a poem for her with saving grace

Below is a poem I recently composed for my bride of seven years.  Today it is her birthday, and I am reminded of just how much God has blessed me by forming and planning her days.  The moments we have spent together have been gifted to both of us from a Father who knows the heart's deepest desires and takes pleasure in allowing us to love each other well.

Although I have made many grievous errors and poor choices throughout the years, my wife's patience, forgiveness and faithfulness have prevailed.  She has stuck with me through thick and thin and increasingly reflects a desire to mirror Proverbs 31.  Thank you, Lord for giving me a gracious helpmate and friend!  And happy birthday my love.

For years enjoyed, yet all for granted:
Your devotion allotted such weak reception.
Priceless grace, unwavering reprieve;
Long taken, tho n’er received.

Uncelebrated treasure withheld a cache;
The odds so high against anything to last.
Ignored and woefully unrequited;
Oh, hours given over to bitter repentance!

And now a gasp of comprehension;
What once was easily found, finally explicit.
The vows which doth make a true, unyielding union:
Not simply spoke, but bound fast and now determined.

Your life, yes, such a stroke of blessed fortune;
An unwearied partnership I could n’er afforded.
Thine affection, a thousand times more potent
Than a dying breath, that brief, uttered moment.

Composed by the maestro’s impassioned charge;
Engaged in concert, a reciprocal love at large.
One sweet fell swoop of notes upon immortal sheet;
Thank you for according me a song to sing.

My all and only one, my bride, my eternal embrace:
I am thrown out of step and in to love by your saving grace.

song of the sea

"The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

  

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?

Who is like you, majestic in holiness,

awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

You stretched out your right hand;

the earth swallowed them.

You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;

you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode..

The Lord will reign forever and ever."   [Exodus 15:9-13,18]

In our hearts and on our lips must be a mighty refrain: An affirmation that we will allow God to do the saving and God to do the judging.  A profound assurance that in the end, every knee will bow.  And, finally, an unashamed confession that we are His people, and not our own - that we were placed on this earth to glorify the only true God, to mirror Jesus Christ, to deliver His very good news, and to trust in the Lord with all of our might for the rest!

Come quickly Lord!