Sunday Devotions - Calvin Hart #3, Time Marches On

As I've mentioned before for my Sunday posts I'll be sharing some poetry from Mr. Calvin Hart, a Christian poet. This weeks poem, Time Marches On, I think is a theme that parents especially can relate to. Just this past couple weeks I have been reminded of how quickly time breezes by. 

Time Marches On

Seconds to minutes, minutes to hours,

Hours turn into days,

Days to months, months to years,

Nothing stands in times way.

Spring to summer, summer to fall,

Fall to winters cold winds,

Time marches on, the seasons change,

Then its winter to spring once again.

Days of childhood, filled with pretend,

Safe in your parents arms,

Childhood gives way to teenage years,

The world presents new dangers and charms.

With age should come maturity,

The ability to understand,

Eyes open to a world that is all to real,

As they become a young woman or man.

Into the world as young adults,

With hopes, dreams and plans,

Like sand slips through the hour glass,

Time slips through their hands.

Into the world as full adults,

With responsibilities,

Bills to pay, deadlines to meet,

A family, and children to feed.

Days consumed by busy lives,

Filled from dusk to dawn,

Then one day you turn around,

And your children are grown and gone.

You stop to look around you,

In a state of semi-shock,

Where did all the time go?

Who sped up the clock?

What happened to those care free days.

When time seemed to just stand still,

You wish those days would come again,

But you know they never will.

Seconds to minutes, minutes to hours,

Hours turn into days,

How many do we have left?

Only God Himself can say.

For only He knows the day and hour,

When Gabriel’s trumpet sounds,

To herald the return of the King of Kings,

To announce that time has ran down.

What have you done with your time so far?
Have you wasted it all away?
Have you used your time to serve the Lord?

Are you ready for judgment day?

Have you taken a few precious moment,

To bow your head and pray?

To ask Jesus Christ to save your soul?

To wash your sins away?

If you have not, I pray that you do,

Before your time is gone,

For when time ends, the Lord comes again,

And time is marching on.






Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the time on Earth that you have given to us. We do not know how much time we have left but we know that this time is Your time and we need to be using it for You. Help me to use spend my time wisely; not on frivolous things and ideas. Rather bless me with the knowledge that I should use my time on Earth with You and spreading Your love. Amen. 

Sunday Devotions - Calvin Hart #2, A Father's Prayer

This is the second week I am sharing a poem by Mr. Calvin Hart who has some wonderful Christian poems. If you Google his name you will come across some of his lovely Christian poetry. 

A Father’s Prayer

High as the heavens, deep as the oceans,

Filled with hope and despair,

As broad as the east is from the west

Describes a fathers prayer.

A prayer of conviction, a prayer for strength,

A prayer for faith foursquare,

A seeking of counsel, with his God and King,

This is a fathers prayer.

A plea for guidance, in leading his clan,

Made in all humility,

From the head of the household, to his Lord and Master,

With bowed head, and on bended knee,

For he is entrusted, by the creator Himself,

With the obligation to oversee,

That the needs of his family are met and fulfilled,

Both physical, and spiritually.

A prayer for forgiveness, when he is in err,

When to weakness he succumbs,

A prayer for wisdom, to make the right choice,

When the time for decisions does come.

A prayer of dire urgency,

A daddy’s desperate plea,

Take my children’s suffering,

And give it unto me.

Give my children peace and rest,

Give to me their pain,

Give to me their sickness,

I will bear it and not complain.

To keep his family safe and sound,

To lead past pitfalls and snares,

To protect his loved ones from danger and evil,

All of this, is a father’s prayer.

For a very long time in my life as a mother I was under the assumption that I was the parent with the most stress in our household. Oh, not that my husband was a lazy no good dad. Far from it!! He is a very caring and hands on father. But being a stay at home mom I just selfishly thought for years that I had the harder job. 

My mind has been changing on that front for the last few months but it wasn't until I read this poem that I could put my thoughts into words. (Lousy words but words nonetheless.) Men and women are not the same. We are created so very differently with vastly different roles to play. I can't even grasp what it must be like to be a father but I feel that so much more is expected of men in our society but at the same time they are expected not to complain about it. 

Sometimes I think fathers have to be even stronger emotionally when it comes to their children and families than women! I can't imagine what strength my husband has to summon everyday because I can only see the tip of the iceberg. 

Dear God, Thank You for my husband, the father of my children. As a woman, I can't know what his role of a dad is like. We are so very different. But you made us to complement one another. I can't be a father any more than my husband can be a mother. Give us both the strength to fulfill our separate parental roles to the best of our ability while working together for the very best for our children. Amen. 

Sunday Devotions -Introducing The Calvin Hart Series #1

Last October I posted a Sunday devotion titled This Old Bible, a poem I had found in one of my former churches monthly newsletters. To my surprise a couple weeks ago I received an email from the author of that poem, Calvin Hart. He expressed his thanks that I would share his poem on my blog and he wondered if I would be interested in some of his others works as well. 


Of course I told him I would be more than happy to share his poems on my blog. I have always admired people who have the gift of words, a gift which I most definitely do not have! 


So, for the next four Sundays I'm going to share a different poem written by Mr. Hart. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have! 

A Mothers Prayer

Warm as sunshine, Sweet as honey,
Filled with love and care.
Tears of joy, Tears of pain,
Describes a mothers prayer.

A plea for mercy, a cry for help,
A thanks for blessings received.
A prayer for a guiding hand,
For those we have conceived

A prayer of joyous elation,
For the gift of a small precious life.
A prayer of suffering and sorrow,
For the accompanying pain and strife.

A mothers prayer is honest,
With devotion, so strong and sincere,
Borne on the wings of angels,
To our Fathers listening ear.

Tears of joy at a new babies birth,
Tears of joy at watching them grow.
Tears of worry, that never will cease,
When into the world they go.

Flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood,
My life’s greatest joy, and pain.
Who brings the sunshine to my life,
As well as dark clouds of rain

Few other petitions, that rise up to heaven,
Can even come close to compare.
To the strength of Love, and intensity,
That is found in a mothers prayer.

Fear not Dear Mothers, for your prayers are heard,
And are precious in God's Holy sight.
Find comfort in knowing, He stands by your side,
And His wisdom is just, and right.

Be honored Dear Mothers, and continue to pray,
For yours is a special place.
Chosen to be the creators of life,
By God, in His wisdom and Grace.

I won't lie, this poem brought tears to my eyes. Thank you Mr. Hart for sharing your gift with us today. 

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for making us mothers! What a blessing and heartache the role can be but a role we gladly bear. Bless our children Lord before ourselves give us strength to love them and raise them in the way of Your Word. Amen.