Poems, Personal Stories, and Observations

Sweet Sleep

Come sweet sleep, awareness take;
Let heavy eyelids close their gates.
Let all my cares be put to bed —
Tomorrow they’ll be there instead.

Snores and sighs and murmurings;
Tossings, turnings, vivid dreams —
Let the shade of sleep be drawn
Until another day’s new dawn.

Where goes my soul when I do dream?
Unconscious in a sense I seem,
Yet living in another land
Of fantasies and fleeting scenes.

While in it’s slumber, mind does mend
The conflicts that my heart do rend,
And somehow then when I awake
A fresh perspective do I take.

Oh, so great a Savior
Who shed His blood for me,
Who loves beyond all measure
And hung upon a tree.

Who washed the feet of creatures
With dirt and sin defiled,
Who saw in me, a sinner,
A soul to save worthwhile.

Who in most-desperate persons
Sees holiness and good;
The thief, the whore, the tax man
With Him to heaven could.

O holy One and mighty
So great a price You paid.
Endured abuse from sinners
And in the grave was laid.

Oh, mighty, glorious Savior,
Who from the grave emerged
Victorious over satan,
And new my soul has birthed.

Summer’s Promise

The song of the train’s whistle
Through my window:
It’s like summer in my mind.
Smiles break out
And there’s plenty to eat,
And plenty of time.

When the flowers bloom,
Grim faces begin to relax.
Death has been defeated
One more time;
The winter’s grip is passed.

Though it’s not summer yet,
I can live it in my mind.

Endless Love

If I could only give my heart,
Tell those I love how much they mean.
And anger only shows I care;
To disagree does not mean hate.

If I could give a sunlit song
A calming balm, a hand so strong.
If I could tell each one I meet
How precious is their soul, and sweet.

One day I’ll learn to speak my mind
To honest be, and still be kind.
To let myself be hurt once more
And tell the tale of endless love.

My mother’s last days

10/27/12 Saturday
Mom went to intensive care tonight, on a BPAP machine (helps her to breathe). She was having spasms due to lack of oxygen to the brain, I think. I’m hoping to drive to Kaiser Hospital in Roseville tomorrow to see her. Her health has not been well and it may be that all of us kids will be with her tomorrow. My husband Tom is on a trip, so please pray that everyone is safe in their travels, that God’s will be done regarding my mother, and that we will be a comfort to her.

10/28/12 Sunday
On Sunday, she had an about an hour of wakefulness at one point. She repeated three times, “Heaven is the only goal”. Then she blessed each one of us kids individually, with a special word for each one. I’m so grateful we had that time.

10/30/12 Tuesday (don’t know where Monday went)
Tuesday was a very good day for mom, emotionally and spiritually speaking. A person from the local church prayed with her, as they do every day. Also, a priest friend of hers called from Africa! I held the phone to her ear and she smiled. She seemed much more peaceful throughout the day. she would smile at us with love when awake, but could only speak one word now and then. Her smile lights up the room! More smiles than I’ve seen on the previous days.

10/31/12
Her best friend from El Cerrito visited her. Tom decided the previous day to cancel his trip and arrived a bit earlier. A harpist [part of the Kaiser Roseville chaplaincy department] came and played for about 1/2 an hour! Lots of prayer and thanks for yours.

11/1/12
Mom was still with us in the morning. She developed a fever and a problem with one of her IVs, but they got all that under control.

She passed away peacefully at about 3:30 p.m. A hospital chaplain had happened (?) to come in and realized that she was passing. I was out in the hallway and they yelled for me. All of her children (four of us), two spouses and two girlfriends were there. Amazing that we all got to be there.

Thank you so much for your prayers for her and our family. I am joyful in the sense that she’s now free of any suffering and with Jesus in heaven, but sad about her leaving us.

Utterly Weak

Why do I suffer?
Why do I fall?
Is it a lack of something within?
Is it a deafness, blindness, sin?

Is it my fault,
A weakness large?
Is it an ignorant, stubborn heart?

Or perhaps all these,
Seized on to torment,
By an enemy fierce
Who confusion foments?

Your grace do I seek;
I am utterly weak.
My eyes cannot see;
My ears wrongly hear.
Help me to trust
In You — that I must.

Empty Without You

Empty without You,
Bereft of all things,
Nothing to offer,
Nothing to bring.

Only a skel’ton,
A frame without flesh,
A small, empty vessel —
Without peace, without rest.

Until You do fill me,
Until You bring grace,
Until You infuse me —
I need Your embrace.

You tear back the curtains,
You dissipate dust,
You melt all the misty,
You fill up my cup.

You bring into focus
What once was unclear.
The picture once blurry
I face without fear.

Paradise

The Hungarians (my ancestors) must think very highly of tomatoes. They use the same word (paradicsom) for tomato and paradise.

I Looked Around

I looked around, what did I see?
A person looking back at me.
Was he the I, or I the it,
Was he to me my destiny?

And who am I and who are you?
Our destinies together through
Has God ordained; it must be true.

A myst’ry lies beneath it all,
I do not understand the call.
But still with trust I must go forth;
My circumstances must not force.

Accept, accept, and let it be.

Hiding

Why the truth I tend to hide?
Refuse to God my sins confide?
Reluctant Doctor God to see;
Confess that I’m in agony?

Hiding the hate, the fear, the sin;
Hiding all that lurks within.
Not to say that I’m no good,
Just that I be honest should.

And not to hide behind a smile;
Let down the acting for a while.
Not conceal behind a mask
My weaknesses — that is my task.

O why pretend, my weary soul,
That I’m the person in control?
The circumstances of my life
To Him I yield, let go the strife.