One Wish of God

If God would grant me just one wish
   To be enjoyed through life,
I would not ask for wealth or power
   Or comforts, without strife.
I would but ask He touch my heart
   And fill it--for this while--
With just the simple loves I knew
   When I was just a child.

The kind of loves that made each day
   A blessing to behold
And filled my heart with trust and faith
   In Him and human fold,
And this is all that I would ask--
   To make my life sublime:
To live with just this kind of love
   That, once, was yours and mine.

My aging years have proven, well,
   The noblest gift on earth
Is not some gift we take from life
   Of selfish, private worth.
It's what we carry in our hearts
   To share and give away,
Such as the loves we knew--and grew--
   Within our childhood days.

                       ~ Michael Dubina    

The Tide Has Turned

The tide has turned.
The waves only nibble
at the crust of sand
along the shore.

But it will change
again, as do so many
things in life.

And it will keep on
changing until man
recognizes at last,
the unending rhythm
of His Divine plan.

 ~ Diane Denise Lake

Experience

We must live through the weary winter,
   If we would value spring.
And the woods must be cold and silent,
   Before the robins sing.

The flowers must be buried in darkness,
   Before they can bud and bloom.
And the sweetest and warmest sunshine,
   Comes after the storm and gloom.

So the heart, from the hardest trial,
   Gains the purest joy of all.
And from the lips that have tasted sadness,
   The sweetest songs will fall.

For as peace comes after suffering,
   And love is reward of pain,
So, after earth, comes heaven,
   And out of our loss, the gain.

                      ~ Roxie Lusk Smith 

This I Know

I know not why some days are sad
And filled with grief and pain;
But this I know: 'Tho skies be gray
The sun will shine again.

For after winter follows spring
When flowers bloom anew;
And God, in love, is working now
His purposes for you.

Your trials will pass in His own time;
Friend, you will see the sun,
For there awaits a shining dawn
When clouds their work have done.

           ~ Beverly J. Anderson

A Thankful Heart

Take nothing for granted,
   for whenever you do
The "joy of enjoying"
   is lessened for you--
For we rob our own lives
   much more than we know
When we fail to respond
   or in any way show
Our thanks for the blessings
   that daily are ours . . .
The warmth of the sun,
   the fragrance of flowers,
The beauty of twilight,
   the freshness of dawn,
The coolness of dew
   on a green velvet lawn,
The kind little deeds
   so thoughtfully done,
The favors of friends
   and the love that someone
Unselfishly gives us
   in a myriad of ways,
Expecting no payment
   and no words of praise--
Oh, great is our loss
   when we no longer find
A thankful response
   to things of this kind,
For the joy of enjoying
   and the fulness of living
Are found in the heart
   that is filled with thanksgiving.

              ~ Helen Steiner Rice

Today

I shall do so much in the years to come,
   But what have I done today?
I shall give out gold in princely sum,
   But what did I give today?
I shall lift the heart and dry the tear,
I shall plant a hope in the place of fear,
I shall speak with words of love and cheer,
   But what have I done today?
I shall be so kind in the after while,
   But what have I been today?
I shall bring to each lonely life a smile,
   But what have I brought today?
I shall give to truth a grander birth,
And to steadfast faith a deeper worth,
I shall feed the hungering souls of earth,
   But whom have I fed today?

                    ~ Roxie Lusk Smith

Recovery

I'll count the kind of deeds done today
Instead of hurts that come my way.
I'll catch the sunbeams on my sill
And let the clouds move as they will.
I'll listen to a trilling note
And lift the one caught in my throat.

I'll nod and smile at passersby
And not give in to thoughts that cry.
I'll smell the flowers as they bloom
Within, without my living room.
I'll watch the children near the gate
And let their freedom compensate.

I'll count the health I know today
And find tomorrow--as it may . . .
Because my hope and joy shall be
The love of Christ, Who strengthens me.

                ~ Roxie Lusk Smith