Twenty-Four

My husband has written a poem for me every year since I turned 19 (which was how he first told me he loved me). So below is the poem for this 24th birthday. I told him that I'm not sure how he comes up with so many nice things to say about me every year. I truly am blessed to have such a wonderful husband. I am so blessed to have so many people in my life that have impacted me. And while I'm on that note, I want to express my love and gratitude for a godly father and mother who have shown me God's love my whole life.

Below is the poem written out since it is probably hard to see in the photo above.

Again has come the newness of Spring,
In each flower bloomed,
The breeze, thus perfumed;
And budding of trees
Soon showing their leaves—
In fullness they tell
Of the Winter's farewell,
The growth of the year, full revealing.

And here, there is parable of things greater still:
As the leaf and the bloom,
Is the fruit of the womb
Has become, now, my wife,
Who in adding to life
One more year each Spring new,
Brings fresh growth into view—
Bearing fruit by the Spirit, filled.

But the bloom of Spring must endure first the Cold,
Though its darkness so dense,
And its harshness, intense—
Such will shape and refine
In the heart of mankind,
That in time it will bring
Perfect offering—
Coming forth as the purest of gold.

For in toil, and pain, heavy grief, is matured:
As a wise man has said,
"Naught of worth will be had
When is sought in one's ease."
For, the Prize none will seize
Lest in blood, sweat, and tears,
And great yearning in years,
One endures to the end, by our Lord.

And such is the Cold that is only just waning,
The coldness—death's trial:
Though lasting awhile,
Has yielded a leaf
And a flower in grief,
Producing maturity
In her, ever more purity—
All that the True Vine is ordaining.

And so in the joy of her twenty-fourth year,
Let, in this, there be praise:
In her passing of days
There is leaf, and is flower
Showing more, in God's power—
As the blossoming tree,
Growing full to maturity
Till that Day, in His likeness, she'll appear.

No Words to Express

I find myself longing to share how I feel,
yet not knowing how.
My baby would have been 19 weeks along today.
Below are pictures of a necklace I have in memory of our baby Hope.
Obviously the H is for Hope and the blue birth stone is for December,
to represent our baby's life in December.

Below is the back of the necklace. The lady who made the necklace lost her son and planted a tree in memory of him. So her signature is this leaf. A friend pointed out to me that the leaf resembles the blood vessels or veins on a placenta which is referred to as the tree of life since it resembles a tree. I thought that was special.