ANGELS ON EARTH CALENDAR REPRINT: Feb.22,2011

Our daughter, Aimee and her husband were expecting a baby (on NFL Super-Bowl weekend 2001)---a boy.
They had chosen the name Joel, wallpapered his room in blue and filled his dresser with baby clothes. Family members had contributed toddler Texas Rangers gear as well as Dallas Cowboys blue and white jerseys.
As Granddad, my gift was a Bar Mitzvah angel--a young boy dressed in Jewish vesture. This little angel would remind Aimee that the seeds of her son's faith would be planted in his infancy.
Or HER infancy, as it happened.
Surprise!
Avaree Rose Hosford was welcomed with all the love and joy a little boy would have been. She looks adorable in the tiny sports jerseys, surrounded by Dallas Cowboy blue. I know that angels watch over her as God does all of us, helping us to greet the unexpected with grace, a thankful heart, and most of all, a sense of humor.
Rev.Douglas Raymond Rose
Grand Prairie, Texas.

A VALENTINE HEART

Slow down my hasty heart
Slow down and in Him wait;
God often lingers longer-
But He never comes too late.

Slow down my hasty heart
And travel on in peace---
Conform your will unto God's
And your soul shall have a feast.

Slow down my hasty heart
God guides the future as the past;
Let nothing shake your confidence
All shall be bright at last.

2011 by Douglas Raymond Rose
Grand Prairie, Texas
Member Academy of American Poets

LIKE MELTED SNOW

Make me Lord like Melted Snow
Forgetting all about myself;
Realizing I came from you--
And back to you I must go.

Melt my thoughts into yours Lord
Melt both my heart and soul---
Merge my life with yours Lord
Make me like Melted Snow.

2011 by Douglas Raymond Rose
Member Academy of American Poets
Super-Bowl Weekend of Monster Snowstorm