Still Waters

Poems written by Jamie Hoeft 2024-2025

Introduction by Dave Messner

Today's life is full of stress, sleeplessness, anxiety. Left to our own devices we will fail. Stress will build. Sleepless nights will compound. Anxiety will grow from a nagging feeling to a life altering brick wall that can't be overcome. How can this madness be stopped? How can we change our life for the better? The answer: faith, hope and love.

I Corinthians 13:13- And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Still Waters is a collection of poetry written by Jamie Hoeft. Still Waters forces you to encounter your own thoughts on faith, hope and love. You'll get honest insight into the life of the author. Real and authentic life events are ingrained in the poetry throughout this collection. You'll see how faith, hope and love impact everyday life.

As you read this collection, I would encourage you to contemplate your own understanding of faith, hope and love and the eternal impact it will have on your life.

For me I have faith in the God who saves - Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord.' And believe with your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

John 3:16- For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. The love of Jesus knows no end.

Jamie, thank you for opening your heart and sharing your talents with us. May God use the abilities He has for His glory!

Respectfully, Dave Messner

Here are a couple of the poems.

BUDDY
On Monday, four angels prayed
On Tuesday, I was cooking
In the window I stayed
Then Buddy came walking
After missing
For seven days

I have been living in the eye of the storm
Trying not to disappear in the undertow
Where I come out deformed
Pulled from the deepest disaster

In the hopeless night
I see a glimmer coming on the horizon
A soft light of faith
Hope for a better tomorrow
Where the sins of the past
Stay there
Replaced by reconciliation

In the window I stayed
Then Buddy came walking
After missing
For seven days
Answered prayer
A lifetime of communion

THE TREE OF LIFE
We walk hand and hand
On the streets of gold
In a faraway land
Called heaven

All the flowers are in bloom
The birds sing their praise
All I can do is raise
My face to the glory of God

You show me all around
Including a river so clear
That you can see beyond the surface
Right into the throne room of the Lamb

In the next moment I am surrounded
By everyone I ever loved
I gain an eternal understanding
That there is no more death
There is no more suffering
You receive all of us
The way, the truth and the life
Oh, to dwell in such paradise
Under the shade of the tree of life.