Looking Beyond the Clouds

”Looking Beyond the Clouds” demonstrates the ups and downs of Christian life. It is a book of poems that summarize the life of a person looking for greater purpose, finding that purpose in God, and fighting for the blessings promised in Heaven. It is interwoven with Christ’s compassion and the companionship of a fellow Christian. Welcome to this edition of Newsgram! Doesn’t it seem like we spend most of our lives just trying to figure it all out? You may have sorted out the meaning of everything but if so you are definitely in the minority. Nadia Owen is the subject of our little chats today and she’s put together a very personal, poetic journey in the form of a book titled “Looking Beyond the Clouds”.  In it she has a message for Christian’s and Non-Christian’s as well.  She says while Christianity is for everyone, it doesn’t mean that being a Christian is easy, it just gives you an incentive to be a better person and to have a purpose. Nadia Owen (It’s ok) It is o.k. to not always be so happy and it’s ok to doubt your relationship with God or even to be angry with God.  Nadia Owen (Non-Believers) There’s a lot of division in the world right now and part of that is people having certain presumptions about Christians and Christianity and ‘m hoping to maybe clear the air there a little bit.  Basically, it’s ok to be human. In fact, it’s important. Questioning our beliefs, questioning our leaders, questioning everything is how we find the truth. Failing and starting again is how we evolve. We weren’t born perfect and she says if you are striving for perfection you’re doing it wrong. Let me clarify that a bit further. If you are a true Christian then your behavior should mirror, reflect and resemble that of Jesus Christ. Now, that is setting the bar pretty high. We are human after all and we need to understand that we are going to make mistakes and that’s ok. People who know us and love us should understand that we are doing the best we can.  Nadia Owen (Christian) I feel like a lot of Christians feel this double standard of people expect them to to be pompous and phony in a way but when they’re not then the Christians are hoping that least then the other person will understand that they’re not being phony and that they really do believe in what they’re saying but when they do come off as more pompous and don’t really follow what they’re teaching then other people kind of point to them and say you’re not a Christians or this is what Christianity is all about. Nadia says we are all imperfect and we’re not as different as the world would have us believe. If you’re a Christian with some doubts here’s one I think you’ll enjoy. It’s called IMPERFECT.   The Artist makes eraser marks on his work 
But he planned to make these mistakes 
At first it seems that it was accidental 
But in the end a more beautiful and unique picture is made  The scars are visible 
But this is where you can see his work on me 
He took my past eraser marks and turned it into a more beautiful masterpiece 
This is my story  The sculptor scratches away night and day 
He started out with an ordinary rock of a rough grey 
But just enough pressure, and the removal of the unwanted 
He works until he gets a diamond that shines brighter than day  They say I’m perfect 
But I know he’s still working 
Washing me with his blood, repainting me with his grace, etching away so that I’m pleasing to the holy eyes of mercy.  Nadia Owen (For Mom) I first started writing poems like this at about the time that my mom was diagnosed with cancer and when she was diagnosed it was already pretty developed and she was one of the first people who say my poetry and she kept asking