"Father, I Know That All My Life"

I came across this poem in my reading recently and I loved it so I'm posting it so I can share it with everyone. It's called "Father, I Know That All My Life" by Anna Laetitia Waring.

Father, I know that all my life

Is portioned out for me,

And the changes that are sure to come,

I do not fear to see;

But I ask Thee for a present mind

Intent on pleasing Thee.

I ask Thee for a thoughtful love,

Through constant watching wise,

To meet the glad with joyful smiles,

And to wipe the weeping eyes;

And a heart at leisure from itself,

To soothe and sympathise.

I would not have the restless will

That hurries to and fro,

Seeking for some great thing to do

Or secret thing to know;

I would be treated as a child,

And guided where I go.

Wherever in the world I am,

In whatsoe'er estate,

I have a fellowship with hearts

To keep and cultivate;

And a work of lowly love to do

For the Lord on whom I wait.

So I ask Thee for the daily strength,

To none that ask denied,

And a mind to blend with outward life

While keeping at Thy side;

Content to fill a little space,

If Thou be glorified.

And if some things I do not ask,

In my cup of blessing be,

I would have my spirit filled the more

With grateful love to Thee --

More careful -- not to serve Thee much,

But to please Thee perfectly.

There are briers besetting every path,

That call for patient care;

There is a cross in every lot,

And an earnest need for prayer;

But a lowly heart that leans on Thee

Is happy anywhere.

In a service which Thy will appoints,

There are no bonds for me,

For my inmost heart is taught "the truth"

That makes Thy children "free;"

And a life of self-renouncing love

Is a life of liberty.