Where To Look

I don’t look back ; God knows the fruitless efforts ,

   The wasted hours the sinning , the regrets;

I leave them all with Him who blots the record ,

  And mercifully forgives and then forgets .

I don’t look forward  : God sees all the future ,

   The road that short or long will lead me home .

And He will face with me its every trail ,

   And bear for me the burdens that may come .

I don’t look round me; then would fears assail me

  So dark the tumult of earth’s restless seas .

So dark the world , so filled with woe and evil ,

  So vain the hope of comfort or of ease .

I don’t look in , for then am I most wretched ;

   Myself has naught on which to stay my trust ,

Nothing I see ,save failures and shortcomings .

   And weak endeavors crumbling into dust ,

But I look up-into the face of Jesus ,

  For there my heart can rest , my fears are stilled ;

And there is joy and love and light for darkness ,

  And perfect peace and every hope fulfilled .

Jan Bagwell

God Bless !

I'm not looking for the sunset

I'm not looking for the sunset ,

As the swift years come and go ;

I am looking for the sunrise ,

And the golden morning glow ,

Where the light of Heaven’s glory

Will break forth upon my sight ,

In the land that knows no sunset ,

Nor the darkness of the night .

I'm not going down the pathway

Toward the setting of the sun ,

Where the shadows ever deepen

When the day at last is done ;

I am walking up the hillside

Where the sunshine lights the way ,

To the glory of the sunshine

Of God's ever-day .

I'm not going down , but upward ,

And the path is never dim ,

For the day grows even brighter

As I journey on with Him .

So my eyes are on the hilltops ,

Waiting for his invitation

To the Home beyond the sky .

Jan Bagwell
God Bless

Dark Shadows Fall in the Lives of us All :

Sickness and sorrow

come to us all ,

But through it we grow

and learn to stand tall ,

Far trouble is part and parcel of life

and  no man can grow

without struggle and strife ,

And the more we endure

with patience and grace

 The stronger we grow

and the more we can face ,

And the more we can face ,

the greater our love ,

And with love in our hearts

we are more conscious of

The pain and the sorrow

in lives everywhere ,

So it is through trouble

that we learn how to share .

Jan Bagwell

God Bless !

God asks no man whether he will accept life .That is not the choice . You must take it . The only choice is how .

A Song Of living

It is so good to be alive ;

To have deep dreams : to greatly strive

Through the day’s work :to dance and sing

Between the times of sorrowing _

To have a clear faith in the end

That death is life’s best ,truthful friend .

To be alive : to hear and see

This wonderful ,strange pageantry

Of earth ,in which each hour’s session

Brings forth a new unknown procession

Of joys :stars ,flowers ,seas and grass

In ever new guise before me pass .

To have deep dreams : ah me , al me !

To bring far things close by see ;

To have my voyaging soul explore

Beyond my body’s ponderous door .

To make my love from a thousand graces ,

Seen in a thousand women’s faces .

To greatly strive :perform my share

Of work : for the world grows more fair

To him who measures Time and Fate

By what his laboring days create-

For work is the voice that lifts to God

The adoration of sod .

To dance and sing :my body’s praise

For being fair in many ways .

It hath no other voice than this

To thank God for a moment’s bliss –

When art and heaven together trust

Joy to the perfection of the dust .

Times of sorrowing :yea , to weep :

To wash my soul with tears , and keep

It clean from earth’s too constant gain ,

Even as a flower needs rain

To cool the passion of the sun ,

And take a fresh new glory on .

To have clear faith :- through good or ill

We but perform some conscious will

Higher than man’s The world at best

In all things doth but manifest

That God has set His eternal seal

Upon the unsubstantial real .

Jan Bagwell

God Bless !

Please be in prayer for sister Frankie stepmother