As I was cleaning today this poem on folded notebook paper fell out of the sleeve of an old college shorthand book I was giving away to Goodwill.

Bible reference: 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Luke 11:11-18
My hands held out waiting
For a blessing from the Lord
My eyes searching ’round me
Things above me were ignored
With my arms growing heavy
And my heart wearing down
My head slowly lowered
My smile became a frown
My eyes came to rest
On something lying in my hands
Something I had never noticed
But now there it stands
A small and fragrant blossom
Had been there all along
Its fragrance filled the air
Its color was a song
How could I never notice
That such beauty had been there
But my eyes had been elsewhere
My nose in the air
Only when exhaustion
Forced me to look down
Could this blessing from above
Eventually be found
What I had been waiting for
Had been there for some time
But through pride and selfishness
Was never really mine
Until the moment came
When in exhaustion and defeat
I laid all my trouble
At my Saviour’s feet
Only then did I realize
All the Lord had shown
When I asked Him for some bread
I shouldn’t look for a stone.
–Danny Carlton, 1990