Near to the heart of God

Saturday evening and I am in my little room I refer to as 'office' and 'sanctuary.'

This lovely song written by Cleland McAfee came to my mind.

There is a place of quiet rest,
   Near to the heart of God,
A place where sin cannot molest,
   Near to the heart of God.

Refrain:
O Jesus blest Redeemer,
   Sent from the heart of God,
Hold us who wait before Thee
   Near to the heart of God.

There is a place of comfort sweet,
   Near to the heart of God,
A place where we our Saviour meet,
   Near to the heart of God.

There is a place of full release,
   Near to the heart of God,
A place where all is joy and peace,
  Near to the heart of God.

The writer was a pastor in Chicago. In 1901, he went through much sorrow when he received within the space of twenty four hours the sad news that his two nieces he loved dearly had died of diphtheria. In his sorrow he wrote this poem to comfort himself.

On the day of the double funeral he stood with his choir in the home of his brother and sang this song.

I mentioned that during the week we went to our Salvation Army Nursing Home to conduct chapel services and also visited the residents, many bed ridden. Our forty five year old daughter Dora Poh Chin is one of the residents. She has never uttered one word in the whole of her life.  Whether she recognizes us or not, we don't know, but I believe the Lord has her own way of communicating with her. After all He created her.

We've prayed for her healing for years, but for some reason the Lord has allowed her to remain wheelchair bound, unable to communicate her needs. We still love her, visit her and believe the day will come when we shall meet in heaven and hear her call out to us "Mummy, Daddy" We will then say to her, Dora, we love you as we have always done."  She is our eternal innocent child. She was born in sin, but she has never wilfully committed any sin. She is our Precious Treasure. And she is near to the heart of God.

Lord thank You for giving us Dora - Your precious gift entrusted to us.