A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

faith

BEEP BEEP BEEP

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It doesn’t happen often that I get a word prompt where I don’t include the word in the title.  But today’s word prompt just has me going BEEP BEEP BEEP in my brain. So I figured I would go with it!  I’m not going to say this week’s poem is a great one (I am writing in the wee hours of the morning) but it’s one that’s been sitting on my brain most the day.   So anyways, here it is!  🙂 

beep beep beep text with truck backing up

Beep Beep Beep

BEEP BEEP BEEP
everyone who hears that sound
knows what it is.
A truck backing up.

That generally means
EVERYONE pay attention!
The driver might not be able
to see you. Lives might depend!

Blind spots happen!
Quickly darting children and dogs,
and slower moving elders can fall.
So hear the beep and open your eyes.

This mornings sermon had us
reminded to mind our tongues.
That our tongues can both
bless and curse.

So just as a truck driver
can inadvertently cause a lot
of damage it can also be the bearer
of good things too!

Now granted, the illustration does
fall short because the truck has
no options, it has nothing bigger
to really look to.

BUT WE DO.
We can immerse ourselves
in God’s word so it’s very nature
and words permeate our being.

And as it so permeates us,
we will take the time to measure
our words that we present with
humility as we speak truth.

but we need to make the choice
don’t we… to see our tongue for
what it is, a determined beastie to
show what we let live in our hearts.

What will you let live in
your heart? Are they things you
are willing to let your tongue say?
If not, what must change?

If you don’t change
should you have a
BEEP BEEP BEEP to warn
those around you?

It’s made me wonder this day
about what warning system
I should have and how
necessary changes are.

Change with me?

God’s word

James 3: 9-12

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Nothing Left

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Nothing in my hand I bring.  Do you know this song? I hope so since it’s a familiar one that.  It’s not what I’m intending to write about, but it’s being very persistent about repeating itself as I type these words.  So I’m going to ignore and get on with it eh?   Nothing Left?  Let’s see. 

Nothing left, text with empty casserole dish

Nothing Left

Nothing left so I heard
“I’m the last of eleven children
and the rest are all gone.
Nothing left at all for me now.”

I heard the words and my heart
sank and then I recalled the words in
a book recently read. “I’m lucky”.

So I continued my conversation,
“Do you have any family? Kids perhaps
or grandchildren?”
I heard a hoped for answer
“Yes”.
So we talked and discovered
how lucky we both are.
Having our health, our families
and so much more.

We are able to walk, and
do the things we love, and
we are generally comfortable
in our own bodies.

I continued to think
about this conversation
(as women are apt to do) and
thought, I have so much,
that I can say
“How lucky I am” to have

Faith in God (tenuous as it
is at times)
Critters that make me laugh
A Warm home
A garden to provide sustenance
for myself and my critters.
Lego, puzzles, and colouring.
And my family.

Family in faith
family in marriage and blood
and indeed family in birth.
Made family in friendships.

So is there really
nothing left?
See the bigger picture yes?

finally i have time

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A day out in the garden and having a longer than expected nap has led to finally having an idea of what to write for this week’s five minute Friday post.  I had a lovely long walk tonight while playing some pokemon go.  The hope had been that hubby would join me but alas, he needed food more than he needed to walk so he ate, I walked!  I came home to him playing “little kitty big city” which looks to be a fun digital game of a cat needed to problem-solve his way through life.  All that said let’s get on to “finally i have time”. 

gardening picture with text finally i have time

finally i have time

 it’s been a stretch and a spell
since i’ve tended to weed patch
out back which sorta doubles
as a raised garden.

normally by mid-may i have my
peas and spinach all planted
in neat little rows since
they are cold-weather plants.

but since my schedules been
all messed up at work and
some weeks i work more and others
i work less my heads been a bit messed up.

so as much as i understand why
i haven’t had the time, my body
has been itching badly to get out
and take care of things.

so this week i made some time
and pulled weeds, transferred plants,
and even discovered that of the
20 tomato seeds planted FOUR worked!

the new guinea pigs are happy
as they have lots of weeds to eat
and the bunnies are delighted as
they have lots of options.

and me… my heart is full
and relaxed at the promise held
with a view of new life right in
the palm of my hand.

little plants
seeds
worms and toads
and in the pond tadpoles.

bulbs planted in raised bed

compost is stinky but
all those bunny berries and
waste from piggies and
fancy mice lends well to the promise!

kinda makes me think a bit
you know?
God himself puts up with some
stink too.

he sees promise and new life
in a broken people needing
a boost to help us be
as we aught.

the stench of death
touched his fatherly nose
and it led to new life
for those who see it.

Some will come

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This morning in church we had our monthly communion service.  Pastor Luke was clear about who should, and who should not take part. Have faith in God and his redeeming work, come to the table.  Lack faith stay put in your seat.  As I’ve been mucking about this afternoon wondering if I’d ever come up with something for Miss Kate’s word prompt, I thought perhaps this might be hold the answer for me?   Some will come, others will not. 

Balancing scales with text some will come

Some Will Come

Twixt gardening, extra work
and a busy, yet foggy mind
the word some left me hanging
wondering if this week is
one I’d have to skip.
Tired this morning I was
tempted to church not
to make, but hubby was eager
so off we went.

Yesterday see,
left us both feeling discouraged.
Projects undertaken, but
not completed. Feels a bit
the bummer you know?
And when weird dreams in the
night follow, it leaves
a foggy, befuddled brain.

Youth pastor Luke talked
to us about the words
Law and Word as found
throughout the book of James.
Speaking to how the
gospel is found in James
in the use of these two words.

He tied that in with
communion, the Lord’s supper,
if you will.
And how God’s grace
allows us to come.
but some shouldn’t come
because they won’t
acknowledge God’s grace
in their lives.

And for those some who
will come, we do see God’s
grace so evident in our lives,
in his forgiveness of our
deep wrongdoing.
but for those
some who won’t come, they
should stay in place, and
contemplate the word, and
the law, and how it showcases
the good news found within
the book of James.

Sermon in a nutshell

The word is God’s word, his truth
imparted to us, that is
implanted in our hearts, so that
we can be doers of the word.
The law is a perfect thing,
that brings us liberty, and comes
to us from the King of Kings,
and let’s us find rest in the
freedom of forgiveness.

That’s the good news you know?
Some of us will come, and
Some of us won’t. Will you be
one to stay and ponder? To see
the good news of James for the first
time? And then come, be one who will
come and share the table, with
others who’ve seen the same truth?

We can talk if you’d like. 🙂

It’s Almost time

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Five minute Friday word prompt today is Almost.  Though not as many people participate as in times gone past, most people who join in write posts worth reading.  Even better most (but not all) make it very easy to comment as well.   Last words spoken at work today led to the title of today’s poem “It’s Almost Time.”

it's almost time, text with picture of hour glass

It’s Almost Time

“Almost time”
a voice quietly says
“time for you to go
home and rest that weary head”.

I smiled, looking behind
a manager’s face
smiling encouragement
as I climb down the ladder.

This week has felt
long, today even more so,
battling a sore back
and remnants of
nightmares crashing in my head.

After work I stopped
at a friend’s house,
she took one look at me
and offered up a hug.

Sometimes, even when you
aren’t a hugger, leaning into
a hug, is indeed
the best thing ever.

We chatted a bit about
this and that.
Her parents have struggles,
the family pitches in,
but things will be hard.

but you know this?
her parents believe
that God is real.

Many in her family
are the same, seeing
the reality of God, and
then living that reality out.

Hard doesn’t stop
the people of God.
We still do what
needs to be done.

Whether it’s baking
cookies to bring smiles
to co-worker faces.

Or caring for parents
when the system lets them down
or praying for loved one
(and their loved ones) when
distance separates.

for we know this,
it’s almost time,
not quite there yet
(for obvious reasons)

but it’s almost time
for Christ to return
Wars, rumours of wars,
natural calamities, and more

the signs are there,
and in the twinkling of an eye,
Christ will appear
in the clouds before us.

So though a weak
might be hard with
physical and mental
strain, it doesn’t stop
the reality.

One must keep on
keeping on, until
the Lord comes
in all his glory.

It’s almost time.

gray scale photography of clock near trees
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

God speaks to us

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Matthew 6 selected verses

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 

A fact of life

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Miss Kate threw out the word prompt Lonely today.  Loneliness is often a fact of life, one that people need to deal with sometimes on a daily basis.  Too often individuals fail to see the one who can get them through bouts of loneliness.  This poem speaks to that.    I’ve spoken on this word in the past with the poem, If only the lonely. 

loneliness, a fact of life. Image of sad lady looking out a window

A fact of life

loneliness is a fact
of life, sometimes filling a day
And sometimes disappearing
into the woodwork not to be
seen for the immediate future.

Being alone, lost in a crowd,
a workplace, a school, is not
the same as loneliness.

Loneliness, in my mind’s eye,
is a feeling
within of having no
one, not a single person
available who gives a rip
about your existence.

A feeling that persists
despite knowing that the
truth (that people really
do care) is not the same
as feeling.

One can feel lonely at a family
gathering, filled with laughter
and reminiscing.
Lonely, singing before a crowd
that sings along with you.
it’s an emptiness sitting
staunchly within

creating anger, desperation,
tears, sadness, and
and sense that nothing
really ever matters.

Fighting against loneliness
I’ve learned, there is only one
cure.
turning to one who is bigger
than myself/

(not my hubby and he
no longer is since he’s lost
almost a whole person now)

though the hubby helps
so much more than he knows
but he’s not bigger than
me, no person is.
but he often shows me
the spirit that is bigger
than me in his actions, care
and concern.

Who is bigger than me?
Is there really one who is
bigger than anyone I know?
yeah, he walked the earth,
He created all that is around me,
despite science trying to
tell me different.

God the father minding me,
The son holding it all together,
the spirit bringing
things to mind.
This God, this one being
is greater than all
and holds the loneliness,
the separateness at bay, and
reminds me that some
separateness it to be expected
because I might LIVE in this world,
but I don’t belong to it.

God speaks to me and you

1 John 5:19

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

 

Put a Limit to Your Actions

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“Put a limit to your actions put a limit to your words” rang through my mind as I pondered the word Limit, a word prompt provided by Miss Kate.  I don’t know if they are lines to a poem I read or a song?  But they were so immediate I figured they had to be something.  The thing is… can I turn those lines into something worth reading?   What would God have me write today?

put a limit to your actions

Put a limit to your actions

Those lines

Put a limit to your actions
Put a limit to your words
by doing so you know
you’re living by the WORD

These words run through my mind
making me think perhaps
it was a song learned back
in Sunday School. Alas
the rest of the song is lost
to the travails of time.

Last night I had a blast
selling some of my homeschool
material. I started the evening by
killing two birds with one stone.
I gave away candy! I know, it’s silly.
But for everyone setting up a table
of goods I said “Want a treat?” Almost
everyone smiled and took one.
The second stone REMOVED that candy
temptation from my life which means “I”
won’t be able to munch on it. Woot woot!

I chatted with lots of people,
and gave away stuffies
to young children with big smiles.
And through it all
made back a trifling of what
I’ve spent over the years.

Connections made

How does this connect with the line
Put a limit to your actions?
Well you see
I made children smile.
I brought moments of joy.
Time was taken to move forward
with goals of passing forward
what I’ve received and limiting
the intake of the unnecessary.
I’ve stopped hanging on the
past with things I don’t need to keep.

God calls us to change.
Weird huh?
He accepts us as we are, and yet
says “hey, I see better for you,
let’s help you embrace that.”

To do so means I have to stop
some actions (limiting them),
and I have to move forward with
some new actions.
Over time I learn even more
new actions I have to limit,
and figure out
new habits to embrace.

And by doing so I guess I’ll
live out those last line
of Living by the WORD.