Instructions for caretakers

When digging ’round the family tree
don’t be suprised at what you see.
Some unmarked graves and skeletons
are there to be unearthed.

You’ll find some things that make you sad
and other things that make you mad.
But in the shade of that old tree
you’ll also find some gems.

The soil’s rich. The roots go deep
and what is there will make you weep.
Both tears of pain and gratitude
just knowing you belong.

So tend the tree that bears your name
and guard it from all blight and shame.
The fruit it bears in years to come
may well depend on you.

* For the past week I have had the privilege of hosting Norwegian relatives on their first visit to America. Sharing photos and telling stories have been informative and inspirational. My appreciation for my ancestral roots in Scandinavia has been deepened by their visit. I’m reminded of the television series called “Who Do You Think You Are?” on Friday evenings on NBC. Well worth watching!

Taking our cues from a dying Son

A mother wept (bent low with grief),
her son condemned as if a thief.
This one who’d filled her heart with joy
now bled hung out to die.

Yes, Mary stood beneath the cross
confused, convulsing, feeling lost.
This one she’d nursed and rocked to sleep
now closed his eyes in pain.

Yet, Jesus saw his grieving mom.
And knowing he would soon be gone
conveyed his love most tenderly
with words that touched her heart.

“Behold, your son,” he gently sighed
while nodding to his friend nearby.
“Take care of her,” he asked of John,
“Please treat her like your mom.”

And in that moment Jesus graced
his mother with a special place.
And we’d do well to do the same
in light of what moms do. 

Lessons from a postcard delivered fifty-five years late

Did you hear about the postcard that a mother sent her son?
She mailed it fifty-five long years ago.
But the postcard never got there (even though it had a stamp).
And the reason it got lost we’ll never know.

But that postcard from his mother did eventually arrive.
Just last month it was delivered after all.
Scott Mc Murray, now retired (and his mother long-since dead),
got a note of love in her familiar scrawl.

What a gift! How unexpected! How amazing! Such delight!
Just imagine tears of joy Scott must have cried.
From the grave her voice still whispers through a letter lost for years.
And it says a mother’s love can’t be denied.

Mother’s love forever reaches to the child she has born.
There’s a bond that can’t be broken or undone.
And though circumstances threaten to defeat what it intends,
a mother’s love won’t quit until it’s won.

Much the same our loving Father sent us letters from His heart,
but too often (and by many) they’re misplaced.
If we’d read them we’d discover His pursuing love prevails
and will seek until it finds us. It’s called grace!
 

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/04/scott-mcmurray-gets-postcard-from-his-mom-sent-55-years-ago-75461.html