Annie & Helen

“Genuine self knowledge begins

 by looking at God 

and noticing how God is looking at us.

Grounding our knowing of ourselves

 in God’s knowing of us

 anchors us in reality,

 it also anchors us in God.”

David Benner 

 

The subjects of this first post

on the first day of the ninth

month of September

are two very noble

and honorable women

named Annie and Helen

whose poems I love

and whose work has greatly

inspired me in

my own walk

of faith.

Annie Johnson Flint

1866-1932

     

 

Helen Steiner Rice

 1900-1981

Annie wrote...

"What God Hath Promised"

God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower- strewn pathways
All our lives through;

God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.

God hath not promised
We shall not know
Toil and temptation,
Trouble and woe;

He hath not told us
We shall not bear
Many a burden,
Many a care.

But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the laborer,
Light for the way,

Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.

"...His tender compassions  fail not.

They are new every morning;

great and abundant is

Your stability

and faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

 

"Lives Distressed

Cannot Be Blessed"
 Helen penned...

Refuse to be discouraged,

refuse to be distressed,

For when we are despondent,

our lives cannot be blessed.

For doubt and fear and worry

close the door to faith

and prayer,

And there's no room

for blessings

when we're lost

in deep despair.

So remember when

you're troubled

with uncertainy and doubt,

It is best to tell our Father

what our fear is all about,

For unless we seek

His guidance

when troubled times arise,

We are bound

to make decisions

that are twisted and unwise.

But when we view our problems

through the eyes of 

God above,

Misfortunes turn to blessings

and hatred turns

to love. 

 

 Sing Your Praises To The Lord!

Faith is a force that is greater
than knowledge or power or skill,
And the darkest defeat turns to triumph
if you trust in God’s wisdom and will,
For faith is a mover of mountains —
there’s nothing man cannot achieve
If he has the courage to try it
and then has the faith to believe. 

-Helen Steiner Rice

He giveth more grace

 as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength

 as our labors increase;
To added afflictions

 He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials

 He multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted

 our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed

 ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end

 of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving

 is only begun.

His love has no limits,

 His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary

 known unto men;
For out of His infinite

 riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth,

 and giveth again.

Annie Johnson Flint

A Sure Way To A Happy Day...

Happiness is something

we create in our minds;

It's not something

you search for

and so seldom find.

It's just waking up

and beginning the day

By counting our blessings

and kneeling to pray.

It's giving up thoughts

that breed discontent

And accepting what comes

as a gift heaven-sent.

It's giving up wishing

for things we have not

And making the best

of whatever we've got.

It's knowing that life

is determine for us

And pursuing our tasks

without fret, fume, or fuss.

For it's by completing

what God gives us to do

That we find real contentment

and happiness too.

Helen Steiner Rice 

The Gardner

While we are tending our earthly gardens,
The Gardener lends us His seeds to sow,
The bulbs of His lilies, the roots of His roses,
To plant and cherish and watch them grow.

Sometimes He comes when the day is over
And garners a sheaf of the full-grown wheat,
Ripe for the harvest and waiting the sickle,
Ready to fall at the Reaper's feet.

And sometimes He comes in the early morning
And tenderly gathers the sweetest flowers,
The buds of the lily, the rose half-open end:
Shall we not joy when He chooses ours?

Shall we not yield God our loveliest blossoms,
Glad that He finds them so fragrant and fair,
Worthy transplanting to heavenly gardens,
To gain new beauty beneath His care?

Never a storm shall sweep over His flowers,
Nor drought shall wither, nor frost shall blight;
About His feet they shall grow unfading,
And bloom forever in His pure sight.

Annie Johnson Flint

My Late Summer Garden

By Irish Artist Trudi Doyle