Poems by Sherrill Schlimpert

Here are a few poems by Sherrill Schlimpert’s Cream for Your Coffee, now on sale for $11.99, and e-book for $7.00.

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My Morning Cup

It took me years

Beyond when grown

To sup its pleasures

Yet unknown.

The sampling of a morning cup,

Clear reward for getting up,

Just a few minutes of warmth and rest,

Before venturing out from the nest.

For years I passed by this simple pleasure,

In hope of a few more moments of leisure.

Shrinking back under the covers in bed,

Pushing back the feelings of dread,

Of meeting the day, less than prepared,

Bored and weary, yet unaware,

That just a few moments in search of You,

Could make worries flee and all seem new.

You offer a cup, a lap, a place,

For me to come before the race.

A simple place of sanctuary,

Just minutes asked to come and tarry.

And be filled from head to toe,

With the warmth of Your Spirit flow.

Free to drink from every morn,

Oh, foolish pride, why did I scorn?

That I knew best how to spend my time,

Passing by these moments sublime.

And now as I sit in the morning sun,

Finally a day where I don’t have to run.

I can scarcely get enough of You,

This time so precious,

These moments so few.

I long to stay with my pen,

Capturing the thoughts You send.

But though these days are few and rare,

I know I can count on

That You will be there,

Offering the smallest sip,

A word or a song upon my lip,

That will sustain me by Your side to stay.

You fill my cup in every way.

Lessons of a Reluctant Student

I don’t want to get up.

“Mom, just one minute more,”

The child within me moans.

I want to play hooky from class, play in the grass.

My whole being is weary and groans.

I drag out of bed and head to the couch,

As out of a fog I stumble.

My Savior I’ll meet, and sit at His feet,

Though complaints within me rumble.

The headmaster begins, though this pupil is glazed,

Opening the greatest textbook of all,

And starts to comprehend the lesson He will send,

If she just responds to His call.

For I have much to learn, many thoughts to mold

In this classroom He offers for free.

How can I dread, want my way instead,

When He offers to instruct and teach me?

For all I need to learn is here at this school,

Within the halls and lockers of my heart.

He’s my mentor, my friend, upon Him I’ll depend.

Teacher, lead on ― let’s start!

Strength for the Day

I sit here refreshed

After the incense

Of time spent alone with You.

Again, I am moved

As You have behooved

To reveal another truth.

My heart overflows

Because it now knows

The One Who can fill it, and so

I kneel in the morn

For at Your feet I’m reborn.

I’m amazed that You, I can know.

I’m so grateful for this time

When You allow me to climb

Into Your lap, where I want to stay.

For here all is peace.

I find such release

As I hear comfort

In the words You say.

But now, I must go

For You’ve called me to show

To others what I’ve found in You.

Though strength I lack,

Your provision I pack

As I embark on the tasks

I must do.

So help me, Lord,

To keep Your Word

In front as I go on my way;

It’s so easy to lose sight,

To walk out of Your light,

As I confront

The tasks of my day.

Give me Your strength

Which I need at great length

To accomplish what lays before me.

My feet move slow.

So take me in tow.

Beyond myself let me see.

Use this weary frame

To just take the next step.

For in You, peace is kept.

May all I do, praise Your Name.

Steal Away

Times of hurt, disappointment, or physical pain,

In these how do we allow You to reign?

We wallow in thought, trying to climb out

Of the wells we fall in, for without a doubt

These are a part of the lot we’ve been cast.

While we’re on earth they’re bound to last.

They swallow us up, when they’re least expected,

Just when we’re gliding along and suspected

That we’ve finally, finally seen the arrival

At a place beyond just mere survival.

So, I take a deep breath, and rest in Your arms,

As I feel You soothe my weary alarms.

And when I stop I finally hear You say,

“Quiet child, you know My way.

My Spirit I’ll never neglect to send,

But if there were no trials, there’d be no need to depend

On Me for your strength. For you know that’s the key.

Don’t look at the road, just look at Me.

Just as the meadows absorb flooding rain,

So you must, at times, wait out pain.

And when the journey seems long and you don’t know the way,

You can take the next step if beside Me you’ll stay.

So, take a deep breath. Look around, I am here.

When the way looks dark, steal away, draw near.

It only takes a moment to calm your mind.

For when you’re beside Me you’ll always find

All of life’s answers, though at times you must wait.

And though it seems long, I’m never late.

So quiet, calm, as you face earth’s plight.

Just look up, look up, look up to the light!

For I’ll always appear; you’ll discover My song.

I’ll never be silent for very long.

The sunshine will come after a rainy day.

Know that your tears serve to wash away

The dust of the road that accumulates

As your mind strays from Me and you contemplate

What to do next, what to say, where to go.

Oh child, stay your mind on Me ― then you’ll know

Just the next step, for I hold the plan.

For I have revealed this clearly to man,

That always you must go to the door of My heart.

Stay there and knock, for you are a part

Of My plan of salvation. Oh, my promise I’ll keep.

Joy, child, will come. My treasures you’ll reap.

So for now, keep walking. Calm your heart, steal away.

I’ll give you strength as you go on your way.”

Waiting

I’ve spent this season waiting

And much of my life, too,

Waiting for a word or a breath of relief,

Knowing it must come from You.

A change of emotion,

The strength to press on,

I call on You

When my endurance is gone.

And You always answer.

You always come through.

But it’s in the waiting

I have trouble seeing You.

Give me the patience,

The trust and the faith

To await Your will,

Depending on Your grace.

To know that the pruning,

Though it seems of no worth,

Will be what I need

If I can see beyond earth.

So to wait with eyes open,

Confident, secure.

Allow me to quietly

And faithfully endure.

When I am cast down,

Help me to see

That it’s then that You want me

Down on my knee.

Not doing or accomplishing

Or arranging the world,

But waiting for the tapestry

You weave to be unfurled.

For in striving and demanding

My way to be made clear,

Is not the way to peace

And absence of fear.

But abiding, just waiting

With a calm, sweet and deep

Knowing it’s here

That for now, me, You will keep.

Until Your hand

Is visible once more,

Help me just to wait

For what You have in store.

Rejoice You Say?

“Rejoice always” (Phil. 4:4).

Is that what You say?

You expect this? Lord, how can You?

How can I face

Life, live in this place

I find myself muddling through?

You say, don’t look down

At the problems I’ve found.

Look past them to just see You.

But I’m not restored;

Help me now, Lord.

I’m floundering in all that I do.

All I see looks so dark.

How do I embark

Upon this path before me?

I can’t see Your face,

I can’t feel Your grace;

I see through this mirror dimly.

Yet it’s here in the valley

Where my faith learns to rally,

And I begin to hear Your voice.

Though the way is steep,

My path You’ll keep.

How I walk though, is my choice.

If I just spend an hour,

Stop to smell Your flowers,

The way seems not quite so long.

For finding Your treasure

Is not always through pleasure,

Though if I listen You’ll give me a song.

Help me not to complain

When I’m cold in the rain,

Without which the flowers won’t grow.

I must look beyond

That of which I’m not fond.

I know that to reap I must sow.

So while I find myself here

In this place that I fear,

Lord, help me to see Your face.

Help me comprehend

The blessings You send,

And to go slow and walk in Your pace.

For there’s much that I miss,

When I get down like this,

So many ways You love me so.

Help me embrace

Any hardships I face ―

And trust, and because of them, grow.

The Calm within the Storm

My heart is like the wind chimes,

Clanging madly as they dance,

To accompany the swirling gusts

As stormy clouds advance.

So it brews within me,

So much to do and say.

Relationships that puzzle ―

A headache’s on its way.

My thoughts churn around inside me,

A storm deep inside my mind.

Where is the peace within me,

The everlasting kind?

Then I seize my thoughts,

Stop their noise, and listen instead

For that soft melodic tune

That often sings within my head.

A gentle, tinkling harmony

Soon begins to play…

And I look up and see the storm

Doesn’t have to stay.

I can sit and wait it out

At the Master’s feet.

I don’t have to fight it

Or have all my plans complete.

I just must wait there quietly,

Wait for Him to speak.

For the storm will subside

As will my thoughts turn meek.

Then instead of their banging

Around within my head,

The Spirit’s breeze stirs gently

And I have peace instead.

Oh, help me Lord to turn to You,

For You conquer every storm.

Help me to hold Your hand

And to Your will conform.

You’re the calm within the storm.

The Secret of Life

An end to foolish struggles

A light for dark despair

The secret of life ― the answer to all

Is found in God. He’s there!

To guide and guard and comfort

On life’s tangled trails,

To shatter all delusions

To peel off the human scales

That keep us all in darkness

Unable to see clearly

That He can walk with us,

And wants to, so very dearly.

All He asks of us

Is pure abandonment,

To find what’s at life’s core,

The peace and sweet content

That can steal upon your soul.

Oh, guide my pen in hand.

Help me paint word pictures

To help to understand

That a heart for Him ― that’s the key

That unlocks the searching soul.

Sublime and yet so simple,

To make this our first-sought goal.

To seek in calm compliance

That which He commands,

Will end our feverish struggles,

Will change our heart’s demands.

To relinquish all other claims

Upon what seems to matter most.

To walk humbly and quietly,

Allowing Him to be our host.

Oh, what sweet fulfillment!

Our hunger is finally sated.

He’ll conform our wants and needs;

We’ll find we are recreated!

With each thought and step before me,

Help me shatter the delusion

That I can orchestrate my life.

Oh, what folly and confusion

Results, until I finally end

The searching of my soul.

In Him I find all answers;

I must relinquish all control,

And seek to do His bidding,

To abide and trust in His care,

And to simply listen closely,

For He is always there.

About the Poet

Sherrill Schlimpert is an ordinary suburban girl with an extraordinary passion for seeking

the Lord’s will in her life. Raised in the suburbs of St. Louis, she learned to appreciate

small town life in Poplar Bluff, Mo., where she and her husband of 31 years started their

teaching careers and stayed for 24 years. After raising two wonderful children, Ryan

and Lyndsey, they furthered their careers as principal and reading consultant,

respectively, in Columbia, Mo. After 32 years in the classroom teaching Kindergarten and

3^rd Grade, Sherrill still works part-time for the Missouri Reading Initiative, continuing to

give workshops and train teachers. After 30 years in education, she is now seeking to

follow the Lord’s will in sharing insights about her journey and walk with the Lord through

the poetry she has written along the way.

From her press release...

Sherrill Schlimpert describes herself as “an ordinary suburban girl with an extraordinary passion for seeking the Lord’s will in her life.” A wife of 31 years, a teacher of children for over 30 years, and a mother of two, she works part-time for the Missouri Reading Initiative, continuing to give workshops and train teachers. After 30 years in education, she is now following the Lord’s will in sharing insights about her life journey, and her walk with the Lord, through the poetry written along the way.

We hope you enjoyed Sherrill’s poems. Cream for Your Coffee is $11.99, paperback, and $7.00 for the e-book.

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All things work together for good to those who love the Lord. Romans 8:28