February—Valentines’ Day—Love— memories. What other words do you think of on Valentine’s Day?
For me, the good memories are mixed in with the grieving memories. But even the grieving memories are good because they reveal love. For instance, my Grandpa (with whom I stayed for two years as a toddler when my dad was in the Navy) loved me unconditionally—like God, I later believed. When my dad returned and our family was reunited, I didn’t want to leave Grandpa. Later, I couldn’t visit often enough.
My Dad was quiet, but he was there. He and Mom made sure we had enough to eat and clothes to wear, and that we would go to church and Bible Camp, etc. He and Mom bought me an accordion when they couldn’t afford it because they knew it was my heart’s desire. I also appreciated that they came to watch me play percussion in the High School Band concerts.
I grieved their deaths but am thankful for their love and the way they enriched my life. Those were only a few of several griefs I’ve experienced, but each one has been a means of growth by God’s hands. In between the deaths of my two late husbands I wrote the following song expressing how God has used the people I loved to set me free from grief and emotional problems and help me grow into a more intimate relationship with Christ Jesus.
Love Makes Me Soar
.
What can I do with these memories?
What can I do with my longing to see
you in my dreams.
.
You touched my life in your pure, sweet way.
Now I can soar o’er the problems
that once dragged me down.
.
Love makes me soar like a bird!
Love broke the fetters and let me go free.
Love touched my life for those moments in time.
Love gave me reason to be.
.
Now I can see that that span of time
was but a part of a plan so sublime
wrought by my LORD.
He loves me, so he revealed you to me,
meaning to heal through your precious
and untainted love.
.
Love makes me soar like a bird!
Love broke the fetters and let me go free.
Love touched my life for a moment in time.
Love gave me reason to be.
(Thank you, Lord, for each one who was and is a blessing to me.)
From the book: Songs & Poems From a Yielded Heart by Judith Vander Wege
Leave a Reply