Day by Day....

Sweet hours with Albert tonight...

Joan spent most of the day with her dad and has been sleeping on a cot in his hospice room at night.  We gave her a break for a few hours this evening and had coffee with him (he sucking it from a sponge - a Swede till the end), watched a bit of hockey, read messages from loved ones and sang some hymns.  We can't tell if he appreciates the singing or not....but we do.  We find comfort - and we pray Albert does too - in the sweet words of the old hymns. Tonight we ended with:

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,“
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till with Christ the Lord I stand.