Will there be any stars?

This morning in church my pastor preached on the blessings of trials, using the life of Joseph as an example. Of course most of us have not had to endure the depth of a trial as Joseph but no trial is free from sorrow.  If the choice were left to us most of us would choose to live a trial free life but then our life - our gold bar you might say - would never be purified and the very trial God allows us to go through often yields results we never would have thought we could accomplish.
I am sure Eliza Edmunds Hewitt would have agreed. WHO? As often the case we are probably more familiar with her work than with this amazing lady herself. Below I have copied her story from Christianity.com and at the close I wrote out the words of her hymn. I hope it is a blessing and will be encouragement to anyone going through a hard time!

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Eliza was born on this day, June 28, 1851 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Educated in the local school system, she graduated as valedictorian of the Girl's Normal School that she attended. She became a teacher in the public schools of her city.

But then came misery. Her career screeched to a halt when she was forced to bed with a painful spinal problem. (One of her descendants has contacted us and said her debilitating condition was caused by an reckless student striking her with a piece of slate.) Lying in bed, she could have been bitter. Instead, she studied English literature and began to sing and write:

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus; sing his mercy and his grace.
In the mansions bright and blessed he'll prepare for us a place.

Some of her lines came into the hands of Professor John R. Sweney. He wrote her asking for more, and set a few of her songs to music, including one of the better known: "Will there be any Stars in My Crown?" He and William J. Kirkpatrick published her first hymns.

We remember Eliza Hewitt today because of those hymns. Had she never been bed-ridden, she might not have written them. Among the best known are, "Give Me Thy Heart, Says the Father Above," "When We All Get to Heaven," "Sunshine in My Soul," "Will there be any Stars in My Crown?" and "More About Jesus Would I Know."

Later Eliza's well-being improved, although she suffered re-occurrences for the rest of her life. Despite her health problems, she was deeply interested in Sunday school work, and superintended a Sunday school for the Northern Home for Friendless Children. This was followed by similar work in the Calvin Presbyterian Church. At one point, she had a class of 200!
Eliza died in 1920

1. I am thinking today of that beautiful land
   I shall reach when the sun goeth down;
   When through wonderful grace by my Savior I stand,
   Will there be any stars in my crown?
   
   
    Refrain:
   Will there be any stars, any stars in my crown,
   When at evening the sun goeth down?
   When I wake with the blest in the mansions of rest,
   Will there be any stars in my crown?
   
2. In the strength of the Lord let me labor and pray,
   Let me watch as a winner of souls;
   That bright stars may be mine in the glorious day,
   When His praise like the sea-billow rolls.
3. Oh, what joy it will be when His face I behold,
   Living gems at His feet to lay down;
   It would sweeten my bliss in the city of gold,
   Should there be any stars in my crown.