PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR

I read this book when I was in high school. It was a favorite called Charlie's Monument by Blaine Yorgason.
At the end of the book was this poem.
I loved it then and I love it still.

Since I print my blog into a book, I wanted to be sure to have this in it.
It had a profound effect on me as a teenager.

God,
before He sent his children to earth
gave each of them
a very carefully selected package
of problems.

These,
He promised, smiling,
are yours alone. No one
else may have the blessings
these problems will bring you.

And only you
have the special talents and abilities
that will be needed
to make these problems
your servants.

Now go down to your birth
and to your forgetfulness, know that
I love you beyond measure.
These problems that I give you
are a symbol of that love.

The monuments you make of your life,
with the help of your problems,
will be a symbol of your
love for me.

Your Father.