How weary we grow
With the toil of the day,
With its problems and cores
That seem to have a way
Of sapping our strength
And confusing our mind,
That gets on our nerves
And makes us unkind.

Then God in His mercy
Sets His sun in the west,
And brings out His candies
And says,-"Come and Rest."
And we go to our beds
So fired and worn,
We forget all our cares
Till we wake with the down.

Refreshed and so rested
We feel happy and gay,
And we are anxious and willing
To start a-new day.
So when I look at the trees
And all the earth so bare,
I see in it a purpose -
A Father's wondrous care.

For they, too, need a rest
Our Heavenly Father knows,
So He puts to sleep
Everything that grows.
He tucks them in a blanket white,
And stills the weary earth,
He says-"Sleep till spring
And thou shalt know rebirth."

That wondrous miracle
This waking in the spring
Of trees and flowers gay,
New life in everything.
So I can trust my Father
No matter what betide,
Knowing He will strengthen me
And stay close by my side.

MY FATHER'S WORLD

He who makes the sun to shine,
Who keeps the stars in place,
Who makes all nature obey His will
What must He think of the human race
Who were made in the image of God
Made to be such friendly folks,
So filled with envy and horrible hate
Ready to fly at each others throats?

And for no better reason
Than covetousness, envy and pride,
Just like sheep in a pasture, thinking
The greenest grass is on the other side.
So notion rises against nation
And horrible hate holds sway
Because there is some coveted possession
They can claim in no other way.

So they rain bombs and poisoned gas,
Till the land lays strewn with the dead,
Women and little children - a ghostly sight
Instead of fertile fields - the land all gory red.
No matter how many heartaches
Or if folks have lost their home,
Or if hunger and suffering come
With nothing to call their own.

What care these crazy war lords
In their awful greed for power?
How can they crush men without pity
In such a terrible hour?
Methinks our loving Father,
Who cared not one whit for fame,
Will not let them get much pleasure
Out of their ill-gotten gain.

There will come a day of reckoning
When their gain shall prove a curse,
When they, too, shall suffer
Just as bad, and maybe worse.
For God's command to love thy brother
Is today. just as true For He said,
"What thou doest to others
Shall return fourfold to you".

Oh God awake Thy people
To their sense of awful guilt,
May they soon learn to say
"Not my will - but as Thou wilt".
Dear Lord send us a revival,
Rid our hearts of sin and hate,
Fill us with Thy loving spirit
Before it be fore'er too late.

The dearest friend we ever had
Has quietly slipped away
And left an aching void
In our hearts today.

She was a perfect jewel,
Yes, an angel of light,
Bringing happiness and comfort
To others day and night.

Although frail and suffering
There were no murmurs or complaints,
Her thoughts were all foe helping,
She was one of God's dear saints.

Her sweetness and her patience
Were so grand to see
Her philosophy of life,
Will linger a sweet memory.,

We never will forget you dear
If we're ever good and true,
And if we chance to be a blessing
We owe it dear to you.

For you dear heart we will not grieve,
Nor ask for you to stay,
But oh! our home seems empty
Since you've gone away.

We know heaven must be richer,
And it makes it seem so near,
A much more precious place
When it holds one so dear.

And having known you, dear,
And having loved you so
We know our lives will fuller,
Richer, be as we older grow.

So, dear heart, though we say farewell
Our hearts are not filled with gloom,
Somehow we still feel that you've
Just moved to a higher room.

And some day very soon
We, too, will join you there,
When we, too, shall be called
To climb the Golden Stair.

HILLS

Do you ever get discouraged,
Does the road seem long and hard,
Does there seem to be much trouble
Against which you have to guard?
Come, take a journey with me
To the hills, so sublime,
The hills yielding greatest blessings
Are those hardest to climb.

Look east, west, north and south,
Hills - hills - everywhere!
Some of them so very lovely,
Some so brown and bare.
Just like our lives those hills aria, Sometimes they seem so dead -
At other times filled with glory
From the drifting clouds o'er head.

From the early rising sunshine,
Comes a lovely flash of color
That makes them shimmer clazzingly
With rainbow lights all over.
As we watch we fancy
The pink hills rays of hope,
The blue ones disappointments With which we have to cope.

The yellow ones are like the sunshine
Of God's love, all aglow,
As radiant as sapphire,
It makes our hearts o'erflow.
See those wondrous fiery opals
And those pearls of glistening white
Turning suddenly to diamonds
With their pure transparent light.

And as we gaze enraptured
We forget our many ills,
For God has said in His word,
"My strength cometh from the hills",
Let us lift up our eyes
When we are sore and tried
And see the wondrous vision
Of our Savior by our side.

Saying to us, "Be not discouraged,
I am with thee by day and night,
As the sun colors the mountain,
I will make your burden light
I'll give you the strength of the hills
That your life may be sublime",
So, when we get discouraged
Lord, give us a hill to climb.

MY GARDEN

I watched our garden going,
Killed by sun and heat,
A garden that we had meant
With our neighbors to compete.
It had seemed so wonderful,
So beautiful and green,
It had seemed so full of promise
That it could fail, we did not dream.

But, alas the scorching wind
Killed it seemed beyond repair
Till our lovely garden
Looked like a desert bare.
Our flower bed too, so lovely
That was our pride and joy
In which we toiled so faithfully
Pulling weeds that so annoy.

Giving to each and every plant,
Some so tender and so fair
The coddling and the petting
Like a mother's tender care,
They, too, felt the scorching rays
Of the relentless sun,
They, too, drooped and willed
Then died, one by one.

The lawns - such velvet carpets
Grew so brown and sere and bare
That they could not be renewed
By man's utmost care;
But God sent His refreshing rain,
The parched earth drank it in,
And the things we thought beyond repair
Became beauty spots again.

So I learned a needed lesson, -
That this checkered life of ours
When bowed down with grief and pain
Are like the drooping flowers.
We can see no use in living,
Think we are doomed beyond recall,
Yet our loving Heavenly Father
Ever watches over all.

He sends His heavenly showers
To wash away the stain
Of our doubts and complainings
And the world looks bright again.
And with head and shoulders up
We again work and strive,
Counting now our blessings
And just glad to be alive.

SIOUX FALLS HOSPITAL

Oh! hospital of Sioux Falls
Within thy massive walls
Strange things are happening
In the operating rooms'
With all their ether fumes.
Life is lost in peaceful sleep,
While friends stand around and weep,

Silently sending a prayer above
That God will save the one they love.
The doctor with his steady hands,
His iron nerve, ready stands
With knife so keen and forceps bright, Cuts a gash, reveals to view
Troubles many old and new.

But with his ever ready skill
He cuts and sews and sews until
What might mean to others death
Under his hand spells success.
Still another anxious season
Wondering if the patient's reason
Will return from ether's thralls.

With a struggle long and rife
The patient slowly comes to life,
But too sick to think or know
Whether life means weal or woe.
But friends stand by until at lost
They are sure the danger's post.
The nurses ever ready stand
With cheerful smile and helping hand,

Always there at any call
So patient, loving, kind and good,
It makes us believe in sisterhood.
Gentle, sweet, quiet as a dove,
They are God's messengers of love,
And He who notes the sparrow's fall
Will reward them one and all.
Altho we suffer in the main

It surely cannot be in vain,
For God some purpose has.
Tho' pain rake our bodies sore,
Our fellow man may suffer more
So we learn to be content
With whate'er the Master has sent, Knowing our Father guest
Always doeth all things best.

So dear hospital of Sioux Falls,
We have learned within thy walls
A muchly needed lesson -
Sweet submission, peace of mind,
A greater faith in humankind,
The great love of man for man
All helping in God's great plan,
So Father bless them one and all
Doctors and nurses of Sioux Falls.

LIFE

Oh, I tell you my dear
Life hasn't always been fair,
Of troubles and ups and downs
I think I've had my share.
The path sometimes was stony
The climbing mighty hard,
And for the pitfalls
I had to be on my guard.

I've had to rest quite often
When hard problems come
And it seemed at times
I'd Never finish what I'd begun.
Sometimes I've been tempted
To say, "it doesn't pay",
And think there's no use trying When things don't come my way.

But, "Try Again" and "Never Give Up"
Were mottos my mother taught, Saying if there were no testing times
Our lives would amount to nought.
So I kept on climbing
Up toward the dizzy heights,
And I tell you my dear
I've seen some pretty sights

Things I never would have seen
If I had been a shirk
And given up trying
And groveled in the dirt.
I'll never famous be,
Or win a hero's name,
But there's lots of satisfaction
Just staying in the game.

A LAD

Did you ever see a crowd
Without a lad - a regular guy,
Who takes in all the excitement
And lets nothing pass him by?
Well, here, too, was a lad,
I wonder - was it a hunch?
But he was the only one
Who brought with him a lunch.

And what of this lad
Who witnessed such a sight?
Let's let him tell his story
When he gets home at night.
"Why, son, you're all excited,
Where'ver have you been?
Your eyes are shining bright
Have you been tramping the woods again?"

"0 Gee! Mom, I wish you'd been with me I've had such a wonderful day,
I saw a crowd following the Master
And I followed all the way.
"They went up onto a mountain
To hear this Wonderful Man,
He had done such wondrous things
You know Mom, - you understand.

The Master told them stories
And talked to them all day.
He thought they were hungry
But didn't want to turn them away.
He wanted to give them bread to eat Well, there just wasn't any
And Philip said - 'We can't buy bread
For this crowd - there are too many.

The Master looked so disappointed,
I thought He was hungry too,
And Oh!, Mum, I kept wishing
There was something I could do.
"Of course --- there was my lunch
Gee Mum, it was all I had
But if He'd only take it
It would make me very glad.

So I offered it to Him
And He looked at me so kind
I forgot I was hungry, too.
Really, Mum, I didn't mind.
Then such a wonderful thing happened
It surely couldn't be beat
First He said a blessing Like you do, Mum, before we eat.

Then, Mum, what do you think?
He took my little lunch
And began breaking it in pieces
And fed that whole big bunch.
I don't know how He did it,
I couldn't believe my eye
But He just kept on breaking
And it seemed to multiply.

They all ate and had some left,
The Master said, 'Thank you, lad'.
I tell you, Mum, it was just great
And I was just awful glad.
You said it is more blessed to give
Than to receive - I found that out
And ran home as fast as I could
To tell you what it was about.

0, my son you've made me proud
And taught me a lesson today -
I was asked to give to the temple
And thought I had nothing to pay.
But if the Master could take your lunch And stretch it to feed so many
He could multiply my gift
Even tho' it be a penny.

So dear Lord, I only ask
That I may never selfish be
But please take my little gift
I give it all to Thee.
And as Thou host blessed my lad today,
Dear Lord, grant that he
May grow up to be
Thy son; I give him now to Thee.

And if at times I'm tempted
To think my little too small,
Let me remember this day
When my lad gave up his all.
For in Thy hands I know
It can do so much good,
It can prove to me a blessing
And help a multitude.

I'm eighty-one today,
Oh how time does fly
I just can't realize
So many years have passed me by.

God has been so good to me,
I have so many friends
The very best ever
Their goodness never ends.

They surprised me today
Which made me very glad
And made as lovely a birthday
I'm sure I ever had.

I received so many gifts
I felt like a girl in her teens,
I wonder if those who gave them
Really know all it means.

So many cards and letters
Came to me this day,
I was so much excited
I forgot I was old and grey.

I tho't I had a-plenty
But there was more to come
For a gorgeous bouquet
Come from my sister's son.

How I did enjoy it
And behind it was the thought
That tho' I'm getting old
I'm still not forgot.

My life really has been blessed
Way beyond measure -
Folks are so good to me
They make life a pleasure.

For though eighty-one
I'm not laid on the shelf
For folks really act as
If they liked me for myself.

And tho' I'm living longer
Than I really should
I thank Thee I am living
For aren't people good?