·

Songs of Praise for Living

   From the time Mother was a young girl discovering an autoharp in the attic, she tries to make music and look for songs to praise God.
         She laughed when her Dad, the church choir director, became so overcome by enthusiastically learning a new praise song, his chair tipped over in the kitchen. His pitch pipe, and a hurriedly sung Do – Mi – Sol began each new song.
         Mother grew up in a house of music and worship. Is it any wonder that she would entitle this poem, Songs of Praise – For Living?
         Often at bedtime, after prayers were finished, we heard Mother playing worship songs on the piano softly.  She played without lights on one evening.  She explained why. In case of losing lights in the church, the music could continue. She taught piano lessons, wrote poems, stories, Scripture songs, and articles.
         Mother delighted in learning new truths in the Scripture. She baked bread, sewed all of our clothes, and baked loaf after loaf of bread.  She gardened and canned the produce from her garden.  Flowers were grown to give to the ‘old’ people when she visited them. She was often older than they were.  She taught many Bible Studies and Bible Classes. She had a strong understanding of right and wrong and taught her grandchildren as well as her children. 
         After my Dad died, Mom continued on for ten years. Then Mother left her home, her church family, and her garden, and moved to another state when she was about 84. She made a new home.  One day, she told me each morning she asked, “Lord, what do You have for me to do today?” Her list for the day came From God Himself.
         When Mother’s health began to fail, she moved into our home. When her time came to leave this earth, I sat beside her and read the 37th Psalm, her favorite. Verses 3-5 read as a remembrance of how she lived: Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. And verses 23-24 contain the promises: The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.  Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.
         I often remember how Dad and Mother walked hand in hand in obedience to God the Father on this earth. When I hear the following lyrics sung, I think of the awe and wonder in their eyes as they see the fullness of their faith appear before them.  
The sky shall unfold, preparing His entrance
The stars shall applaud Him with thunders of praise
The sweet light in His eyes shall enhance those awaiting
And we shall behold Him, face to face, in all his glory.
I Corinthians 15:52-53 – It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.  For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
I Thessalonians 4:16-17 – For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.



Songs of Praise for Living
With eighty-seven years of life on earth
I sang my purest praise when dawn
Defined the sky before the test of toil,
And sweaty sins soiled the spirit of my day:
But I needed beating drums and bugle calls
For planned agendas and conflicts won
Through high noon heat with the sun.
When labors end for twilight vesper songs
And labors end for twilight vesper songs
Of prayers, I file and store my day
Of praise upon tomorrow’s memory shelf.
And now Venus beckons me to view
God’s evening light upon His window sill:
Let carefree rest reflect each song of praise
As a soundless serenade to my soul for sleep.
Ordain, O Lord, each song I use
To glorify and honor You alone.
                           Anna Daisy Siemens

‘The sky shall unfold, preparing His entrance’
Dottie Rambo, copyrighted,1980 Benson Publishing Company.

Comments? eacombs@att.net