From “Ruth Bell Graham’s Collected Poems”

Plenty
is always provision for a need:
another’s
or some future of our own—
unrealized, perhaps;
unseen.
The seven years of plenty
Joseph stored
against the years of famine
that would come.

So
when a winter
promises to be
severe,
nature generously provides
for little friends;
and sensing
in her lavish spread
a hint of coming want,
the ants
and squirrels are busy
harvesting;
and so am I.

I have been
so generously provided for
in happiness,
good memories,
family,
and true friends;
and more than all—
His presence and His Word;
perhaps it is a “sign,”
as mountain people say,
that winter is to be
a tough one.
If that is so,
let it be;
my larders are well stocked.

Learn more about Ruth Bell Graham and her role in her husband’s ministry when you visit the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina. Plan your visit at BillyGrahamLibrary.org.