As I sit here in the silence
Coffee cup in hand
I am waiting,
Waiting, waiting
You promised You would come
You told me to wait for You
Not to rush
Not to fold
But wait
I hear the sound of the wind
I hear the brush of wings
As the angels draw near
I am waiting
Waiting, waiting
© Deborah Seale Schnadelbach 2026
A sailor at heart, right from the start.
Watching the dust on the shelf,
While a ship long sailed
Takes a piece of my former self.
I am missing the blue of the sea,
That sapphire weight, heavy and vast,
Where the horizon promised to set me free
And the ghost of the shore was cast.
I crave the sand of beaches of far away places,
The grit in my boots, the sun on my skin,
The blurred-out lines of nameless faces,
And the roar where the waves begin.
But I listen for the reef’s low roar,
Where the turquoise shallows gleam,
To walk again on a foreign shore
And wake from this inland dream.
© Deborah Seale 2026
Out of the brokenness
Comes beauty
Something once hidden
Is now free
Free to be seen
Free to fly
Free to live
Before it was bound
Strangled
Barely hanging on
Desperate
Sometimes it begins with a small crack
Then
There are times
A sudden bursting
Regardless of how
Regardless of when
Regardless of why
Out of the brokenness
Deliverance
A bursting forth in a brilliance of light
Live
Fly
Freedom is yours.
©Deborah Seale 2026
Today
I gave myself permission
To do all the things I have always wanted
To run through the halls
To scream as loud as I could
To shake up my soda and let it explode
To run as fast as I could
To jump in the fountain and splash the water
To run naked as a Jay bird through the streets
To sing as loud as I could
Dye my hair purple and green
Today
I gave myself permission
To dream
To do all the things I have never done
Today
I gave myself permission
To rest
To eat what I wanted
To watch what I wanted
To listen to what I wanted
To take a shower without help
Today
Was the day
© Deborah Seale 2025
The lifting of the veil
a revealing of all that was concealed
some see beauty, others bewail
regardless of feelings all will yield
the separation has begun
from the goats and sheep
everyone get ready for the arrival of the Son
some will shout for joy, others will weep
a metamorphous is taking place
the Bride is making herself ready
we are about to gaze into His face
for some the price will be too heavy
prepare the way
for the coming of the King
there is no more delay
the trumpets are sounding
and the veil is lifting
© Deborah Seale 2025
I'm still here
I stepped into the shadows
I haven’t gone away
I didn’t want others to see the face of sorrows
I’m still here
It was so much easier than I could convey
I just didn’t have the words
But I’m still here
The pain was too much to bear
I took time to sit and watch the birds
I had to let my soul repair
However, I am still here
Occasionally, a tear will slide down my face
And I still feel like my heart is on its last beat
But I am still here
Then I try to remember God’s wonderful grace
And tell myself that I am complete
I am still here
I am a child of the Most High
Despite all my failures and my hurt
I will not listen to another lie
This is where I will assert
I am still here
In Loving Memory of Katie Knox
4/15/2025
© Deborah Seale 2025
I want to travel somewhere I have never gone,
I want to sit on top of a mountain at dawn.
I want to watch the moonlight stretch its glow across the ocean,
Or skate across a lake that is frozen.
I want to dance with the stars across the vast universe,
Then do all over again except in reverse.
I want to drift down a creek
or browse through a boutique.
I want to sit and read a good book
or perhaps cook.
I want to stand under a waterfall,
But most of all,
I want to live a life of adventure,
Instead of just dreaming about the future.
© Deborah Seale 2025
Out of the ashes we rise,
Hot embers into the skies.
We gather to set the world ablaze.
To our Father, the God of Heaven and Earth we praise.
And with a shout demons flee,
And we walk in liberty.
Within His children there is a flame,
And He knows each by name.
Our God reigns from on high,
And He guides with a watchful eye.
With a love that is pure,
In His hands we are secure.
In the Heavenlies we are called to sit,
So be encouraged in this race, “Do Not Quit.”
The finish line is within sight,
Don’t give up the fight.
The battle has already been won,
By Jesus, the only true Son.
© Deborah Seale 2024
For the love of Salt and Sea
A man,
Standing tall and feelin free.
With his old raggedy clothes,
Pipe
And his sunburnt nose.
On the bow of Ole Navy,
Just watching,
And waiting for the Jubilee.
With a voice that is raspy,
Calling out
For his old dog Scrappy.
The sun will soon be risen,
nets to be lowered,
boats could be seen on the horizon.
For the love of salt and sea,
A man,
Whose home was never in Tennessee.
Bent to touch waters of blue,
A smile,
A rendezvous.
A knowing,
His days were coming to a close,
Peering deep, forgoing.
For the love of salt and sea
A longing
Now a spirit set free.
© Deborah Seale Schnadelbach
The pages lay there empty,
The work unfinished,
Words left unsaid.
The books were not written,
Life felt somehow incomplete.
With the feeling,
Time was coming to a quick close,
A voice whispered in my ear,
“I AM not finished yet.”
There is more for you to see,
What you think is the ending,
Is just the beginning.
© Deborah Seale 2024
There on the shelf among all the other books,
Was one, a book that was old and tattered.
By the cover, nothing could be told by the looks,
Inside were written words of a life that was shattered.
Pages were torn,
Some had sentences that were unfinished.
The pages talked about a life of great scorn,
Of a person that was diminished.
On pages written describing such grief,
One would think it would have been the end,
But no, what happened next was beyond belief.
More than a simple mind could comprehend.
The book was not what it seemed,
It was a book of destiny.
Written within the pages were things long dreamed,
Was a Scripture, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Psalm 139:16
© Deborah Seale 2024
Somewhere in between,
The seen and unseen.
It’s all been there from the beginning,
It’s just now the veil is thinning.
Why are you so surprised?
The enemy had everything disguised.
Prophets have shouted,
Many have doubted.
Time,
It is sublime.
God in all His splendor,
He is our great defender.
Captives in prisons long held,
Have finally been expelled.
Cries of freedom
Are now heard throughout the Kingdom.
Shouts of Praise,
Kingdom children raise.
Shout to the King,
Let your voices ring.
The King is coming,
The King is coming,
The King is coming.
© Deborah Seale Schnadelbach
I was angry
Yet then again, maybe I wasn’t.
I was hurt
Then maybe I really wasn’t.
All the mixed emotions.
I drug that closed book around,
Trying to peel it open.
Knowing I wasn’t meant to.
You warned me,
Time and time again.
All the while letting me know,
Softly telling me
Some things are better left alone, unread, unknown.
All the pain I felt, yet didn’t.
Tears leaking from my eyes,
Yet,
I wonder.
why?
Was I angry?
Maybe I was, then again,
Maybe I wasn’t.
Was I hurt?
Maybe, just maybe, I was and then again,
Maybe I wasn’t.
@ Deborah Seale Schnadelbach 2024
There stood from the dawn of the ages,
The Son of God in all His Glory.
Opening and closing the curtains upon the world’s stages.
Telling a redemption story.
Mercy and grace,
Mixed with Blood and tears.
Being poured out upon the human race.
Between the cheers and the fears.
LOVE
On the cross of shame held Him there.
Father God had to close His eyes from above.
All of humanities sin, He had to bear.
As the Blood ran down the cross,
It flowed through time and space.
What the enemy meant for loss,
It was in reality, God’s Grace.
Mortal man’s sin and shame,
As a free gift remove.
Only the name of Jesus can one proclaim,
And by the Blood, Father God will approve.
In the Spirit there is no distance,
No place where you can ever go.
For with God’s love there is a persistence.
And He will defeat your every foe.
For He has a love like no other,
So rich and deep.
So much more than a mother,
When you feel the Truth, you can’t help but weep.
So come one and all.
It doesn’t matter what you have done.
Whether great or small,
Don’t walk to the cross …. RUN !!!!
© Deborah Seale Schnadelbach 2023
When your kids are grown your just a mom,
They call you to be their calm.
You’re not allowed to have advice,
Unless it’s about how to remove mice.
A friend sometimes you just want to be,
But as for feelings of the heart, you are only to agree.
The ache of them being no more a child,
With the tears of the past, you are allowed only a smile.
And with great satisfaction,
That you raised them right, and they get nothing more than an infraction.
Into pieces your heart breaks,
As tears fall into your morning cornflakes.
And you spend your day listening for a phone call,
That slowly fades into a night of listening to the sad and lonely rainfall.
© Deborah Seale Schnadelbach 2023
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