If I could look the whole world through
To find a substitute for You,
I'd search until I found a spark,
A tiny gleaming in the dark
Of human greed and false desire -
A small reflection of Your fire.
I'd find a path worn down by years
Of sacrifice - the toil and tears
Of giving with no thought of gain,
As constant as the falling rain:
A mother's heart by Your design
Has caught a glimpse of the Divine.
Marian Banducci
Dolls With Pink Dresses
"Mary is pregnant - oh what can be done?
"Can this be happening to my little one?
"Yesterday's toys in her room are still there -
"Dolls with pink dresses and her teddy bear."
"Fifteen years old - just a baby you see!"
"Mary, you know that this child cannot be!
"If you should trip and you had a bad fall,
"No one would know you were pregnant at all!"
"Mother, your grandchild is safe within me;
"I really love him - no harm will there be;
"Changing my mind is one thing I won't do;
"One day you'll thank me - you'll love my son too."
##############
Weeks pass like links in the chain of new life;
Mother and daughter in unspoken strife;
Weeks become months and the baby is near;
"She is too young," thinks the mother in fear.
Mary gives birth to a beautiful boy!
Hate turns to love in a house filled with joy!
Mother now sits with the child she despised;
Love now reflects in her grandmother eyes.
Proud of her daughter, she says boastfully:
"What a great mother she's turned out to be!"
And in an attic in a throwaway chair
Sit dolls with pink dresses and one teddy bear.
Marian Banducci
Repentance At Last
They told me my babe was just "tissue" -
I knew in my heart they were wrong;
A sheep being led to the slaughter -
I followed the false shepherd's song.
I woke to a womb now a vacuum -
The emptiness filling my soul;
I thought that I soon would find comfort;
The things of the world were my goal.
I sat in a room filled with students
And yet I felt so much alone;
And grief was at times overwhelming -
Dead babe round my neck a millstone.
I looked for relief in a marriage
And soon a new life came to be;
I hoped that this child was the answer -
But memories of death followed me.
I dreamed of my babe in the nighttime;
My eyes ran with tears in the day;
And when I could no longer function,
A friend of mine taught me to pray.
He told me that there was forgiveness
For one who had killed her baby;
He said that the Lord was the answer -
That Jesus would set my heart free.
I fell on my face in the darkness,
Looked up to a marvelous sight;
And there with His arms stretched to greet me
Was He who made darkness and light.
"My child, come to Me with your burden -
"For only in Me are you blessed";
My tears were now tears of repentance.
At last my poor heart found its rest
