Paula is still working through the many aspects involved with the death of her husband, Billy .   With her permission, we are printing a writing she recently did.   Please, continue to keep Paula and her family in your prayers.   She is truly grateful for all the love, prayers, and support she has received from all of our readers.

- HeartBeat the Magazine Staff

A decade, or as Webster says ~ "a period of ten years",  is filled with a whole lot of hopes and dreams and challenges. Indeed, some of life's moments you have waited for with great anticipation, while others seem to catch you by surprise and leave you in stunned silence.  During the past ten years of my life, I have watched my children graduate from high school and college and get married.  I have survived that common and dreaded "empty nest syndrome" to begin a new career alongside my husband.  I have traveled the high seas to Mexico , the Caribbean, Central America, and Hawaii .  I have wept and fervently prayed as my son-in-law faced cancer. And then, I have rejoiced at the news of a miracle baby soon to be born to him and my daughter.  But most recently, I have mourned alongside my children, as I buried my husband and their father.  And so, as I glanced at a poem that I had written long ago, my eyes were drawn to the last line and the date beneath it...Yes, ten years ago I penned the following poem.  And yet, beloved friends, it captures my heart today...

In My Garden

Lord, I went to my garden~just after the first morning's dew;

I wanted to gather roses of a deep & brilliant hue...

Lord, I came to my garden to behold YOUR majesty & grace;

And as I reached for YOUR comforting solace, a thorn met my embrace...

Lord, I sat in my garden~my tears mingled with the dew of that morn~

As a simple thorn ripped open a window on a heart so torn...

Lord, there in my garden, I grimaced~recalling each struggle in vivid detail,

As I wondered why the beauty around me grew so pale...

Lord, I had come to my garden to view YOUR power on display;

But instead, my problems had distracted me from YOUR colorful array...

Lord, in my garden the midday sun grew hot,

As my teary eyes fell on a barren spot...

Lord, in the corner of my garden, a tiny & tender bush grew;

And from it, a solitary rose of the most brilliant hue...

Lord, in my garden YOUR splendid creation was replaced by gloom,

When I failed to remember that beyond the thorns is a beautiful rose in bloom...

So, Lord, meet me in my garden each day~just after the first morning dew;

For I'm sure to find you there, as I look beyond the thorns to the roses of a deep & brilliant hue...

PR/97

Beloved friends, a new decade is before me...I cling to the promise of the beauty God is ever making from the ashes of our lives.  And while my pain has been, and is, intense and ongoing, I certainly don't have the corner on that market...Yes, many of you are experiencing challenges and struggles--financial struggles, empty wombs, marital difficulties, prodigal children, ongoing sickness or depression, career changes, and many other sorrows.  And as I am privileged to pray for many of you, let me remind you that God does not weigh your pain against another person's pain...Indeed, whatever you are going through is important to Him.  And so, just as His Word has sustained me through my season of grief, I pray that you will run to His Word.  The psalmist declared, "Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again."  The psalmist determined to live a life of praise, so in closing I leave you with the cry of my heart, "But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more." (see Psalm 71 for these and many other nuggets)  And so, beloved friends, through a veil of tears I am praising my Savior tonight.  Will you join me?  Yes, Lord, we praise you that beyond the thorns is a beautiful rose in bloom.  Together, we praise our God for MAKING something of beauty and splendor from the difficulties of our lives...Thank you, my friends, for dusting for God's fingerprints with me yet again...