Hold Fast Your Dreams

Within your heart
Keep one still, secret spot
Where dreams may go,
And sheltered so,
May thrive and grow --
Where doubt and fear are not.
Oh, keep a place apart
Within your heart,
For little dreams to go.

How Much Does God Love You?

Do you ever look up
to see the stars at night?
Have you tried to count them all
or imagine their number;
feeling small and insignificant
and overwhelmed at the sight?


With art . . .


Do you ever try to picture
the hand that put
each star in its place,
that knows their number;
and - more importantly -
knows that you are looking up
to see the vastness
of His universe?
He sees your face,
hears your thoughts,
and reads your heart.

God loves you more than
all the stars in heaven.
There's an endless amount of love
that He is always sending you,
and His love is there to cover
every moment of your life.

- Barbara J. Hall

Healed and Whole

One day I dug a little hole
And put  my hurt inside
I thought that I could just forget
I'd put it there to hide.

But that little hurt began to grow
I covered it everyday
I couldn't leave it and go on
It seemed the price I had tom pay.

My joy was gone, my heart was sad
Pain was all I knew.
My wounded soul enveloped me
Loving seemed too hard to do.

One day, while standing by my hole
I cried to God above
And said. "If you are really there -
They say, You are a God of Love!"

And just like that - He was right there
And just put His arms around me
He wiped my tears, His hurting child
There was no safer place to be.

I told Him all above my hurt
I opened up my heart
He listened to each and every word
To every sordid part.

I dug down deep and got my hurt
I brushed the dirt away
And placed it in the Master's hand
And healing came that day.

He took the blackness of my soul
And set my spirit free!
Something beautiful began to grow
Where the hurt used to be.

And when I look at what has grown
Out of my tears and pain
I remembered every day to give my hurts to Him
And never bury them again.

Growing Older

A little more tired at the close of day,
A little less anxious to have our way,
A little less ready to scold and blame,
A little more care for a brother's name;
And so we are nearing the journey's end,
Where time and eternity meet and blend.

A little less care for bonds and gold,
A little more zeal for the days of old;
A broader view and a saner mind,
And a little more love for all mankind;
And so we are faring down the way
That leads to the gates of a better day.

A little more love for the friends of youth,
A little more zeal for the established truth,
A little more charity in our views,
A little less thirst for the daily news;
And so we are folding our tents away
And passing in silence at close of day.

A little more leisure to sit and dream,
A little more real the things unseen,
A little nearer to those ahead,
With visions of those long loved and dead;
And so we are going where all must go--
To the place the .living may never know.

A little more laughter, a few more tears,
And we shall have told our increasing years.
The book is closed and the prayers are said,
And we are part of the countless dead;
Thrice happy, then, if some soul can say,
"I live because of their help on the way."

God Knows Best

Our Father knows what's best for us,
So why should we complain?
We always want the sunshine,
But He knows there must be rain.

We love the sound of laughter
And the merriment of cheer,
But our hearts would lose their tenderness
If we never shed a tear.

Our Father tests us often
With suffering and with sorrow,
He tests us, not to punish us,
But to help us meet tomorrow.

For growing trees are strengthened
When they withstand the storm,
And the sharp cut of the chisel,
Gives the marble grace and form.

God never hurts us needlessly,
And He never wastes our pain,
For every loss He sends to us,
Is followed by rich gain.

And when we count the blessings,
That God has so freely sent,
We will find no cause of murmuring
And no time to lament.

For our Father loves his children,
And to Him all things are plain;
So He never sends us pleasure
When the soul's deep need is pain.

So whenever we are troubled,
And when everything goes wrong;
It is just God working in us,
To make our  spirit strong.

- Helen Steiner Rice

Fortitude

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;l
Fast, and world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is a room in the halls of pleasure
For along and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.

- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Forgiveness is Sweet

It was so hard to forgive
Those who hurt and did me wrong,
The ones who lied, and those who tried
To snuff out my victor's song.

I took the shame and sorrow
They heaped upon my soul,
I bent and broke in pieces,
No longer strong and whole.

My self esteem was zero,
I felt worthless, stained with dirt,
I bowed beneath the burden
Unsure, defamed, and hurt.

But then I met the Savior,
And saw the way He came
To mankind meek and lowly,
Shaped of a different frame -

Earthly beauty did not matter
Neither wealth nor fame,
But just to please the Father,
This man with God's own name.

I took His life unto me
Gave Him what had been mine
I no longer had to worry
If men were cruel or unkind.

I asked for His forgiveness,
And shared it with those in need
Of forgiveness for their mortal selves
For sinful word or deed.

As I granted this grace, forgiveness,
I gained a blessed relief,
My spirit grew strong with honor,
My heart grew full of peace.

I now seek only God's opinion;
Is He pleased with me?
For He alone is worthy
To judge and require a change in me.

- Donnabelle Jamoralin