The Shape of Balance

Harmony lives where edges agree,

Where fire learns patience from the sea.

Not sameness, no surrender of self,

But weight well-held on a steady shelf.

Two lives aligned by unspoken law,

Knowing when to step back, when to pause.

Desire exists, yet discipline stays,

A quiet order shaping their days.

It’s found in restraint that doesn’t resent,

In truth that’s felt but not fully spent.

In choosing the long, the good, the right,

Even when want leans hard at night.

Harmony is not the absence of strain,

It’s tension carried without breaking the chain.

A mutual knowing, calm and clear,

That peace is built by what you spare.

So they move with care through intersecting ground,

Neither lost, neither tightly bound.

In the space where chaos could easily start,

They keep a careful, congruent heart.

Dear Ray…

Where hope outpaces fear and faith finds breath,

You rest, my son, in promise yet to step.

The world is wide, with wonder yet to see,

With paths of purpose waiting patiently.

I won’t deny the days will ask you more,

But love will teach you what you’re living for.

Strong hearts are shaped by truth and tested time,

And growth finds grace in every hill you climb.

I named you, Ray, for friendship tried and true,

For steady strength and goodness seen through you.

A name that means when storms around you rise,

There’s calm conviction carried in your eyes.

Ray: warmth and wisdom, steady, sure, and kind.

Micah: justice gentle, mercy well-aligned.

Eli: my God, when roads feel steep or strange,

He walks beside you, constant through all change.

So rise with joy, my son, receive the day,

Let laughter lead you, let love light your way.

The world may wander, wrestle, lose its way,

But God is good, and goodness will grow with you Ray.