply and close my eyes.

Watch over me and all I love until I awaken to the dawning

of a new day.

Snow Haiku

Soft, white cold icing

laying on bare tree branches –

newly-fallen snow.

Haiku for the Day

In the stillness, wait

and listen to the birds sing

songs of joy and mirth.

Three Haikus for the New Year

Haiku 1 –

I welcome today –

the first day of the new year,

thankful for God’s love.

Haiku 2

God’s love gives me hope –

to step out in faith and live

each day with courage.

Haiku 3

Courage to show up,

to keep on going with God

leading, every day.

A New Year’s Day Prayer

It’s the first day of the new year, O God.

I thank you for the past year – with all its

…blessings, hardships, and challenges.

I thank you that you were with me

the whole time.

Even in the darker days, your Light

shone

… to illuminate my path,

… to warm my heart,

and lead me forward.

Now here I am,

at the beginning of a

new year.

May I go through this day and this year,

with confidence

in your everlasting, unconditional

love.

May I look up to You, who look upon me with

favor,

not because I am perfect, but because you are

perfect

and by my faith in Jesus, you have made me your

child.

Send me forth then into this new year, into your

world,

with hope and strength

to be your living, breathing blessing

to everyone I meet on this path,

journeying together…

to the future that you have prepared

for all your beloved children,

with faith, hope and love.

In the name of Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega,

the Author of my beginnings and endings.

Amen.