Hurry Up Turtle!

"The Hurrier You Go
The Behinder you get!"
Old Pennsylvania Dutch saying

Hurry up turtle you’re right in the way
And we’re late for the things we’ve got to do today
Turtle turned and he looked
But kept plodding along
As if to ask “What’s the hurry 
When this road is so warm?”

But I fussed and I fumed and I honked on the horn
Till my wife told me I had to slow down and stay calm
Then I turned and I saw we had stopped by a nest
Of robin’s cheep-cheeping - I had disturbed their rest

Then I blushed as I bowed and talked to the Lord
So ashamed yet so glad we were stopped on that road
For God speaks to us in some unlikely places
If we'll slow down and listen instead of off to the races
For He shows us His path step by step as we pray
And be patient with turtles 
He has put in our way! 

Hurry Up Turtle by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright 2022 all rights reserved



Photo by Ludvig Hedenborg on Pexels.com

Our Old Bibles

Our old Bibles never die
They just sit on shelves
Waiting for the day when we
Will read them for ourselves

For when the word of God is planted
In a listening heart
It grows a little day by day
Till thoughts and actions start

To change as Jesus comes to rule
In ordinary ways
His love replacing selfishness
And hopelessness with praise


Our Old Bibles by Peter Caligiuri copyright 2022 
all rights reserved. Use by permission only. 

Joseph’s Pause


He had trudged on for days
Through the cold and the heat
Till the dust of long roads
Was caked hard on his feet 
And behind on the donkey
Mary followed as best
As she could though she ached 
And she wished they could rest
Then she touched Joseph’s shoulder
And he turned with a smile
Their eyes knowingly met 
So, he paused for a while

Then he looked to the village 
At the crest of the hill
And remembered God’s promise
Was to be there fulfilled
And he picked up the reins 
Then pressed on one more mile
Trusting this was God's place
For the birth of His child

Joseph's Pause by Peter Caligiuri copyright 2021 all rights reserved
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David: To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. Luke 2:4-5 KJV