Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Faithful to the End


 


I am still enjoying a beautiful bouquet given to me a week ago 
after helping at the funeral of  the oldest member in our church family.
 She would have turned 100 years old in July!
Listening to all the heartwarming memories and tributes
was so inspiring and encouraging to we still in the process of 
creating legacies not yet left behind.

Below is the photo released of Queen Elizabeth II 
on her 96th birthday on Thurs. April 21, 2022

 
We cherish her example of faithfulness as well!
 Both of these women
live/lived through an incredible almost-century of progress, 
and tremendous challenges and change
with unwavering faith!

 “For me the teachings of Christ 
and my own personal accountability before God 
provide a framework in which I try to lead my life.”
~Queen Elizabeth~
 
Oh, that we would also be able to leave behind a lifetime legacy, 
not of perfection but of courageous faithfulness to the end,
of 'remembering our own personal accountability before God'
so as we leave we may rejoice in this triumphant farewell...

I have fought the good fight, 
I have finished the race, 
I have kept the faith.


It’s not in how we start but how we end that we achieve
The climax of commitment and the legacy we leave
A few good turns are not enough to earn triumph secured
Or prove the love and faithfulness of the good fight endured

Success and happiness are not always as they appear
Where opulence and pleasure can produce a false veneer
Desire keens the catalyst of longings that will prove
Where we fix our eyes; on things below or things above

Life’s ups and downs that test and try will refine or destroy
Not for the faint of heart is faith fixed on immortal joy
Where faithful to the end God’s promises accompany
Where faithful to the end He bids His followers to be

…thus, breath by breath and step by step and prayer by prayer we go
Faithfulness takes a lifetime its fulfillment to bestow
We cannot rush or fool the proof wrought by life’s highs and lows
Where faithfulness suffers love's thorns with eyes upon The Rose

© Janet Martin






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I hope you enjoyed your pause on this porch and thank-you for your visit!