A Taste of Honey

"We will be friends until forever, just you wait and see."  ~Winnie the Pooh

"Honey, let me tell you that I LOVE the laughing sound.  I love to make the laughing sound."
~from Honey, I Love by Eloise Greenfield

I have been thinking today of Winnie the Pooh and his love for honey, and more than that, of his heart-felt love for friends and the great delight he takes in giving and receiving simple graces. 

A young girl from South Africa whom I had never met, once prayed for me.  She said she saw me as Winnie the Pooh getting lost in the wonder of God, and going from house to house--those of my friends--to celebrate and delight in His goodness.  I have never forgotten it.

And if truth be told, I would have to say I am like Pooh--even the "tubiness." {smile}  I love sweet things: ice-cream, honey in my tea, baby smiles, husband kisses, a friend's hand-written note, the smell of cinnamon and honeysuckle, Summer rain and Sweet Water from the Rock...Holy Spirit whispers. 

I imagine sweetness, or the need for it, was written in my DNA, for the more I taste of Jesus, the more I desire Him.  And the more I know his goodness, the more I discover there is to know.  I can't get enough.

But we can never be too full of God, can we?

Paul wrote this to his friends in Ephesus:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ~Ephesians 3:14-19 NIV

Love surpasses knowledge.  Love fills us with God. 

In love, my mother gave me the name, Melissa Anne.  I was supposed to be a Mildred like all the other oldest daughters.  Thankfully she broke tradition.  Melissa means, "honeybee."  And Anne, "grace."  The first I have always been.  And the second, I am growing into.  I am learning to love as I am loved.  I am learning to be love and grace in a world that hungers for a taste of honey.

And God has so graced me with wonderful family and friends--precious ones all carrying unique the seed, the DNA, of our Creator--all who help to make me who I am. 

I wrote this poem below in honor of you, and in honor of Him whose presence I adore.  Whether here, or there or somewhere in the air, I send you thanks and love and the sweetest of blessings.  God promises to those who take delight in Him, the desires of their hearts--I pray your hearts bloom with His goodness toward you.

A Taste of Honey

 Honey, I love
And the perfume of bees
Running barefoot in clover
Light breaking through Willow trees

I love the sunny lilt of laughter and
The three of us on our knees
Looking for extraordinary
The taste of tea-berry leaves

I love how the hush of evening
Settles sweet like the sip of our tea
And we sway to earth's rhythms
Listening to Nature's soliloquy

I love this Love poured thick
This honeyed mead
That covers and cross pollinates--like bees
And how it washes away my sins

And I cannot help but love, savor
The residue of friends gone but not forgotten
Those who smeared me 
With their own golden laughter

I love this shine, this honey dew
  This grace that makes me gasp aloud in wonder
As I remember you and I love
I love tasting Your presence

With Emily and friends, sharing our Imperfect Prose.
 

Photo Credit:  flickr - EchoForsberg