For Our Children, So Dear

As I sit on my swing,
Swaying to the rhythm of the nearby clock,
Pondering the passage of time,
I think back to our babies
Still dependent and so small,
The joy of raising them
Now saturates my mind.

They are grown and now gone
With babes of their own,
Busy lives, making memories, so fair.
But the short time we had them
Still lingers in my heart
As I find myself 
Holding them there.

Back in those days I wondered,
What will they be like when they’re older?
What will they be like on their own?
I longed to see what God
Would do with their lives.
What paths would they take?
Would they walk out 
What they had been shown?

Now I’m older
And I see what my heart
Longed to know,
So long ago and so far away.
Each child now walks
In the ways of the Lord.
Each one loves
And serves others, today.

My heart is made glad.
My joy is made full.
My soul rejoices in the Lord.
My babies are all
That my heart hoped to see.
They are that, and praise God,
So much more.

I hold fast to the beautiful memories
That are mine.
The sweet days of loving them so.
I cherish the rough and the smooth times alike.
I dearly loved watching them grow.
And now I observe
Their sweet babies from afar
And delightfully wonder
Deep down in my heart,
What will their blessed futures hold?

Nelda Johnson