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My Prayer
When my life has reached its very end,
And I take that final breath;
I want to know I've left behind,
Some "good" before my death.
I hope that in my final hour,
In all honesty I can say:
That somewhere in my lifetime,
I have brightened someone's day.
That maybe I have brought a smile
To someone else's face,
And made one moment a little sweeter
While they dwelled here in this place.
Lord, please be my reminder
And whisper softly in my ear ...
To be a "giver," not a "taker,"
In the years I have left here.
Give to me the strength I need,
Open up my mind and my soul
That I might show sincere compassion,
And love to others before I go.
For if not a heart be touched by me,
And not a smile was left behind ...
Then the life that I am blessed with,
Will have been a waste of time.
With all my heart, I truly hope
To leave something here on earth ...
That touched another, made them smile
And gave to my life ... worth.
Oh, God, make me a better person.
Help me to understand my family,
to listen patiently to what they have to say
and to answer all their questions kindly.
Keep me from interrupting them,
talking back to them and contradicting them.
Make me as courteous to them
as I would have them be to me.
Give me the courage to confess my sins
against them and to ask of them forgiveness,
when I know that I have done them wrong.
May I not vainly hurt the feelings of them.
Forbid that I should laugh at their mistakes or
resort to shame and ridicule as punishment.
Let me not tempt them to lie and steal.
So guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate
by all I say and do that honestly produces happiness.
Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me.
May I cease to nag:
and when I am out of sorts,
help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue.
Blind me to the little errors of them
and help me to see the good things that they do.
Give me a ready word for honest praise.
Help to treat them as those of their own age,
but let me not exact of them the judgments
and conventions of adults.
Allow me not to rob them of the opportunity
to wait upon themselves,
to think, to choose, and to make decisions.
Forbid that I should ever punish them
for my self satisfaction.
May I grant them all of their wishes that are
reasonable and have the courage always to
withhold a privilege that I know will do them harm.
Amen
Thanks, I love you very much... Nellie
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