Permission

I need to give you permission

To be you…

Much different than me

Not right

Nor wrong

Just different

Not better

Or worse

Just different

Permission to be you

Without finding fault

Or trying to make you into a lesser me

Permission to get up at the crack of dawn

Or wake up slowly and fall asleep early

Even to drag yourself to bed at the end of a long hard day

Permission to speak up

Or stay silent

Trusting God for the right time to say what’s on your mind

Permission to think different than me

To come to the same conclusion via a different route

Or arrive at something entirely different

Permission to feel that which I seldom feel

To express your emotions

In ways…I still don’t understand

Permission to go out ahead

Or stay behind at a slower clip

Without passing judgment as to who is right or wrong

Permission to not fully understand you

Or to no know why you do the things you do

Or why you are the way you are

Permission to be the one

Whom God formed in your mother’s womb

Not just your body...but your personality too

Permission to have weaknesses and flaws

Knowing full well

God is working on your character as well as mine

Permission to have a past

That formed you and shaped you

Leaving imperfections that are all too visible this side of heaven

Susan Bunts Wachtel

November 3, 2008

By Any Other Name

Some call it “a women’s right to choose”

But what about the baby’s “right to life”

Abortion in God’s eyes is the taking of an innocent human life

Some call it “tissue”

To ease the conscience of the women

Who chooses to abort the child growing within her womb

It’s called a fetus

Until such time the mother decides she wants it

Then it’s declared a baby…deemed worthy of life

Some call it necessary

A medical procedure

To save the life of the mother

Partial birth abortion

Such an antiseptic name

For a barbaric hideous act

Scissors piercing the brain

Extinguishing the life of a half delivered baby

Is MURDER…by any other name

Susan Bunts Wachtel

November 1, 2008

Is It Love?

They say its love

When I look into your eyes

And see stars

They say its love

When I kiss your lips

And hear fireworks all around us

They say its love

When we are making love

All night long

But I ask

Wouldn’t any fool stick around

When it’s easy, magical and fun

What about the times

When I look into your eyes

And see your beautiful blue eyes looking back

What about the times

When all our busy schedules afford

Is a quick kiss as we head out the door

What about the times

After an exhausting day…we come home spent

And we are most grateful to fall into each others arms

Is it love

That says “I love you”

When everyday is like a fairy tale

Or is it true love

When I come home weary from fighting the battle

And find…the one will stand with me

Or is it true love

When I’m swimming against the tide…about to drown

And out reaches a hand…to hold me up

Or is it true love

That says…I’m committed

And would marry you all over again…no matter what

Susan Bunts Wachtel

November 1, 2008

To Chris…the one I love. Thank you for sticking around…fighting the good fight…holding me up in prayer before the throne room of God. Thanks for being willing to pursue a mature love that sticks with it in good times and bad…who doesn’t get weak-kneed and afraid…when the challenges don’t stop and the tough times outweigh the good.

Yet Will I Trust Him

When it doesn’t make sense

When I don’t understand

Yet will I trust Him

When uncertainty abounds

Confusion is abundant

I will diligently seek His wisdom

When my heart is hurting

Everything in me longs to be elsewhere

I will choose to obey

When circumstances are painful

All have turned against me

I will depend on Him

By Susan Bunts Wachtel

October 28, 2008