When Tomorrow Starts Without Me


When tomorrow starts without me,
And I'm not there to see,
If the sun should rise and find your eyes
All filled with tears for me;

I wish so much you wouldn't cry
The way you did today,
While thinking of the many things,
We didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me,
As much as I love you,
And each time that you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too;

But when tomorrow starts without me,
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name,
And took me by the hand,

And said my place was ready,
In heaven far above,
And that I'd have to leave behind
All those I dearly love.

But as I turned to walk away,
A tear fell from my eye
For all my life, I'd always thought,
I didn't want to die.

I had so much to live for,
So much left yet to do,
It almost seemed impossible
That I was leaving you.

I thought of all the yesterdays,
The good ones and the bad,
I thought of all the love we shared,
And all the fun we had.

If I could relive yesterday,
Just even for a while,
I'd say good-bye and kiss you
And maybe see you smile.

But then I fully realized,
That this could never be,
For emptiness and memories,
Would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things,
I might miss come tomorrow,
I thought of you, and when I did,
My heart was filled with sorrow.

But when I walked through heaven's gates,
I felt so much at home.
When God looked down and smiled at me,
From His great golden throne,

He said, "This is eternity,
And all I've promised you.
Today your life on earth is past,
But here life starts anew.

I promise no tomorrow,
But today will always last,
And since each day's the same way
There's no longing for the past.

You have been so faithful,
So trusting and so true.
Though there were times you did some things
You knew you shouldn't do.

But you have been forgiven
And now at last you're free.
So won't you come and take my hand
And share my life with me?"

So when tomorrow starts without me,
Don't think we're far apart,
For every time you think of me,
I'm right here, in your heart.

I know mom would of loved this one too!

Sometimes life seems hard to bear,
Full of sorrow, trouble and woe
It's then I have to remember
That it's in the valleys I grow.

If I always stayed on the mountain top
And never experienced pain,
I would never appreciate God's love
And would be living in vain.

I have so much to learn
And my growth is very slow,
Sometimes I need the mountain tops,
But it's in the valleys I grow.

I do not always understand
Why things happen as they do,
But I am very sure of one thing.
My Lord will see me through.

My little valleys are nothing
When I picture Christ on the cross
He went through the valley of death;
His victory was Satan's loss.

Forgive me Lord, for complaining
When I'm feeling so very low.
Just give me a gentle reminder
That it's in the valleys I grow.

Continue to strengthen me, Lord
And use my life each day
To share your love with others
And help them find their way.

Thank you for valleys, Lord
For this one thing I know
The mountain tops are glorious
But it's in the valleys I grow!


This is a beautiful poem my sister-in-law sent me sometime ago. I save it for when I need a little reminder.

Bubble Mountain:

An eight year old attempting to learn something new,
A mother teaching thought she'd had the job true,
"Fill the little door there with dish soap, push the lever."
"Push the button there and then you can leave 'er."

Mom says she's off to take a nap.

Me, I'm off playing hotwheels in a sixties Nebraska summer,
Chargers and dragsters and hotrods, but nary a Hummer.
The field behind the house is hot, and sand burrs in the yard,
Long summer days in the middle of nothing are not hard.

Usually not, until you hear Mom scream!

I ran in the house, expecting a louse, or a monster's glare,
But the sight that I saw I couldn't even draw, all I could do was stare!
From the living room door they were coming out of the kitchen,
A mountain of bubbles, suds taller than a skinny kid due for switchin'.

I couldn't believe my eyes!

A myriad tiny rainbowed suds, filling a twenty foot room,
And a screaming mother wading through with no broom.
Trying to find the sink, or the dishwasher door,
So that Ivory Liquid wouldn't make any more!

The bubble blob was eating our house!

Twenty minutes more and the basement would be,
Drowning in foamy white suds 'cause of me.
We spent the rest of the day bailing with pans,
And cold water running and filling our hands.

It took hours to wash them all down.

I spent the next two days washing everything five feet and under,
And with a spinning head full of childish wonder.

Why hadn't she said Cascade?

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 07/21/2000

Author's Comments:
A real life tale of childhood. I know it sounds like Little Rick and Lucy,
But it truly was me and my Mom. I've never seen anything like it since.

Boundaries Of Pictures:

A heart can be broken to look,
Joy may fly into a face in remembrance,
Cheeks may flush at the cringe,
Reality even seem to bend,
In the magic of artistic illusion,
Time may stop and start like an engine,
Racing into the great beyond,
All these lanes we drive so hard,
Yet you can twist the key 'til breaking,
Shift every lever you find,
But there is no reverse,
Not even the slightest brakes,
And that's what drives you to tears the most,
The universal law of the boundaries of pictures.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 02/23/2002

Author's Comments:
A life lesson reinforced yesterday.