For Clara McLaughlin Atkinson
on her 4th birthday, April 28, 2016
Clothed in miracle, a little girl entered our world: she
Left for an instant, and came back again, and every day,
After that first trying day, has been a gift I treasure.
Rarely do such moments touch our hearts so deeply;
Actually, never have I at once felt such fear and faith
Mixed in a moment. Her life with us, we honor and
Celebrate, year after year, today, because today
Life was strong in her, then, and still it is. Our little girl,
Amazingly herself, has much to give the world in need.
Unknown it is to us just where her life will lead, but
God knows, and has been, and will direct each step.
He has formed her life, saved her, and sustains her
Life for what He wills. Humbled by the faith He must have
In me to make me her father, I’ll play my role, always,
Never to have her stray far from my heart, and
As she grows from day to day, as days become years,
Teach her what life means, by loving her every smile,
Kissing her every wound, and seeking to understand
In simple ways that though tears do sometimes fall,
Never do they fall forever, so each should be cherished
Still, for they fall, fleeting, as childhood is, as precious.
Only through faith can we find the peace to sustain us,
Now, today, yesterday, tomorrow, forever all at once.
Photo Credit:
DeAnna Poynter Atkinson
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