Rachel Ullmer
USPG Mission Partner, Pakistan
(Submitted by Alyson Buckle)

Heaven's Grocery Store

I was walking down life's highway a long time ago.
One day, I saw a sign for "Heaven's Grocery Store",
As I got a little closer, the door came open wide,
And when I came to myself, I was standing inside.
I saw a host of ANGELS. They were standing everywhere.
One handed me a basket and said, "My child, shop with care",
Everything a Christian needed was in the Grocery Store,
And all you couldn't carry, you could come back the next day for more, 
First, I got some PATIENCE, LOVE was in the same row,
Further down was UNDERSTANDING, you need that everywhere you go.
I got a box or two of WISDOM, a bag or two of FAITH.
I couldn't miss the HOLY GHOST for it was all over the place.
I stopped to get some STRENGTH and COURAGE to help me run this race. 
By then my basket was getting full, but I remembered some GRACE.
I didn't forget SALVATION for SALVATION is free,
So I tried to get enough of that to save both you and me.
Then I started up to the counter to pay my grocery bill,
For I though I had everything to do my MASTER'S will.
As I went up the aisle I saw PRAYER and I just had to put that in,
For I know when I stepped outside, I would run right into sin.
PEACE and JOY were plentiful, they were on the last shelf.
SONG and PRAISES were hanging near so I just helped myself.
Then I said to the Angel, "Now, how much do I owe?"
He just smiled and said "Just take them everywhere you go".
Again, I said, "How much do I really owe?"
He smiled again and said: "My child, Jesus paid your bill a long, long time ago!"

Submitted by Alyson Buckle

  Robert Smith sends this poem for others to share

A Beautiful Prayer

I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, No.
It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.

God said, No.
His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience.

God said, No.

Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned.

I asked God to give me happiness.

God said, No.

I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.

I asked God to spare me pain.

God said, No.

Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow.

God said, No.

You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.

I asked God for all things so that I may enjoy life.

God said, No.

I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.

I ask God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.

God said... Ahhhh, finally you have the idea.

THIS DAY IS YOURS, DON'T THROW IT AWAY

Mat God Bless You, "To the world you might be one person, but to one person you just might be the world".

Sunrise

It's dark in the mornings when I leave for work, Lord
Headlights and street lights pinprick my way
But as I drive along the motorway
Your pale sunrise spreads across the sky
Like ink on wet blotting paper

Lighting the whole world

Spread Your light over the whole world, Lord
That we might see it accurately
In all its beauty and shadow
And make our way safely through

Spread Your light over our lives, Lord
Dispel the darkness around and within

That we, in turn, like still lakes

Might reflect back Your glory

Liz Manning (B.B. Parent)                 

My Bible

My bible is my passbook,
I draw from it each day,
Every time I open it,
It tells me what to say.

It's written in two parts, you see,
The old and then the new.
The old is full of prophesy,
The new says it came true.

O.T. says "Christ will come",
And all will then be well,
N.T. says "Christ has come", 
So we are saved from hell.

Together all of us must live,
In peace and harmony,
True living unto all we give,
Let's raise our psalmody.

Lord, forgive us all our sin,
We know not what we do,

We want to live our lives like Him,

And Follow only you

                                                                                    Alyson Buckle

The following is a copy of a poem that appeared on the back of the P&J service sheet:

I wonder if Christ had a little brown dog,
All curly and woolly like mine,
With two long silky ears and a nose round and wet
And two eyes dark and tender that shine

I fear that He didn't because I have read
How He prayed in the garden alone,

For all of His friends and disciples had fled
Even Peter - the one called a stone

And I am quite sure that the little brown dog
With heart so tender and warm
Would never have left Him to suffer alone
But, creeping right under His arm

Would have licked the dear fingers in agony clasped
And, counting all favours but loss,

When they took Him away would have trotted behind
And followed Him right to the cross

Anon

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time

T.S.Elliot "Little Gidding"

A WAY INTO PRAYER

We live and laugh and love and cry,
And memories produce a sigh.
To God who dwells in Heaven on high,
Our hopes, our thoughts should ever fly.
O give us grace His ways to try,
Till in His arms we gently lie.

W.W. Gibson