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Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Happy 80th birthday, Mom

 

With the circle still unbroken,
(Mom and Dad and all ten children with our spouses,)
our 80th birthday celebration for dear Mother on Sunday
was precious indeed!

Numbers 6:24-26
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.


The laundry lines you filled would reach up to the moon and back
And we could build skyscrapers with dishes, washed, dried and stacked 
The meals, prepared with thoughtful, loving labor, by God’s grace
Would humble us immensely if gathered into one place

Thank-you mom, for your diligence in ‘training up a child’
While we outgrew dresses and shoes, while days-to-years ran wild
While we would laugh and work and play and learn to humbly pray
To our Father up in Heaven to guide us each day

You taught us how to find joy in earth’s beauty, grand and free
Though busy you were never blind to God-penned poetry
You showed us (not just told us) when there was a task to learn
You took the time to read or pause to watch the seasons turn

You never did complain (or if you did I don’t recall)
A helpmeet for your husband and a mother to us all
With love enough to go around with never one left out
Love was the priceless plenty we never had cause to doubt

What happy days of childhood from heedless innocence slipped
From ‘now I lay me down to sleep’ to prayers without a script
From ‘Goodnight, yes, I’ll leave the hall light on, at least for now
(Unless the talker talked too long and laugher laughed too loud!)

Dear mom, I want to thank you, for too often I forgot
And simply took for granted tasty meals, healthy and hot
And work-worn hands that did not eat the bread of idleness
But tended to duty’s demands with cheerful faithfulness

I’m thankful for God’s love that has allotted eighty years
‘The multitude of sins’ you covered with your prayers and tears
And for the treasured memories that sparkle in a trove
Where surely the greatest of these is our sweet mother’s love

I pray each day for God to bless and keep you in his care
That come what may you sense the power of His presence there
I thank Him for the gift of a mother who read His Word
And let us by example with devotion undeterred

Happy eightieth Birthday, may the year ahead be blessed
With God’s mercies and if He wills, with health and happiness
Happy eightieth birthday, as your numbered days decrease/increase
May they be overflowing with God’s love and joy and peace

© Janet Martin

Psalm 71:18
Now also when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, forsake me not;
until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation,
and thy power to every one that is to come.

Psalm 37:25-26
I once was young and now am old,
yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned
or their children begging for bread.
26They are ever generous and quick to lend,
and their children are a blessing.

Psalm 90:12
Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.


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