It’s scary in the margins,
All that white space--
I’m afraid I’ll sound silly.
I’m afraid I’ll make a mistake.
I’m afraid I won’t have anything of value to say.
But the margins are the space--
The space God gives us--
The blank space to make His Word
Our very own.
If you make a mistake,
Don’t worry—God won’t stop loving you.
Mistakes are meant to be learned from,
Not to stop us from living and growing.
If you sound light-hearted,
Has the Psalmist not said,
“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord”?
Afraid that your thoughts have no value?
Your thoughts, your feelings, your hopes, your dreams--
Too long squeezed down into a tiny ball
In the pit of your stomach?
Oh, dear child.
Your thoughts, your feelings, your hopes, your dreams--
God wants you to bring all of these to Him,
Laying them down before Him as an offering
At the altar of the cross.
The white space is yours to command,
Yours to do what you will.
Go ahead, try it, read a verse,
Write or draw or scrapbook your life
In the margin of the pages--
What happens inside when you read.
©L.F. Haynie, Nov 2015