I cautiously watch the water
            as it moves along the shore
                        creeping closer to the sand
                                    around my feet.

Beyond the crashing waves, where
           the water is deepest green
                        the ocean mirrors the depth
                                    of my grief.

My grief is like the ocean,
            sorrow coming in like waves,
                        sometimes gentle like a ripple
                                    on the sea.

 Other times it just engulfs me
            with crushing waves of sadness
                        as undertows of despair
                                    wash over me.

 Some days I wade out in it
            splashing memories with my feet
                        recalling days of sunshine
                                    on my face.

Stepping through the foamy edges
            never venturing out so far
                        that larger waves can threaten
                                    their embrace.

Then when I least expect it
            this freak of nature soaks me
                        in reality so painful
                                    that I fall. 

The sorrow and the anger
            that I’ve fought with day to day
                        surge through me in a tidal
                                    free-for-all. 

One day when I’m much stronger
            and my grief is not so new
                        I’ll swim just like I used to
                                    do before. 

I’ll take pleasure in the memories,
            and tread water in those places
                        that we can’t share together
                                    anymore.

~ Copyright, Ferna Lary Mills.  This poem is available on a beautiful framed print at Rainbow Faith Gifts.

Our lives are like Books
in God’s vast library of time.
They begin with our birth and
every event is recorded on a line.

As we grow and mature or
work through each crisis one by one,
we can rest quite assured there’s a
chapter in our Book that is done.

But if we stumble in the middle and aren’t
sure of the way we should turn,
we can look to the Heavens and know
God is trying to teach what we should learn.

For remember that the Lord has
already read our Book from start to end.
He’s memorized each line, so He
knows where we’ll stumble or we’ll sin.

So, if you’re stuck in Chapter 10 and feeling
torn apart as if it’s all in vain,
turn your eyes towards the Heavens and
lift your prayers to Him, in Jesus’ name.

For He’s a loving God who say’s
we’ll never have to walk through this Book alone.
So stretch your hand to Him and know
He hears your every whimper, cry and moan.

Remember the story of all the
suffering and pain of poor old Job,
who said bravely, “When he hath tried me,
I shall come forth as purest Gold.”

God takes His gold and melts it
in the hottest of any other smelting pot
to make it pure and refined, to be the very
best that He has got.

So open your eyes and your heart
and reverently take a long, silent look;
and keep in mind that God above  
knows the beginning, the end,
and every single page of your Book.

 ©1996, Ferna Lary Mills

When I look back upon my life,
It’s not my life I see.
It’s more like a “B”-rate movie
But the star in it is me.

I don’t even recognize myself,
In situations past,
But it hurts to know
thirty years are gone.
They slipped away so fast. 

I look and see the mistakes I made,
So many wrong, disastrous turns.
All the heartache, all the pain,
All the bridges that I’ve burned. 

Should I laugh, or do I cry?
Or should I even care?
After all, that is not the real me
In that “B”-rated movie there. 

I am here and I am now, and
Tomorrow, and next week, too.
It could not be me who did those things
To them, and me, and to you.

How I hate the man who lived my life,
Who was me for thirty years.
He took away everything I loved.
He caused so many tears. 

He made things so rough, you know.
I lived in total shame,
Until I found the truth, you see:
A prayer in Jesus’ name.

That prayer separated me from he,
and that old past I couldn’t outrun.
The day I prayed to Jesus
was the day the old me was done.

Now I work so hard, and pray.
I live my life with care.
I look at all the years gone by,
And see that stranger there.

He has my face, my hair, my eyes,
But with them he can’t see
That life’s a precious gift from God,
That’s to be nurtured carefully.

Sometimes I see that man stare back
And he laughs right in my face.
But I draw confidence from God,
That man will never find this place.

Thank you God, my faithful friend,
For saving me from he,
That man I see when I look back,
The “me” that is not me.

 ©2003, Gregory Mills
Posted here with author’s permission.

If the gates of Heaven could open wide,
even just for a moment or two,
the entire world would go strangely mute
at one glimpse of that Heavenly view.

The oceans would hush.
Not one bird would sing.
Not even the wind would blow.
Then the void would be filled with a Song of Joy
heard not with ears, but within our Soul.

With just one tiny glimpse of Glory,
everything else would fall fast away.
Our purpose here
would be made instantly clear
in a strange and Supernatural way.

A blanket of Peace would enfold us,
soft as the down of angel wings.
Every tear that has ever fallen
would be forgotten as Heaven sings.

So when your burdens make you weary,
when days are short and nights are long,
be still and just let your Spirit
feel the Peace of Heaven’s Sweet Song.

© 2007, Ferna Lary Mills
Printed here with author’s permission.

Be still my precious loved ones.
Please don’t weep for me.
The One I’ve taught you all about
Has set my spirit free.

For this was not the day I died,
but the day of my Rebirth.
I’m home at last in Heaven,
freed from the pains of earth.

Weep not, for I am not alone,
nor will I ever be.
I’m hand and hand with Jesus,
and many friends and family.

Celebrate my Eternal Life
here in this Glorious place.
I’m standing with the great I AM
finally, face to face!

 ©2007, Sara Irene Hall
Posted here with author’s permission.