my man is not here to hold my hand

I found this poem several weeks ago in one of my books for my intro to teaching class, "Rethinking Our Classrooms".  The poem is written by a young student who was trying to understand more the relationship between slaves and slaveowners in the years before the Civil War.  I just love the poem, and I wanted to share it here!

*My man is not here to hold my hand.
My man is not here to hold my hand.

He's out in the field.
He's out in the field.

with a whip in his hand.
with a whip at his back.

I lie here on my feather bed.
I lie here on the blanketed floor.

The pain comes.  I push.
The pain comes.  I push.

Someone, please come and help.
Someone, please come and help.

The midwife comes, the doctor, too.
The midwife comes, no doctor.

Silk sheets in my mouth.
A wood stick in my mouth.

To halt the screams.
To halt the screams.

I push some more.
I push some more.

I sigh relief.  The child is born.
I sigh relief.  The child is born.

Strong lungs scream.
Silence.

It squirms there, full of life.
It lies there, cold and blue.

It is a boy.
It was a boy.

Another born to be big and strong.
Another one born to be laid in the ground.

A babe suckling at my breast.
This babe lying in my arms.

Tomorrow I will plan a party.
Tomorrow I will go to the field.

-- Unknown

* excerpt taken from "Rethinking Our Classrooms, Volume 1", pg. 71

Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him

I love this poem by Thomas Kelly, but I couldn't find the actual tune for it, so I just made up my own and put music to it. I hope you enjoy it! Leave a comment! 

attributes of God - goodness

This month in "The Attributes of God" we were talking about the goodness of God.  I really enjoyed it.  God's goodness is one of those attributes I love thinking about, but just don't think about enough.

One of the quotes I like by Tozer is one where he defines the word "magnify".

   The psalmist said, "O magnify the LORD with me" (34:3).  "Magnify" may mean one of two things: "make it look bigger than it is," or "see it as big as it is."  The latter is what "magnify" means as the psalmist used it.
   If you want to examine a very small amount of matter, you put if under a microscope and magnify it to make it look bigger than it is.  But it is impossible to make God look bigger than He is.  When we say "magnify the Lord," we mean try to see God somewhere near as big as He is.  This is what I want to do.  This is what, by His help, I have dedicated myself to do.

Tozer also pointed out that God isn't ever "partway" anything.  He's always wholly good, wholly awesome, wholly loving, etc.  What an amazing thought!

In the chapter there was another quote I liked:

   The goodness of God is the only valid reason for existence, the only reason underlying all things.  Do you imagine that you deserve to be born, that you deserve to be alive?  The unbelieving poet Omar Khayyam said,

Into this universe and why
not knowing nor whence
like water willy-nilly flowing
and out of it like wind along the waste,
whither I know not,
willy-nilly blowing.

Tonight we were watching a bit of the old Moses movie, "The Ten Commandments".  As we were watching I got to thinking about God's goodness in the lives of Moses and his parents.  I can't imagine how Moses' mother must have felt as she set her baby boy adrift in the Nile in a basket, knowing the water was full of snakes and crocodiles and all other kinds of dangers, as well as boats and any number of other things that could have brought his young life to an end.  But she trusted in God, and how He showed His goodness through Moses' life!  I just thought it was really neat to think about.

...He made amends for us, "full, fair, and many," turning all our sin into endless worship.

attributes of God - immensity

Hey everyone!  I think I'm going to start a new kind of series that talks about certain attributes of God.  I thought it would be good for this season of my life because in the women's Bible study at my church, we're now going through The Attributes of God by A. W. Tozer.  Tozer is such an incredible author.  He's like Elisabeth Elliot (who, as I constantly rave about, is my favorite author) in his eye for the beauty in God's world, and joy in God and bluntness in bringing it forth.  I hope you enjoy this series!

Last Friday we had our second study going through The Attributes of God and were talking about God's immensity.  I love studies like that, where we're basically just talking about how amazing God truly is.  I especially love when creation is brought up and all that He has made.  To me, those are the things that most clearly tell of how immense God is.  As Tozer says in talking about this:

We think that the sun is very large with its planets circling around it. But if you study astronomy--even elementary astronomy--you will learn that there are suns so large that each one could absorb our sun, all of its planets, and all of the satellites that revolve around those planets into itself.  They say that there are suns that are so large you could put millions of our suns into them.  I give up.  I don't even try to understand it.
   Then there is space.  I don't think space is a thing; I think it is just a way we have of accounting for different positions in the vast universe.  We call it distance.  We know they don't measure it.  If it's the moon they say 250,000 miles or if it's the sun they say 93 million miles.  But after that they start talking in light years.  They say that there are bodies millions of light years away--say 10 million just to get a start.  So if you want to know how far it is from earth to that body I'm talking about, you multiply 5 trillion, 862 billion, 484 million by 10 million.  Doesn't that stun you?  It makes my head ache!  Seen over against this, you and I are terribly small.

I just loved learning about God's immensity this past week.  He is so incredible (Job 26:5-14).

Lastly, I want to include a poem that was in the chapter that really helps remind me how big God is.

O Fast and Gone,

How great is God,

How small am I,

A mote in the illimitable sky,

And lets the glory deep and wide and high

Of heaven's unclouded sun,

Ne'er to forget myself forevermore,

Lost, swallowed up in love's immensity.

The sea that knows no sounding and no shore,

God only there, not I,

Nor nearer than I am to myself can be

Art Thou to me.

So have I lost myself in finding Thee.

The boundless heaven of Thine eternal love

Around me and beneath me and above

In glory of that golden day,

The former things are passed away,

Aye, passed away.

-- Gerhard Tersteegen

new year's resolutions

I love making new year's resolutions.  I'm always sad about the previous year ending, but it's nice to have resolutions sort of be a "plan" for how I want the next year to go.  Here's a few of the most important ones:

~ finish reading through my Bible (I didn't quite finish last year) and try and read through it again

~ I want this next year to be one in which I spend more and more time in God's Word, trying to make it a habit for the rest of my life.  It's really hard to do that with school and work and everything else, but I want to try and "fast" from the other things in my life that aren't necessary and take up so much time, and fill that extra time with the Bible.  The day after I decided this I read an interesting part of a book by Amy Carmichael that seemed to fit exactly what I was thinking about.  I wanted to include it here.

*Note on Prayer and Fasting

   This note is to those to whom the idea of “prayer and fasting” is new, and who are rather puzzled about it.
   First, what does it mean?
   It means a determined effort to put first things first, even at the cost of some inconvenience to oneself. It means a setting of the will towards God. It means shutting out as much as possible all interrupting things. For the thing that matters is that one cares enough to have time with God, and to say no to that in oneself which clamors for a good meal and perhaps conversation. It is that which is of value to our Lord. Such a setting of the will Godward is never a vain thing. “I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye Me in vain.”
   But we must be in earnest. “When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”

   A few simple Don’ts:

   1. Don’t get into bondage about place, or position of the body. Where did our Lord spend His hours of prayer? We know how crowded and stuffy Eastern houses are; we know that sometimes, at least, He went out into the open air to a hillside; to a garden. Where did Elijah spend the long time of waiting on his God? Again, out in the open air. I have known some who could kneel for hours by a chair. I have known others who could not. David “sat before the Lord.” Some find help in going out of doors and walking up and down; this was Bishop Moule’s way. Some go into their room and shut their door. Do not be in bondage. Let the leaning of your mind lead you; a God-directed mind leans to what helps the spirit most.

   2. Don’t be discouraged if at first you seem to get nowhere. I think there is no command in the whole Bible so difficult to obey and so penetrating in power as the command to be still—“Be still, and know that I am God.” Many have found this so.

Ah, dearest Lord! I cannot pray,
   My fancy is not free;
Unmannerly distractions come,
   And force my thoughts from Thee.

The world that looks so dull all day
   Glows bright on me at prayer,
And plans that ask no thought but then
   Wake up and meet me there.

All nature one full fountain seems
   Of dreamy sight and sound,
Which, when I kneel, breaks up its deeps,
   And makes a deluge round.

My very flesh has restless fits;
   My changeful limbs conspire
With all these phantoms of the mind
   My inner self to tire.

Faber

   This is true. Let the tender understanding of your God enfold you. He knows the desire of your heart. Sooner or later He will fulfill it. It is written, “He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him.” “I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye Me in vain.” (Thank God, for using the poor name Jacob there. Do you not often feel very much like the seed of Jacob? I do. “Surely, shall one say, In the lord have I righteousness and strength.” There is none of either in the seed of Jacob.”

   3. Don’t feel it necessary to pray all the time; listen. Solomon asked for a hearing heart. It may be that the Lord wants to search the ground of your heart, not the top layer, but the ground. Give Him time to do this. And read the Words of Life. Let them enter into you.

   4. Don’t forget there is one other person interested in you—extremely interested; he will talk, probably quite vehemently, for there is no truer word than the old couplet,

**Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.

As far as I know the only way to silence his talk is to read or say aloud (or recall to mind) counter-words, “It is written, . . . It is written, . . . It is writing”; or to sing, for the devil detests song. “Singing . . . in your heart,” “singing . . . to the Lord”—either or both are too much for him.
   But let the Spirit lead as to what to read. “Let Thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the land of righteousness.”

   5. Don’t give up in despair if no thoughts and no words come, but only distractions and inward confusions. Often it helps to use the words of others, making them one’s own. Psalm, hymn, song—use what helps most.

   6. Don’t worry if you fall asleep. “He giveth unto His beloved in sleep.”

   7. And if the day ends in what seem failure, don’t fret. Tell Him about it. Tell Him you are sorry. Even so, don’t be discouraged. All discouragement is of the devil. It is true as Faber says again:

Had I, dear Lord, no pleasure found
   But in the thought of Thee,
Prayer would have come unsought, and been
   A truer liberty.

Yet Thou art oft most present, Lord,
   In weak distracted prayer;
A sinner out of heart with self
   Most often finds Thee there.

For prayer that humbles sets the soul
   From all illusions free,
And teaches it how utterly,
   Dear Lord, it hangs on Thee.

   Then let your soul hang on Him. “My soul hangeth upon Thee”—not upon my happiness in prayer, but just upon Thee. Tell Him you are sorry, and fall back on the old words: “Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee”—unworthy as I am. Let these words comfort your heart: “The Lord . . . lifteth up all those that are down.” “Cast not away . . . your confidence,” there is a “great recompense of reward” waiting for you a little later on.

   But maybe it will be quite different. “Sometimes a light surprises the Christian when he sings,” or waits with his heart set upon access to his God; and he is bathed in wonder that to such dust of the earth such revelations of love can be given. If so it be, to Him be the praise. It is all of Him.
   “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

~  I want to try and read one good, edifying book every month.

~ Work hard at my job and do my best, even if I don't love it all the time.

~ Honor God through school and get good grades.

~ Nail down exactly what my plans for school are.

~ Write more poetry, fiction, music, etc.

~ Eat fruit regularly.  I make this resolution every year and never follow through with it, but I hope I can actually do it this year. :)

~ Write more actual letters to people.  I used to love doing this, and I think writing a good letter is a dying art.

~ Provide a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal for a family in need.

~ Learn how to pray.

~ Adore Him more and more.

~ Memorize more of the Word.  About halfway through this year I'd memorized quite a bit.  I've lost most of it now, though, and I'd like to try and get it back, along with memorizing more.  I've been so encouraged by the memorization group that was formed in my church this year.  We press on together!

~ Learn how to cook more, and try to actually enjoy it (I really just can't stand cooking).

~ Find a way to serve others consistently.

~ Work on my friendships.  I'm generally really terrible at this--I don't keep up on what's going on in people's lives, and then I don't like telling them about what going on in my life, but I know friendship is a gift from God, so I need to work on improving those.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said something about this that encouraged me: "It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of Christian [friends] is a gift of grace, a gift of the Kingdom of God that any day may be taken from us, that the time that still separates us from utter loneliness may be brief indeed."

A friend hears the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.
-- Anonymous

~ Give more than most would think is wise. By this I mean not only time and strength, but financially as well.  I read a quote sometime this year that said something like, "As soon as I have any money, I give it away, lest it makes its way into my heart."  Now if only I could find out who said that!

~ Cultivate a gentle, quiet spirit.

~ Get wisdom (Pro. 4:7).  My dad preached a great sermon on this today.

* excerpt taken from Edges of His Ways by Amy Carmichael, pages 247-250

** William Cowper

31 Days of Song, Day #14

I'm thankful I can still go to Bible club every once in awhile, even now that I'm in college.  I'm going today for the last club meeting before Christmas; it should be a special time.  I love all those kids so much, and it's great to get to see them sometimes still.

"Of the Father's Love Begotten" isn't one of the best known Christmas carols, but it's very beautiful and one definitely worth learning.  I like how it sounds rather haunting and pensive.  It was written by Aurelius Prudentius, and was translated from Latin into English by John Mason Neale in 1854.

Of the Father's love begotten

Ere the worlds began to be,

He is Alpha and Omega,

He the Source, the Ending He,

Of the things that are, that have been,

And that future years shall see

Evermore and evermore.

Oh, that birth forever blessed

When the Virgin, full of grace,

By the Holy Ghost conceiving,

Bare the Savior of our race,

And the Babe, the world's Redeemer,

First revealed His sacred face

Evermore and evermore.

O ye heights of heaven, adore Him;

Angel hosts, His praises sing;

Powers, dominions, bow before Him

And extol our God and King.

Let no tongue on earth be silent,

Every voice in concert ring

Evermore and evermore.

This is He whom Heaven-taught singers

Sang of old with one accord;

Whom the Scriptures of the prophets

Promised in their faithful word.

Now He shines, the Long-expected;

Let creation praise its Lord

Evermore and evermore.

Christ, to Thee, with God the Father,

And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee

Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving

And unending praises be,

Honor, glory, and dominion,

And eternal victory

Evermore and evermore.

-- Aurelius Prudentius

Times Go By Turns

The lopped tree in time may grow again;

Most naked plants renew both fruit and flower;

The sorriest wight may find release of pain,

The driest soil suck in some moistening shower;

Times go by turns and chances change by course,

From foul to fair, from better hap to worse.

The sea of fortune doth not ever flow,

She draws her favors to the lowest ebb;

Her tide hath equal times to come and go,

Her loom doth weave the fine and coarsest web;

No joy so great but runneth to an end,

No hap so hard but may in time amend.

Not always fall of leaf nor every spring,

No endless night yet not eternal day;

The saddest birds a season find to sing,

The roughest storm a calm may soon allay;

Thus with succeeding turns God tempereth all,

That man may hope to rise yet fear to fall.

A chance may win that by mischance was lost;

The net that holds no great, takes little fish;

In some things all, in all things none are crossed,

Few all they need, but none have all they wish;

Unmeddled joys here to no man befall,

Who least hath some, who most hath never all.

-- Robert Southwell

whisper it to thy saddle-bow

I wanted to share this video I saw on facebook today.  It's so cute!

I have a devotional book by Amy Carmichael that I read every day.  It's called Edges of His Ways.  There's a paragraph or two for each day, or sometimes just a poem that she wrote.  I loved the poem for October 11th, and wanted to share it.

Have I a fear that Thou dost know?

Fear of weakness, fear of failing

(Though Thy power is all-prevailing)

Or a haunting fear of bringing

Care to others?

“Share it not with a weakling

Whisper it to thy saddle-bow,

And ride forth singing.”

Many fears can murmur low:

Fear of ills the future holdeth

(Though, indeed, Thy grace upholdeth),

Dulling fear and fear sharp stinging,

Fear that tortures.

“Share it not with a weakling

Whisper it to thy saddle-bow,

And ride forth singing.”

-- Amy Carmichael

And finally, I found this song by Building 429 the other day, and wanted to share it too.

Bless the Lord!

I just read this poem, and wanted to share it.

The Scribe

What lovely things

   Thy hand hath made:

The smooth-plumed bird

   In its emerald shade,

The seed of the grass,

   The speck of stone

Which the wayfaring ant

   Stirs—and hastes on!

Though I should sit

   By some tarn in thy hills,

Using its ink

   As the spirit wills

To write of Earth’s wonders,

   Its live, willed things,

Flit would the ages

   On soundless wings

Ere unto Z

   My pen drew nigh;

Leviathan told,

   And the honey-fly:

And still would remain

   My wit to try—

My worn reeds broken,

   The dark tarn dry,

All words forgotten—

   Thou, Lord, and I.

-- Walter De La Mare

Also this incredible song by Matt Redman.  It's so beautiful.

Show Me

I found this song earlier, and really like it.  I also wanted to share this poem, "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind."  Enjoy!

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,

Forgive our fev’rish ways!

Reclothe us in our rightful mind;

In purer lives Thy service find,

In deeper rev’rence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard,

Besides the Syrian Sea,

The gracious calling of the Lord,

Let us, like them, without a word,

Rise up and follow Thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee!

O calm of hills above,

Where Jesus knelt to share with thee

The silence of eternity,

Interpreted by love.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness

Till all our strivings cease;

Take from our souls the strain and stress,

And let our ordered lives confess

The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe thru the heats of our desire

Thy coolness and Thy balm;

Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;

Speak thru the earthquake, wind, and fire,

O still small voice of calm!

-- John Greenleaf Whittier

Children of the Heav'nly Father

I found this poem today at this website, and I have just fallen in love with it. With what love our heavenly Father cares for His children!

Children of the Heav'nly Father

Children of the heav’nly Father

Safely in His bosom gather;

Nestling bird nor star in Heaven

Such a refuge e’er was given.

God His own doth tend and nourish;

In His holy courts they flourish;

From all evil things He spares them;

In His mighty arms He bears them.

Neither life nor death shall ever

From the Lord His children sever;

Unto them His grace He showeth,

And their sorrows all He knoweth.

Though He giveth or He taketh,

God His children ne’er forsaketh;

His the loving purpose solely

To preserve them pure and holy.

Lo their very hairs He numbers

And no daily care encumbers

Them that share His ev’ry blessing

And His help in woes distressing.

Praise the Lord in joyful numbers:

Your Protector never slumbers.

At the will of your Defender

Ev’ry foeman must surrender.

-- Lina Sandell

Never forget those who were lost ten years ago.  Take some time to be away with the Lord today and lift up the families and friends who continue to grieve.  May He still use this tragedy for His glory and the salvation of many.  Pray also for the soldiers who continue to fight in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for the families of those who have died in combat.

The Conversion of S. Paul

A blessed conversion, and a strange

Was that, when Saul a Paul became:

And, Lord, for making such a change,

We praise and glorify Thy name.

For whilst he went from place to place,

To persecute Thy truth and Thee;

(And running to perdition was)

By powerful grace called back was he.

When from Thy truth we go astray,

(Or wrong it through our blinded zeal)

Oh come, and stop us in the way,

And then Thy will to us reveal;

That brightness show us from above

Which proves the sensual eyesight blind:

And from our eyes those scales remove,

That hinder us the way to find.

And as Thy blessed servant Paul,

When he a convert once became,

Exceeded Thy Apostles all,

In painful preaching of Thy name:

So grant that those who have in sin

Exceeded others heretofore,

The start of them in faith may win,

Love, serve, and honor Thee the more.

-- George Wither

In the Morning

I wrote this song about a week and a half ago as I was thinking about how busy I was going to be once I started college and continued on with work and everything.  I have made mornings my times for devotions for about four or five years now, but with starting work and everything it has sometimes had to be shortened.  I wanted to remind myself that my mornings with the Lord aren't just times to dutifully read four chapters out of my Bible, but to learn of Him, to speak with Him about my day, and to worship Him before anything else.  I really like how the song turned out; it has helped remind me that these mornings with God are precious and should come first and foremost, before anything else.  I'm going to try and record it this weekend, but for now here are the lyrics.

In the Morning

By Sarah Butler

Seeking Your face in the morning

Is one of the hardest things to do

Seeking Your face in the morning,

When all the world is askew

To lift my hands in worship

Would add so much to my day

But I don't lift my hands in worship;

Instead, I just go on my way.

Thanking You for Your blessings

The sunshine, and more, for the rain

Remembering all of Your goodness

At the start of a brand new day

To thank You for my family

And the love that You pour down

But I don't thank You for the blessings;

Instead, I just grumble and frown.

Lifting up the trials

And also the blessings that You give

To ask You for Your guidance

That I might know how to live

To lift this time before You

Would add so much to my day

But I just speak to You once in the morning

And otherwise, forget how to pray.

Seeking Your face in the morning

Is one of the best things to do

Praising You for Your wonders

And basking in Your love anew

Thanking You for my family

And for all, for me, You did

God, I ask Your blessing on this morning;

Show me how You want me to live.

Love Through Me, Even Me

Love through me, Love of God;
   There is no love in me.
O Fire of love, light Thou the love
   That burns perpetually.


Flow through me, Peace of God;
   Calm River, flow until
No wind can blow, no current stir
   A ripple of self-will.



Shine through me, Joy of God;
   Make me like Thy clear air
That Thou dost pour Thy colors through,
   As though it were not there.


O blessed Love of God,
   That all may taste and see
How good Thou art, once more I pray:
   Love through me--even me.


-- Amy Carmichael

New video

Yesterday I played this song as a prelude at my church.  It was all going really well until the middle of the second verse, when I dropped my pick inside the guitar.  It was very embarrassing.  I had to continue on strumming with my thumb, but in the end it turned out OK!  Anyway, I decided to record a version of it, mostly because I just love this song and can't seem to find a version of it that I like.  Enjoy!

Blind Bartimaeus

Blind Bartimaeus at the gates
Of Jericho in darkness waits;
He hears the crowd—he hears a breath
Say, “It is Christ of Nazareth!”
And calls, in tones of agony,
“Jesus, have mercy now on me!”


The thronging multitudes increase;
Blind Bartimaeus, hold thy peace!
But still, above the noisy crowd,
The beggar’s cry is shrill and loud;
Until they say, “He calleth thee!”
“Fear not, arise, He calleth thee!”


Then saith the Christ, as silent stands
The crowd, “What wilt thou at My hands?”
And he replies, “O give me light!
Rabbi, restore the blind man’s sight!”
And Jesus answers, “Go in peace,
Thy faith from blindness gives release!”


Ye that have yes, yet cannot see,
In darkness and in misery,
Recall those mighty Voices Thee,
“Jesus, have mercy now on me!
Fear not, arise, and go in peace!
Thy faith from blindness gives release!”


-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Home!

I'm home from Camp Regeneration!  Let me tell you, it was a blast and so much more challenging and encouraging than I anticipated.  I'm going to do a series of posts as soon as I can.  I don't know if it'll happen this week since I'm going to have to work a lot, but I'll do it soon!  If you want to here the story behind this:

then stay tuned.

I've posted this before, but we sang it a lot at Regeneration and I wanted to post it again.

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still my own.


Let the world despise and leave me,
They have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me;
Thou art not, like them, untrue.
O while Thou dost smile upon me,
God of wisdom, love, and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me,
Show Thy face and all is bright.


Man may trouble and distress me,
’Twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me;
Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me
While Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me,
Were that joy unmixed with Thee.


Go, then, earthly fame and treasure,
Come disaster, scorn and pain
In Thy service, pain is pleasure,
With Thy favor, loss is gain
I have called Thee Abba Father,
I have stayed my heart on Thee
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather;
All must work for good to me.


Soul, then know thy full salvation
Rise o’er sin and fear and care
Joy to find in every station,
Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee,
Think what Father’s smiles are thine,
Think that Jesus died to win thee,
Child of heaven, canst thou repine.


Haste thee on from grace to glory,
Armed by faith, and winged by prayer.
Heaven’s eternal days before thee,
God’s own hand shall guide us there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission,
Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days,
Hope shall change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.


-- Henry Lyte

For Weary Days

We thank Thee Lord, for weary days
   When desert streams were dry,
And first we knew what depths of need
   Thy love could satisfy.

We thank Thee for the rest in Him
   The weary only know--
The perfect, wondrous sympathy
   We needs must learn below.

The touch that heals the broken heart
   Is never felt above;
His angels know His blessedness,
   His way-worn saints, His love.

-- Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

Turn Your Eyes

Turn Your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.

-- Helen Lemmel

A Better Resurrection

I have no wit, no words, no tears;
   My heart within me like a stone
Is numbed too much for hopes or fears;
   Look right, look left, I dwell alone;
I lift mine eyes, but dimmed with grief
   No everlasting hills I see;
My life is in the falling leaf:
   O Jesus, quicken me.


My life is liked a faded leaf,
   My harvest dwindled to a husk;
Truly my life is void and brief
   And tedious in the barren dusk;
My life is like a frozen thing,
   No bud or greenness can I see:
Yet rise it shall—the sap of Spring;
   O Jesus, rise in me.


My life is like a broken bowl,
   A broken bowl that cannot hold
One drop of water for my soul
   Or cordial in the searching cold;
Cast in the fire the perished thing,
   Melt and remould it, till it be
A royal cup for Him my King:
   O Jesus, drink of me.


-- Christina Rossetti