On growing old

I have been looking around my house at all the things I cannot do very well anymore. I have to have help from my daughter in laws and my husband at times. I have to measure my energy because there is just not enough to go around a lot of days. But yet God helps me to serve him in many little ways everyday and I know I am of great worth to Him no matter how old I get. All of this pondering brought the following poem:

Growing Old in the Lord

So many things you cannot do
As the years go marching by,
But God will see you through
And will hear your every cry.

If you grow old in the Lord,
His fruit you will always bear.
He will give you your reward
And answer your fervent prayer.

Maybe you can't sweep the floor
But you can serve in other ways.
God will open for you a door
To serve Him all your days.

When autumn leaves fall on you
Or winter touches your brow,
God has something for you to do
And He will show you how.

He has promised to carry you
And all your burdens bear.
He will your strength renew
And lift you from despair.

15 Sep 2009 Suzanne Halliday

Isaiah 46:4, "And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you." Psalms 92:14, "They shall bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing."

Being A Shepherd Today

Sometimes before poems are born, I truly suffer birth pains and do not even realize at the time what they are for until the poem comes out. This one was no exception. I had a real rough week last week. I am a mission leader and I was struggling with one of my missionaries. My team lead talked to us Friday about how to reach the ones who are doing well and are not a problem, how to assure them that they are doing well. All of this brought me to the birth of the following poem:

A Shepherd

Were you His shepherd today?
Did you show the sheep the way?
Did you search diligently for the lost
And look for all the tempest tossed?

Did you look for one who went astray?
For her or him did you kneel to pray?
Did your heart pour out for them all
That they might not stumble or fall?

Did you encourage each lamb today
And praise him when he did okay?
Did you plant love's little seed
And pull out each selfish weed?

If you do your very best each day
In keeping His sheep from going astray,
Then He will say to you, "Well, done
My good and faithful daughter or son."

3 August 2009 Suzanne Halliday

Matthew 25:21 "His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of the Lord."

I have been humming the hymn: "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go", off and on since yesterday and tonight the words began to flow. Then as I was writing the poem the hymn "Have I Done Any Good?" began coming to me. "Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad? If not, I have failed indeed. Has anyone's burden been lighter today Because I was willing to share? Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way? When they needed my help was I there? Then wake up and do something more Than dream of your mansion above. Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure, A blessing of duty and love."

His Touch

Friday I was under a lot of stress. I had planned on cleaning house after my morning meeting but the meeting lasted all morning. Reports were due; I had missionaries to contact and things to iron out. My internet was acting up in the morning and that prevented me from seeing everything I should have been in the meeting. My excell report got damaged and had to repair itself and then became totally unusable. By the time my evening shift was over my soul was in turmoil. I was standing at the kitchen sink when I felt a physical touch on my shoulder and I knew all was well. The following poem describes my feelings:

His Touch

I was down in a hole
When He touched my soul
And made it whole.
By the world I was battered
And left torn and tattered
But His hand touched me
And from turmoil I was free:
For His peace filled me
And drew me ever nigh
Releasing my sigh.

The world is a busy place,
But for those who seek His face,
He daily offers grace.
The world touches us all
And somedays we fall,
But He hears our humble cry
And feels our very sigh.
And draws us ever nigh.
Upon us in our darkest hour
His love will shower.

1 August 2009 Suzanne Halliday

Matthew 9:22, "...Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole."

Opening the heavens

On the day the August 2009 Ensign arrived last week I was drawn to the cover story: Opening the Heavens. I read it immediately and it prompted me to write "A Promised Land" and now this little poem. The math major in me sees formulas in spiritual things as well as physical things and in this article I saw a powerful formula for opening heaven. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our Own "Sacred Grove"

May we each be one
With the Father and the Son.
May we commit to His way
At the beginning of each day.
May we draw close to Him
And give away worry and whim.

May we each find an alcove,
Our own special "sacred grove",
Where His voice we can hear,
Where His presence can draw near.
May He walk daily by our side
And may with Him we one day reside.

25 July 2009 Suzanne Halliday

"Opening the Heavens" by Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi, August 2009 ENSIGN "Do you want to feel the love of God more powerfully in your life." "There is a way you can feel a daily renewal of God's everlasting love and drink from 'the fountain of living waters' (1 Nephi 11:25). I speak of a morning devotional time spent in prayer, meditation, and scripture study. If you have a devotional every morning, even if only for a few minutes, you will be deeply blessed. I know this to be true. "The key to gaining the spiritual strength we need lies in what President Thomas S Monson once described as entering a 'sacred grove' of our own. He was teaching bishops, but the counsel applies to all members of the church: 'Every bishop (every member) needs a sacred grove to which he can retire to meditate and to pray for guidance... "We don't enter into these devotional times expecting to see the Father and the Son any more than Joseph Smith did. But we can trust that Heavenly Father will answer our prayers; how He answers them, however is up to Him. "There is great power in setting aside quiet, prayerful, meditative time. In the stillness that accompanies our pondering, we can come to know the Father and His son (see Psalm 44:10; D & C 101:16) I know from personal experience the spiritual power that can flow into your life if you follow this practice. You will feel the love of God and a cleansing, purifying regeneration of your spirit (see 1 Nephi 11-25; D & C 50:28-29). You will experience moments of revelation, when the Spirit whispers to your spirit what you need to do to be a better father, a better mother, a better son or daughter, a better disciple of Jesus Christ. See Elder Melvin J Ballard's account of his dream. "I don't know if you will have that same kind of experience in this life. But I do know that if you continue to meet daily with Heavenly Father in the private chambers of your home, you will come know Him and our Savior in ways you couldn't otherwise. May you do so and have the heavens open to you in whatever glorious ways your Heavenly Father has prepared for you."

God will see us through.

As my walking partner and I walked by a neighbor's home, we marveled that she was still able to sit on the ground and pull weeds, while we can no longer even sit on the floor and if we should somehow get down there, it takes helping hands to get us up again. I thought too about this neighbor's problems. She can sit on the ground and pull weeds but she has her own set of troubles. All of this thinking prompted me to write the following poem:


Growing Old

Things I could do before
Like sit on the floor,
I can do no more.
Bending down too
Is very hard to do,
But God sees me through.

Maybe you can't bend
Or a mountain ascend
Without loosing wind.
What is hard for me to do
Might be easy for you,
But God will see us through.

Growing old is not easy;
Sometimes even queasy,
Or at times quite breezy.
But there is more to do,
And no time to be blue.
God needs us to be true.

16 July 2009 Suzanne Halliday

Hymn 52, "Still let us be doing, our lessons reviewing, Which God has revealed for our walk in his way; And then wondrous story, the Lord in his glory Will come in his pow'r in the beautiful day."

Hope

Thread of Hope

There is a thread of hope
That can run through your life.
It will bring power to cope
And to risie above the strife.

Don't let the thread break;
Hang on through thick and thin.
Ride out your heart ache
And one day you too will win.

Let not your thread bend down
And touch upon the ground:
For God has promised a crown
To all whose hope doth abound.

Sing songs of faith and hope;
For they will strengthen your thread.
As you braid the thread into a rope,
Blessings will break upon your head.

17 July 2009 Suzanne Halliday

In my mind's eye I beheld a thread of hope broken in two and bending down to touch the ground. It had been severed by despair. I knew I must get up and write about the thread of hope.

Freedom of America

I believe that this country is a promised land and that many were gathered from other countries to come to this land where they could be free from oppression. But we must take lessons from our forefathers and work hard to keep America free.

Keep America Free

To keep our country free
Takes work from you and me.
We cannot ever sit idly by
And just moan and cry.

We must be up and doing,
The ways of truth pursuing.
We must love one another
And treat each other as a brother.

We must turn our hearts to God,
And learn how His path to trod.
We must each come to see
What a gift it is to be free.

We must come to always cherish,
And never let this freedom perish.
Let us learn from forefather's past
How to make this freedom last.

4 July 2009 Suzanne Halliday