A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

poetry

after the week I’ve had… pressure suits

By 16 Comments

It is time for my almost favourite time of the week.  It’s five minute Friday time (and yes, I am writing this on Thursday evening … late).   This week the word is pressure… and after the week I’ve had… pressure suits….  LOL.   Let’s hop to it shall we? 

after the week I've had... pressure suits

after the week I’ve had… pressure suits

after the week I’ve had… pressure suits
let me go on to explain.

Sunday was such
a sad disappointment
we’d planned to go to church,
but with the Ontario ministry shut down…
we were shut out.

monday was full
with laundry and taxes
should have been more
but sore throat so detracting.

day felt such a waste.
so much to do but
energy evaporates
stuff happened it known
but…what? it’s a blur

and tuesday
oh…a skunk… yes a skunk
it happ’d you see
a small little skunk
in a trap just set off.

the lad rode shotgun as
smelly kitty rehomed,
gasping and choking
displeasure sure smelt.

wednesday i dragged
my tail twixt my legs
my hubby insisted…
sleep on my sweet maid.

by thursday the pressure
it mounted full well
two blog posts due
a scarce new what to do!

a doctor’s appointment
in London took time
shopping in a city
hard put in lockdown.

somehow squeezed time
bunny pictures, laundry too,
but i’m certain some pants
will never recover as
skunky smell does linger….

meals made, groceries bought,
taxes still to be done,
friday awaits, perhaps
my work will get done?

tonight tension felt
as the pressure amounts,
what ifs press my mind
after the week I’ve had…
i think… pressure suits??

after the week I've had... pressure suits
Close up, Pink flower growing on crack street sunset background

Continued Thoughts

after the week I’ve had… pressure suits….

This poem combines, and I hope you can see, how frustrating a week it has been.  I hate when I have weeks where exhaustion seems to rule even though I think I’m getting a good amount of sleep. 

BUT I am reminded that…. every day is like a small season right?  One needs to accept what was is given and push to do what one must and let go of what you cannot.   And Ecclesiastes reminds me of this.   Eccl: 3.9 tells us For everything there is a season, A time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die.

Have I died this week?  No.  I have been fed up with exhaustion and pain and lack of accomplishment. 

But on a positive note:

I’m further ahead on the taxes.  I have rehomed two skunks (and was reminded by one WHY covering a skunk in a live trap is vitally important).   Another wild rat was captured.  I did have a nice chat with a struggling neighbour.  A friend donated some meat for the cats.  A buyer for excess rabbits was found. Laundry was done (though I’m positive though pants will be tossed).  Meals were made that the fellows LIKED. Friends were emailed. The pantry was restocked.

On the Flip Side:

But I’m behind on my blog, I’m behind on updating my rabbit business, I’m behind on two books that needed reading.  I still need to chat with my lad about where he is in his schooling.  Taxes MUST be done! I still need to touch base with two friends struggling with family issues. AND I haven’t spent good time in God’s word this week so … all that makes it feel like a rather sucky week.   

Hope Beckons even after the week I’ve had… pressure suits

But you know what….. we just had Easter… and Easter is all about the hope we have in the future… and FRIDAY (maybe Saturday by the time you all read this) awaits! 

Savour the moment

By 12 Comments

So it’s Five minute Friday again and Miss Kate has posted this week’s word.  Savour is one of those words that evokes a variety of memories.  Savouring the beauty of a the world when one goes camping, savouring smells arising from a cookfire or stove in the house, savouring the smells of Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter.  One can savour lessons learned and time with friends.  Currently we are in a change of seasons where out on a walk I can savour the moment as I gaze up spring flowers. 

I can also savour moments in the lives of others, victories with skills learned, total wins, and life skills solidified.  Isn’t it good to relish the successes gained in the lives of family and friends? 

savour the moment

Savour the Moment

Sunday afternoon
A quiet time to rest
Traditionally a day
When Mom is less stressed.

No meals to make
Unless desire to make
Perhaps today is
Time for some cake?

Leftovers await.
Inspiration may arise.
But hold… there’s a teen
Life skills must apprise.

Question arises
What does the lad think?
If on Sundays it’s his turn
For food and drink?

Sure mom he says
I can handle that
If you help abit
Lest the food all be flat!

Savour the moment
Flavours descend
A lad’s willing help
Oh… I might have to amend!

MOM! Help the cry!
I ask what’s betwist
We have no ingredient
Is the meal now a miss?

Teaching I help
The lad learn substitution
Learning a recipe’s a guide
Not always the full solution.

Savour the moment
When confidence is found
No longer hotdogs and soup
Now casseroles abound.

Savouring the moment
When skills learned in life
Mean the lad’s future
Is filled with less strife.

Able to cook,
And learn to adapt.
Part of life-learning
It all seems so apt.

savour the moment

Scriptural Insight

Proverbs 22:6

6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

 Genesis 9:2-3

“The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.”

Matthew 6:11

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

1 Chronicles 9:31

“Mattithiah, a Levite and the oldest son of Shallum the Korahite, was entrusted with baking the bread used in the offerings.”

Is it Possible?

By 20 Comments

This poem wrote itself.  As soon as I saw today’s word prompt, the words flew off my fingers. Writing about the word possible was so incredibly easy.  Is it possible?  Of course it is!   Anything, given the right circumstances, is possible.

is it possible

Poem – Is it possible?

Is it possible? 
Is it possible to make the
impossible, possible?

This question fills my mind
at the single prompting
of one solitary word.

Can the impossible
be made possible?
Is it possible?

Can three distinct
beings
be just one?

Could God
walk in a garden
among his people?

Can God
Show grace
in making a big promise?

In stubbornness, can
a lesson
be learned?

In a hard-hearted
people
Listen and grow?

Can God
Make an impossible
decision?

A much loved
singleton boy
Given for a hurting world?

Impossible?
Oh just watch
the possible happen!

Scriptural Insights

Matthew 17:20
And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

Luke 18:27
But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

Jeremiah 32:17
‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You,

Matthew 19:26
But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

 

Cucumbers Are Green

By 16 Comments

What does one do when a word prompt leaves one feeling flat?  Like honestly… what does a person do with the word green? I’m actually sitting here feeling rather vexed about this simple word green.   I wanted something easier to do!  

Walking away, chatting with my hubby as he got home from work, I started to tidy up the dehydrating I did today.  I did up some carrots, apples and cucumbers.  

Did you know the cucumbers are green?

Cucumbers are Green

Cucumbers are Green

Cucumbers are green
or so I’ve been told.
Mini, english, field
the green is so bold.

From flower end starting
til ripened full well.
The green of the cucumber
has that cucumber smell.

But one thing I’ve learned
as I yearly growing my own,
that leave them too long
and that green doesn’t stay.

It changes it’s hue
The fields they turn yellow,
The English get wrinkly
and then a mould starts to grow.

So cucumbers are green
When eaten they should be.
Avoid all the rest
It is best for thee.

cucumbers are green

I do have to admit that one year I grew a rather odd ball cucumber.  They ripened to a very pale green, so not a normal cucumber colour.   They had a sweet taste, unlike any cuc I have had before.  It’s one of the things I like to do when gardening, try new produce. 

Even though this poem feels very silly to me, it was actually kinda fun to write.  I’m glad I didn’t give up!  🙂 Change my perspective and before you know it I had a poem!  🙂   How often isn’t that true in life.  When you change what your perspective is, things get better.  Happens all the time. 🙂 

How best to Enable

By 20 Comments

Enable, that’s the word of the week provided for us by Miss Kate. To enable is to give (someone or something) the authority or means to do something.  My question today is, how best to enable?  What can we do to enable others to get or have or become whatever it is needed?

How best to enable

How best to enable

It’s but a moment
Takes just a couple of seconds,
Help me.

But in that help me
Might come some baggage.

A help me always
Requires a giving
A showing of need.

Sometimes, just sometimes
That’s a very hard thing to do.

I had a friend
Years past, Who lived
Close to the pocketbook.

Things were hard, but
Asking for help, harder.

I never understood this
This reticence to
Ask for help.

Until, older age and pain
Crept in, and asking for help. Hard.

That admitting of weakness.
That internal feeling of
Shame, and regret, and sorrow.

So I ponder
How do we enable
the asking of help?

While ensuring the
Continuation of dignity?

I admittedly have
No solid answer, but
I’m learning.

That conversations matter,
The taking time to listen.

Or even the taking time
To explain the why,
Or even to not explain.

Sometimes, the offer made
is all that is needful.

Without the expectation
that only you,
Can meet a need.

Sometimes the best way
to enable.

Is while listening
just lend a hand
without explanation.

And perhaps we will learn
how best to enable.

How best to enable

Scriptural basis

Exodus 17:12

When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.

Galatians 6:2

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Matthew 5:16

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

What does it mean to be Observant

By 12 Comments

Miss Kate has once again given us a word prompt for the week.   Observant has a couple of different meanings.   First to be quick to notice things.  Second is adhering strictly to the rules of a particular religion, especially Judaism.  To be an observant believer could also be described as being a devout believer.  These two definitions fit well with each other don’t you think?   What does it mean to be observant?

What does it mean to be observant

What does it mean to be observant?

The question is asked.
An eyebrow raised in expectation.
What does it mean to be observant?

To be observant is
Noticing the details.
Not just the large, but
Also the small. It is to
Pay attention.

But not only to pay attention
but to consider what
such an observation means.

A filled laundry basket
at the bottom of the stairs.
Noticed.
But it is truly observed
if it’s simply left there?

A neighbour sighs
Long and deep
Noticed.
But it is truly observed
If you don’t query why?

The 10 commandments
written down.
Noticed.
but if you ponder them not
Are they truly observed?

A group of children
circled round a singleton
Noticed.
Is observation truly seen
if you don’t watch for a few minutes?

A baby bunny
huddled in a corner.
Noticed.
But if you don’t look it over carefully
Are you being observant?

How many times in life
do you see, but
don’t truly observe?
Observation acts.
It doesn’t merely notice.
Think you not?

What does it mean to be observant?

What does it mean to be observant

Scriptural Insight

James 1:16-27

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Exodus 34:11-12

11 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. 

Proverbs 23:26

My son, give me your heart,
    and let your eyes observe my ways.

schoolhouse jan 2021

Have you observed the vast variety of courses you can take through SchoolhouseTeachers.com?   From Preschool through adulthood, the choices will delight your mind. 

During the Hey, Mama! We’ve Got Your Back Sale, new members may use code: SUPPORT at checkout (2/22–3/31) to pay only $39 (reg. $49.97) for a Quarterly Ultimate Membership. New members who sign up before 3/31 will receive the newly released Four Pillars Tote Bag. Take the whole family on a picnic with this roomy, insulated bag! (Sorry, no refunds. New members only. Color is publisher’s choice.)

Once Per Week

By 19 Comments

Miss Kate was listed this week’s Five Minute Friday word prompt.  The word?  Once.   This is a welcoming encouraging community and I urge you to come join it.  Write, once per week, for five minutes, not worrying about perfection, just writing for the sheer joy of it.  🙂  Come won’t you?

Once Per week, text over pen writing

Once per week
Gathered round
Miss Kate posts
A word she’s found.

Coming in from
Round the world
What to say
What message unfurled?

Men and women
Faith is shows
In every word
Poetry and prose.

Encouragement flows
With every word
Hearts poured out
Rarely absurd.

Then before you know it
A comment made
And that is how
The Foundation is laid.

Growing, showing
Sometimes grieving
Rarely seeing
Anyone Leaving.

So once per week
Come and see,
What your words
Mean to me.

Scriptural Inspiration

The bible is full of verses that speak to how we as a body of believers need to be a source of encouragement for each other.  Today I share but a few of them.  This is the heart of the Five Minute Friday community.  Our ability to read the words of our fellows and then offer them encouragement. 

Romans 15:5

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.”

 
1 Thess 5:11
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
 
Hebrews 10:24-25
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”