Love #3 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 9

Lesson in Love Learned

 

Thank You, Lord, for loving me.

Like my hubby stopped wondering what love is

rambling on and on about it

and has learned to simply say,

“I love you, too.”

Lord, I love You, too.

love #2 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 9

Hubby Love

 

Thank you for the little ways 

Hubby shows his love.

By letting me use his computer

while I'm waiting

for my new one.

By not having a fit

when he heard the price.

By complementing me on my haircut

and not being upset about that cost either.

By thanking me for meals.

By saying I love you.

He used to get all philosophical

and begin his soliloquy with,

“What is love?”

Thank You, Lord, that he learned

to simply say, “I love you.”

Love #1 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 9

 Without You 

 

I've made it a month without you.

Your friends and your family have too.

You’re name pops up often.

Does this pain ever soften?

It’s hard not to feel blue.

 

You’ve been like a sister to me.

I think of you continually.

We can't talk on the phone

Since the Lord called you home.

You’re the one happy and free.

 

Like a thumb that's puffy and sore.

We’re aware of our love all the more.

Now that there's pain.

Memories flow like a train.

This grief can be a tough chore.

 

Thanks, Lord, for helping us through.

There are times we haven't a clue

How to live life without her.

This month’s been a blur.

I'm so glad our hope is in You. 

Blank of the Blank #3 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 8

Savior of the world

I place my life in Your hands

For eternity

Blank of the Blank #2 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 8

The Praise of My Lips

 

Thank you for being awesome and glorious.

Let the praise of my lips focus on you

and your great works.

 

Thank you for poetry

and that somehow you brought me to it,

though I resisted at first.

 

Lord do you get tired of meeting with resistance

almost every time you ask your people to do something

like Jonah running to Tarshish?

 

Help me be like Mary, though

having a baby was impossible she said,

“Let it be as you say.”

 

And like Jesus,

when facing crucifixion said,

“Not my will but Yours be done.”

 

I offer You my dreams, plans, and goals.

May my art, writing, and music

originate in the mind of Christ. 

 

 

 

 

Blank of the Blank #1 Poetic Asides Nov 8

Joy of the Morning

 

Thank You, Lord, for morning prayers

committing to my loving Heavenly Father

the cares of the world, my church, my family.

 

Thank You, for hearing me

and speaking strength, hope

and encouragement to my spirit.

 

Thank You for being my joy

 and the reason I get out of bed

and look forward to the day in anticipation.

 

Thank You for yesterday's blessings:

Sunday school, church, worship

where we could feel your presence.

 

For our new youth pastor

and how you led him to our church.

Thank You for hugs from friends.

 

Thank You for long talks with my son,

 my farm quilt jigsaw puzzle,

my markers and paper to doodle with.

 

Thank You for Hubby and I

eating our meals together.

And for talking and praying with a friend.

 

Thank You, Lord,

may your perfect will be done on earth

and especially in my life.  

Health #3 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 7

 Ears to Hear

 

Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear.”

Thank You, Jesus, for giving me spiritual hearing.

When I read your Word, You speak to me

of love and forgiveness,

redirecting me when I do unhealthy things

or think unhealthy thoughts.

 

Thank You, Lord,

for my spiritual eyes and ears

and that though my physical body

grows weaker each day,

my spiritual body strengthens.

 

Like the man you healed 

was walking leaping and praising God

may I do the same in body and spirit.

You are love, health and life itself.

Health #2 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 7

 Working Parts

 

Thank You, Lord,

I still have eyes to see

Ears to hear, nose to smell

And mouth do all those things mouths do.

Thank You for my arms, hands fingers, legs, feet, toes.

And everything in between.

 

Thank You, Lord,

for all my functioning parts.

Thank you for the internet

so I can look up exercises

to help with aches and pains

in my aging body.

 

Thank You that I can still

Hike in the woods.

Kayak in lakes and bays,

Bike on the back roads.

Swim in the pool.

Dance in the living room.

 

Thank You, Lord,

for my healthy parts

and that when my body up and dies

like bodies do

I’ll go Home

to be with You.

 

 

 

Health #1 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 7

 Sweet Potato Pie 

 

November 7^th, we had sweet potato pie.

It may be unhealthy, but like most people,

we celebrate with food. We celebrated four years

after my husband had his second stroke.

 

They affected the pons region of the brain

in the upper part of the brain stem.

The doctor said he had a 20% chance of survival

but didn’t tell us until after he had survived.

 

Thank You Lord for the four years and counting

and that he can walk with a walker,

bathe himself in the walk-in tub,

and talk, though still somewhat garbled.

 

I miss his clear, booming voice,

but I'm getting used to his gravelly one.

 I still jump when I hear his sneezes,

which sound like a snarling bobcat.

 

Thank You that he can think, but more slowly.

I love it when he stands and hugs me,

though I have to prop him up a bit.

Thank You for the gift of four years.

 

And sweet potato pie.

Location #3 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 6

My Office

 

Thank You, Lord for my office.

decorated with momentous of the past. 

A picture of my mom when she was eight

along with her five siblings.

Picture of my daughter (5) and son (3).

She's wearing a blue and purple plaid dress.

I can see my mom's chin and brown eyes.

He's wearing a striped blue suit.

Resembles both his grandpas.  

 

Thank you for my 3 desks

One for writing with shelves of writing books,

One for art.

One for jigsaw puzzles

that currently has a 2,000 piece

farm quilt puzzle on it.

There’s also a cupboard filled with art supplies,

as is the drawers in the jigsaw table.

 

My closet holds my two ukuleles,

 a small soprano and a pineapple concert.

The top shelf is full of jigsaw puzzles.

There’s a file cabinet and a cubby hole box

which holds the shelf I made in high school woodshop

which contain more mementos:

 

Little golden books from when the kids were little

and a set of literature books saved

 from my fairly recent college graduation.

My dad's old cup he won when he was twelve.

The Snoopy Statue my sister gave me

 that says, “It’s not where you go,

it’s who you travel with.”

We have traveled many places together,

including Scotland and Ireland.

 

A shelf on the wall contains memorabilia

from the people who used to live with us.

A hat from Lacy

A Pooh Boo Bear from Dennis

Mermaid slippers from Vanessa.

 And a squishy frog from Justin.

 

Elsewhere in the room

Lori’s dolls and stuffed animals,

Eli’s batman car and dinosaur

My lava lamp from the 70s. 

Horsie Sam the rocking horse

and Waggles the green dog

from when I was about 3.

Dad’s fishing stool

on which I painted Mom and Dad

fishing from a rowboat in Stumpy Lake.

Blacky and Reddy,

two taxidermized squirrels my dad hunted.

 

Thank you for the pictures Mom painted

hanging over my puzzle table.

One of my childhood home

One of Dad’s childhood home

And one of Canada geese mom painted

for Pappap when I was two.

Not sure how she found time

with daughters  2, 5, 8 and 11.

 

There is also a picture of Jesus

praying in the garden

with sleepy disciples in the background

which hung in my home for years.

I didn’t know Him then,

only in the way my parents lived their lives.

Thank You, Lord, that I know You now.

 

I could write a book about

the literally hundreds of items in my office,

but this will have to do.

Location #2 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 6

 Anticipating Carpinteria California 

 

Thank you, Lord, for all the places I've traveled.

All fifty states, Puerto Rico

and other Caribbean countries.

Scotland, Ireland, Canada and bits of Mexico. 

 

Thank you for our plans

to see our son and daughter

in sunny Phoenix

and perhaps escape a Colorado snowstorm. 

 

Thank you for plans

to see two of my sisters in Carpinteria, California.

I've been there a couple of times. 

We’ll go there next week, if You're willing. 

 

Thanks for ocean, the beaches,

the tide pools filled with interesting creatures

such as the sea anemones, looking like moss rings

that try to eat your finger. 

 

Thank you, Lord, for the bent tree

I used to sit in and read books

when my sister was at work,

 with the smell of eucalyptus in the air.

 

Thank you for the harbor

filled with boats, noisy harbor seals and seagulls.

Thank you for the fun little shops

where I like to buy souvenirs from local artists.

 

Thank you for sisters

laughing, teasing, playing games,

eating out, shopping and snapping pictures.

The warm hellos and the sad goodbyes.

 

Thank You for Your love

and all the good things You provide

that make my life

enjoyable and interesting.

 

 

Location #1 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 6

 Cortez, Colorado

 

Thank you for my adobe-colored home 

tucked in a small Colorado town

not far from Mesa Verde National Park. 

The mountains, mesas and deserts.

The cedars, pinons, aspens and cottonwoods. 

 

Thank you for my new back porch

and beautiful freshly-landscaped yard.

The cozy rooms.

My green recliner.

The whirr of the heater on a chilly November morning

with the promise of sunshine, bright blue skies

 and golden leaves aglow in the afternoon. 

 

Thank You for the expansive park system.

The Canada geese and ducks

The play grounds.

 The two fountains in the ponds.

 The Recreation Center and library

 starting to open up since the pandemic. 

 

The bustling Main Street

with its shops, movie theatre,

banks, restaurants, grocery stores.

The various schools and churches

scattered throughout.

 

Thank you for the townspeople

and the equal amount living in rural areas

who are Hispanic, Native American,

White, Asian and Black.

Thank you, most of all, that You,

the wonderful creative artist,

shows up in His work. 

Special #3 Poetic Asides Challenge Nov 5

 Thank You for My Hubby 

 

Thank you for my special hubby. 

We have been married 42 years.

We are like seeds planted in the earth,

weathering all kinds of storms.

We’ve had both sunshine

and rain along the way.

 

His was my favorite singing voice,

second to Neil Diamond.

Since his second stroke,

he sounds more like the godfather,

but even that’s becoming dear to me.

 

His beard is turning white like Santa's.

I cut his hair and beard 

and still enjoy his closeness.

 

Thank you for his laughter and tears,

(also a new thing since the strokes).

The doctor described it

as a broken emotional thermostat.

I think it was broken the other way before,

he rarely expressed his emotions.

 

Now, he laughs at my jokes. 

Plus it sounds like music to me

when he comes down the hallway

pushing his walker, giggling.

 

Now, I know when he's touched by a good movie

or a sermon because he cries,

not just a tear or two,

full-on weeping. 

Thank you that though his body is broken,

he can still do finances on his computer.

Though he can't unclog drain,

splice an electrical cord,

or put a bolt in a chair,

he can tell me how to do it.

Thank you that he still memorizes scripture

better than I can.

 

Thank you that though the survival rate is low

for his type of strokes, it will be four years

November 7^th that he’s still with me.

Thank you that we’re still together

and enjoy each other's company

just as much as we ever have.