Monument

I've seen my share of winters. I've watched the years move on. I've held the ones I love so close, Then woke to find them gone. I wasn't always gentle. I wasn't always right. Sometimes I let my wounded heart Turn love into a fight. But God was there in every fall And every road I crossed. And grace kept finding this old man Each time I thought I was Lost. So when my final evening comes, And I lay this body down, Don't measure me by what I own Or the name I made in town. Don't build me a monument. Don't carve my name in stone. Just tell my son I loved him, That I couldn't make it known. Tell my daughter she was sunlight In the darkest years I knew. And tell my little grandson He made an old heart new. I don't need the world to know me. I don't need my name to last. If I left love inside your hearts, That's monument Enough. I still remember her beside me Before heaven called her home. She knew the man beneath my scars Before I stood alone. And when grief became my master, I lost more than my way. But God did not abandon me On my most broken Day. My children saw me at my worst, Yet mercy brought us through. And now I hold a little boy With his father's eyes Of blue. Don't build me a monument. Don't carve my name in stone. Just gather close around the ones Who should never stand Alone. Forgive before it's too late. Say the words I couldn't say. Hold each other while you still can. Don't wait until the grave. And when my chair stands empty, And God has called me home, remember.