Light

By Naomi
God's light on dark clouds.

Once Upon a Time

By Kiera Lhys
Artwork by Iris Lo

Once upon a time.
Simple words that begin a fairy tale.
Fairies, and magic, and evil queens,
And happily-ever-afters.
Once upon a time.
There once lived a little girl.
Her mama ran away without a thought,
Leaving her alone with Papa and Granma,
And her once-upon-a-times.
Her papa got her a new mama,
And her granma went to heaven.
Still, the little girl kept living
In once-upon-a-times.
She grew up a dreamer.
Her mind was always in the clouds.
Reality is fantasy, and fantasy is reality
With once-upon-a-times.
The little girl always felt alone.
She didn’t know that God was always near,
Even when she loses herself
Within once-upon-a-times.
A trusted friend finally showed her
God’s outstretched hand and unfailing love.
The girl reached out and took His hand.
No more once-upon-a-times.
God has saved her from herself
And has redeemed her from evil.
If not for God, she would still be cursed to live
Inside once-upon-a-times.
There is no life within fantasy.
God gave new life with new meaning
The moment she accepted Him and
Left her once-upon-a-times.
Once upon a time.
Simple words that bring only emptiness.
In Christ alone, I place my trust.
Simple words that bring happily-ever-afters
When He calls us home.

曾幾何時

原文：Kiera Lhys ︱中譯：小米 | 插圖：盧詠莛

曾幾何時，
童話的開頭只需三言兩語:
魔法、巫婆和仙女，
然後，就是永遠幸福快樂的結局。
曾幾何時，
有一個小女孩，
她媽媽走的時候不曾猶豫，
留她下來跟爸爸、奶奶相依。
曾幾何時，
爸爸給她找了個新媽媽；
奶奶去了天堂，
而她仍舊不斷長大。
曾幾何時，
她整天都在做夢；
她的心裡一片混沌，
現實是一場幻覺，而幻想裡面的一切卻那麼真。
曾幾何時，
小女孩總是覺得孤單；
她並不知道主一直在她身旁，
即使，當她已經變得認不出她自己。
曾幾何時，
一個好友終於讓她知道，
主的膀臂一直為她而伸，主愛無窮無盡；
女孩於是伸出自己的手，握住主的手。
於是–再也沒有曾幾何時，
主把她從舊我裡面拯救出來，
主已經把她從罪惡裡贖出，
如果沒有主，她會仍舊生活在詛咒中，
仍舊不斷重復著“曾幾何時”。
幻覺沒有生命，
而在主裡的新生卻還有了簇新的意義；
當她接受主的那一刻，
她就離開了那些“曾幾何時”。
曾幾何時，
三言兩語之後有的只是空虛；
我只信靠主，
這同樣簡單的語句，卻真意味著幸福快樂的結局，
因為它，我們得以到天家裡與主團聚。

Happy《快樂》

Poem and artwork By Naomi | 原文及插圖：小米

It is true
that
I am no longer young and pretty
I am living a life without family
I have no lover, no career
no money

But you know what?
Because of Jesus,
I am happy

這首名叫《快樂》的詩，是我為主耶穌作的見證。也許，在世人眼中，自己一事無成，可是，主耶穌親自把聖靈，栽種在我的心裡讓我得以在喜樂和平安中，迎接每一天的晨曦。