Then we return shouldered a-fresh with comfort for our hurt
Committed to more tears to weep upon time’s heap of dirt
Life’s love-and-labor tempest heaves beneath hope’s diadem
Where short-comings rise up like judges ready to condemn
And we feel so inadequate when facing longing’s wake
But God so rich in mercy does not leave us or forsake
Failure would be a choking noose about the rose of dawn
Without the promises of God that we depend upon
For often we are caught up in the sup of afternoon
When surly farewell comes to kiss our faces far too soon
And stunned, we taste anew the haste of both pleasure and
pain
Yet, God so rich in mercy grants another ‘try-again’
This place of grace and hope and faith and trust is formed
of dust
The storms of life unleash upon its seasons ordained Must
And none of us are spared our share of opportunity
To taste and see the Lord is good and cares for you and me
Though we cannot begin to understand His perfect will
God, ever rich in mercy whispers to us, ‘peace, be still’
© Janet Martin
Then we return, after memorial services rich with words of comfort
and reminders of God’s unfailing strength
to slam-bam, everyday life!! The ‘mom, we’re hungry’ and ‘the bathroom tap won’t
shut off’ and ‘our books are overdue at the library’ and ‘Matthew, take off
your manure-y clothes before your come into the kitchen!!’ and again, ‘what’s here to eat?!’
We return shod with God’s promise, My grace is sufficient for thee, My power made perfect in weakness’
and a new appreciation for the mundane everyday-ness of love
and life. We hug barn-smelly boys, crave noise, glad we can set a pan on the stove and crack
eggs into it, smile and pay our fine and talk to librarian friends about the
beautiful service, because they care and grieve too, and we pray to God so rich
in mercy, that we do not dwell on where we failed in the past but on which yet remains to be.
