A Hand Along the Journey: Poems for the King from One Pilgrim to Another

When I think about sisters and how deep the bond they share is, I think of John 19:25. "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister,..." On what was no doubt the hardest day of Mary's life, her sister was standing by her. A follower of Jesus herself, Mary's sister was thus her double sister in the family of God. She couldn't change the situation, but she was there, and it is safe to assume her presence was helpful to the mother who had to watch her Son die. I have long thought that someday I would write a poem about sisterhood because of my own sisters. Today is that day. While I was packing this evening for our upcoming move, traces of lines began to come together in my mind. Although nothing I could write could capture all our memories or all that my sisters mean to me, it is better to write something than nothing. Each phrase summarizes a story that could lead to another story and another story and...well, if you have been blessed ...

  "...these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee;..." Deut. 2:7 "And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years..." Deut. 8:2 Today is a day I've been looking forward to for a couple of years: my   40 th   spiritual birthday. On July 18, 1984, I became a child of God through accepting the atoning work of Christ on my behalf. I've written my salvation testimony before, and it can be read at https://poemsfortheking.blogspot.com/p/about.html . Tonight I want to take a look back at each of those years, summarizing in a line what comes to mind as a lesson that God was teaching me from the time I became His at 4 years of age until this my 44 th year. The verses above are from some of Moses' last words to the children of Israel, as he reflected on the 40 years after the Exodus deliverance. I remember my dad quoting Deuteronomy 2:7 when he had been saved 40 years. The principle of remembering, highligh...