Oh, ever mindful, I pray
  Be with me at my work today.
Control my thoughts, my actions, too
  Let every word be kind and true
In all I meet, grant I may see
  The Christ that dwells in you and me.
May my feet be quick to go 
  To aid another tired and slow
And may my hands never shirk
  In doing my daily allotted work
When the day comes to an end
  Curtains are drawn, accounts are penned
May I look up to thee and say,
  I 'm grateful for your help today.
----------------------------------------------
I ask God for all things
So that I might enjoy life

He gave me life
That I might enjoy all things. 
                    Anonomyous
 

It's doing your job the best you can,
  And being just to your fellow man.

It's figuring how, and learning why
And looking forward and thinking
   high.

It's dreaming a little and doing much,
And keeping always in closest touch.

It's being clean and it's playing fair;
It's laughing lightly at Dame Despair.

It's sharing sorrow, and worth, 
   and mirth,
And making better this good old earth.

It's serving and striving through strain 
  and stress;

It's doing yur noblest--that's success.
 

I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon if I can.
I seek opportunity, not security
I want to take the calculated risk,
To dream and to build,
To fail and succeed.
I prefer the challenges of life,
To the guaranteed existence;
The thrill of fulfillment,
To the stale calm of Utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence.
Nor my dignity for a handout.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud, unafraid,
To think and act for myself,
To enjoy the benefit of my creations,
To face the world boldly and say,
“This I have done.

   -Author Unknown
 

When I come to the end of the road 
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss Me a little - but not too long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that we once shared
Miss Me - But let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take
And each must go alone
It's all a part of the Master's plan
A step on the road home

When you are lonely and sick of herat
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds.
Miss Me - But Let Me Go

If I could give you all my hopes
And keep them ever new,
Then this would be my special gift
for you.

If I could give you all my dreams
And make each one come true
Then this would be my legacy
for you.
 

In men whom men condemn as ill
I find so much of goodness still.
In men whom men pronounce divine
I find so much of sin and blot,
I hesitate to draw a line
Between the two, where God has not.

Sitting alone in an old rocking chair
I saw an old mother with silvery hair
She seemed so neglected by those who should care.
Rocking alone in an old rocking chair.

Her hands clasped all wrinkled and old,
a life of hard work was the story they told
And I thought of angels as I saw her there
Rocking alone in an old rocking chair

It wouldn't take much to gladden her heart
Just some small remembrance on somebody's part;
A letter would brighten her empty life there
Rocking alone in an old rocking chair

I look at her and I think, "what a shame."
The ones who forgot her she loves just the same.
And I think of angels as I see her there
Rocking alone in an old rocking chair.

Reach for the stars and set your aim high;
Even the effort is worth the try
If you do not reach that first bold aim
There'll be another that you can claim.

Reach for the stars, climb toward the top;
If you slip back, it's only a stop
Millions of stars are in the sky--
Keep on reaching and stretching high.

There will always be one that stands out clear;
And, ACTUALLY, the stars never disappear.
They are always up there, both day and night
Urging one on to greater height.

Reach for a star and never say "die"--
There'll always be one that isn't too high!

She always leaned to watch for us
Anxious if we were late
In winter by the window
In summer by the gate.

Her thoughts were all so full of us
She never could forget!
And so I think that where she is
She must be watching yet.

Waiting till we come home to her
Anxious if we are late---
Watching from Heaven's Window
Leaning from Heaven's Gate

It broke our hearts to lose you
But you did not go alone
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home
Now God is watching o'er you
With tender loving care
And even though we miss you
We know you're happy there.

I LIVE WITH 4 MEN

I get up with "Charley Horse"
I spend a good deal of time with "Will Power"
And in evenings sit with "Arthur Itis"
I go to bed with "Ben Gay"

Thought I'd let my doctor check me
'Cause I didn't feel quite right
All those aches and pains annoyed
me.

And I couldn't sleep at night.
He cold find no real disorder,
but he wouldn't let it rest
What with Medicare and Blue Cross,
it wouldn't hurt to do some tests.

To the hospital he sent me,
though I didn't feel that bad.
He arranged for them to give me
every test that could be had.

I was fluoroscoped and
cystoscoped,
My aging frame displayed,
Stripped upon an ice-cold table
while my gizzards were X-rayed.

I was checked for worms and
parasites
for fungus and the crud,
While they pierced me with long needles
taking samples of my blood.

Doctors came to check me over,
probed and pushed and poked around,
And to make sure I was living,
they wired me for sound.

They have finally concluded;
(their results have filled a page).
What I have will someday kill me,
 my affliction is old age.

I've noticed that when a fellow dies, no matter what he's been--
A saintly chap or one whose life's been deeply steeped in sin---
His friends forget the bitter words they spoke but yesterday.
And try to find a multitude of pretty things to say.

I fancy when I go to rest some-one will bring to light
Some kindly thought or goodly deed long buried out of sight;
But if it's all the same to you, just give to me instead
The bouquets while I'm living and the knocking when I'm dead.

Don't save your kisses to imprint upon my marble brow,
While countless maledictions are hurled upon me now;
Say just one kindly word to me while I mourn here alone.
And don't save all your eulogies to carve upon a stone.

What do I care if, when I'm dead, the Telegram or Gazette,
Give me a write-up with a cut in mourning border set?
It will not flatter me a bit, no matter what is said.
So kindly throw the bouquets now and knock me when I'm dead.
 
 

Show me the way
not to fortune and fame.
Not how to win laurels
or praise for my name--

But show me the way
to spread "The Great Story"
That Thine is The Kingdom
and Power and Glory.

If we send no ships out,
no ships will come in,
And unless there's a contest,
nobody can win...

For games can't be won
Unless they are played,
And Prayers can't be Answered
unless they are prayed..

No one ever sought the Father
and found He was not There,
And no burden is too heavy
to be lightened by a prayer.

No problem is too intricate
and no sorrow that we face
is too deep and devastating
to be softened by His grace.

Faith met me with a smile a while ago

Laughed at my fears, and cheered my heart     aglow

Hope took a brush and painted my all my woes

With rainbow brightness--blue and gold and rose

Then someone toook my pack of dusty care
And whispered chumlike., "You and I will share

Then I was brave again, for love was there!
 

Oh, they've swept the Parlor carpet and they've dusted every chair
And they've got the tidies hanging just exactly on the square
And the what -nots fixed  up lovely and the mats have all been geat
And the pantry's brimmn' over with the bully things to eat
Sis has got her Sunday-dress on, and she's frizzin' up her bangs

Ma's got on her best alpacky, and she's asking how it hangs
Pa has shaved as slick as can be, and I'm rigged way up in G---
And it's all because we're goin' ter have the minister for tea.

Oh, the table's fixed up gaudy with the gilt-edged chiny set.
And we'sll use the silver teapot and the comp'ny spoons, you bet.
And we're goin' ter have some fruit-cake and some thimble-berry jam
And riz' biscuits, and some doughnuts, and some chicken and some ham.
Ma, she'll 'polergize like fury and say everything is bad
And "sich awful luck with cookin' " she is sure she never had
But er course, she's only bluffin', for it's as prime as it can be
And she's only talkin' that way 'cause the minister's come to ter tea.

Everybody'll be smilin' and as good as ever was
Pa won't growl about the vittles like he generally does
And he'll ask me would I like another piece of pie, but sho'
That, er course, is only manners, and I'm s'posed to answer "No"
Sis'll tlak about the church work and about the Sunday School
Ma'll tell how she like that sermon that was on the golden rule
And if upset my tumbler they won't say a word ter me.
Yes, a boy can eat in comfort with the minister for tea!

Say, a minister, you'd reckon, never'd say what wasn't true; And that isn't so with ours, and I jext can prove it, too!
'Cause when sis plays on the organ so it makes you want to die
Why, he sets up and says it's lovely; and that seems ter me a lie!
But I like him all the samey, and I only wish he'd stay
At our house for good and always and eat with us every day.
Only think of having' goodies every evenin'! Jimminee!
And I'd never get a scoldin' with the minister fer tea

I'M FINE

There's nothing whatever
  the matter with me,
I'm just as healthy as I can be
  I have arthritis in both my
knees,

And when I talk, I talk with a
  wheeze.
My pulse is weak and my blood
is thin,
But I'm awfully well for the
shape I'm in.

Arch supports I have for my
feet,
Or I wouldn't be able to walk on
the street.
Sleep is denied me, night after
night,
And every morning I look a
  sight.

My memory's failing, my
  head's in a spin,
I'm practically living on
  aspirin,
But I'm awfully well for the
  shape I'm in.

The moral is, as this tale we
  unfold,
That for you and me who are
  growing old,

It is better to say "I'm fine"
  with a grin,
Than to let them know the
shape we are in.

Near shady wall a rose once grew,
Budded and blossomed in God's free light
Watered and fed by morning dew
Shedding its sweetness day and night.
As it grew and blossomed fair and tall,
Slowly rising to loftier height.
It came to a crevice in the Wall,
Through which there shone a beam of light.
Onward it crept with added strength,
With never a thought of fear or pride;
It followed the light through the crevice length
And unfolded itself on the other side.
The light the dew, the broadening view,
were found the same as they were before;
And it lost itself in beauties new,
Breathing its fragrance more and more.
Shall claim of death cause us to grieve
And make our courage faint or fall?
Nay, let us, faith and hope receive;
Scattering fragrance far and wide,
Just as it did in days of yore,
Just as it did on the other side
Just as it will forevermore.