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A Better Plan
Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jul 8, 2007 (message contributor)
Illustration: A Better Plan
When in college Robert J , Morgan came across a poem written by a teenage girl looking for a husband. It was written as a prayer, and this is what she said:
Dear God, I pray all unafraid / As girls are wont to be
I do not want a handsome man / But make him, Lord, like Thee.
I do not need one big and strong / nor yet so very tall,
Nor need he be some genius / or wealthy, Lord, at all;
But let his head be high, dear God, / and let his eye be clear,
His shoulders straight, whate’er his fate / whate’er his earthly sphere.
And let his face have character, / a ruggedness of soul,
And let his whole life show, dear God, / a singleness of goal.
And when he comes / as he will come
With quiet eyes aglow / I’ll know, dear Lord,
That he’s the man / I prayed for long ago.
That girl’s name was Ruth Bell, and she later met and married—Billy Graham.
She died recently. Her life had a profound effect on one who so faithfully supported Billy Graham.
Robert J , Morgan found her poem while a college student, shy and wondering if I would ever find anyone to marry. So following her example he wrote a prayer to the Lord as a request for a life partner. It said:
I stumble, Lord, when I should think / Of finding one for me.
But to Thy throne I come to claim / That prudent wife from Thee.
She need not be a beauty, Lord, / The queen crowned at the fair;
Nor need she have a made-up face / Beneath embellished hair.
But let her eyes contain Thy strength, / Her smile announce Thy grace;
Her body kept within Thy realm, / Thy sheen upon her face.
Lord, give her hands that make each day / An innovative art,
And grant her feet to always serve / The progress of Thy heart.
She need not be a scholar, Lord, / But warm like Thee, and wise;
And with Thy wit, Thy word prepared / To teach and empathize.
And when the throbs of life shall come, / The trials that we shall see,
May she both find in Thee her peace / And be a strength to me.
So as I wait on Thee, dear Lord, / And in Thy dictates lean
Make me to be your man, and hers / And her to be my queen
(Morgan, Robert J.: Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000, S. 540)