"ACT--ACT IN THE LIVING PRESENT!"

I was challenged as I read the poem by HW Longfellow: The Psalm of Life-What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist, and I was especially affected by the last few stanzas as I relive the past year and think of the future:

"...Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act,--act in the living Present!

Heart within, and GOD o'erhead!

Lives of Great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints in the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwreck'd brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing.

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The sentiment of this poem strikes a chord in my heart and my thoughts as I think of the past year at Lower Brule and in other areas of my life, and it encourages me to continue on as I wonder what 2012 stores for us.
We were encouraged this Sunday as several children joined us in the Sunday School. They are so refreshing and enthusiastic as they sing and listen to the story. I decided to sew a length of white fabric into bags for the children to decorate as they chose, and we sewed a little yarn handle on the bags when they were finished. They were so happy with them, and they spent quite awhile designing them. They went home happy, and that helped us to go home happy. :)
Please pray for us as we "act-act in the living present." May God bless you for your interest in Lower Brule.