poetry

Aspire, such an interesting word to consider, late this Thursday evening (actually now Sunday evening).   It was an interesting day at work, not quite what I expected, but it ended up being quite doable.  Just not quite as expected which meant some extra work. But good co-workers and having fun at the job, isn’t a bad thing to have eh?   Anyways, between thinking of work, pondering a word prompt from Miss Kate, and a Sunday morning sermon…. we have To What Shall I Aspire? 

To What Shall I Aspire?

To what shall I aspire?
Shall I solidly commit
to completing all the tasks
given me at work? Working
steadily from 9-5?
Should that be,
at this time, my
life’s ambition?

Or do I need to examine my
heart more? As pastor said
this morning?
To guard my heart means
at times one needs to not
only protect yourself, but
at times, it means having to
search your heart for things
in it you shouldn’t have it in
in the first place?

Or shall I aspire to
pick up the pieces of my
ever so busy life and figure
out how to be a better wife
and mom, and helper to those
God places in my path?

How does one choose at times
which path in life to aspire to?
Can one truly fit all the pieces
together effectively, in
a God-honouring manner?

One that includes
time for relaxation
and time for work.
A devotional aspect to life
and spending time with one’s
life partner?
And encouraging a boy
to consider more than his
daily grind?
while caring for critters, garden,
volunteer jobs, work mates, and more.

Sometimes I wonder if
in my struggle to
“do it all” I’m somehow
missing pieces or simply just
not being faithful enough
to all that God has called me
too and it makes me wonder
Just what should I truly
aspire to?

And no, this isn’t a late
50’s crisis, just a word prompt
and a sermon coinciding, causing me to
consider just where my heart is
and how I can or should best
guard it so that HE shines forth
in my life and it’s not just
about me and what I do.

God talks to me

1 Corinthians 7: 17-24

¹⁷ Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. ¹⁸ Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. ¹⁹ For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

 ²⁰ Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. ²¹ Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) ²² For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. ²³ You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. ²⁴ So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

Proverbs 4: 23-27

Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for from it flow the springs of life.
²⁴ Put away from you crooked speech,
    and put devious talk far from you.
²⁵ Let your eyes look directly forward,
    and your gaze be straight before you.
²⁶ Ponder the path of your feet;
    then all your ways will be sure.
²⁷ Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
    turn your foot away from evil.

Can rain equals sunshine?  I think indeed it can, but you’ll have to read the poem to discover why.  🙂   But sunshine … my, after a week of rain, it’s a wonderful thing yes?  In fact, I almost decided to revisit this song of Open Up your heart and let the sunshine in, but then I figured after a busy day out in the sun this poem would suit Miss Kate’s word Prompt of sunshine.  

Rain Equals Sunshine

You might find it odd
to find the equation true
that rain equals sunshine,
you might say seriously, that
isn’t true!!!

Rain equals dark skies,
and coldness, and dreary days
of waiting for the soggy to simply
turn into something brighter
and perhaps better.

But really rain equals sunshine
because we really can’t appreciate
the one without the other.

After a month or so of dry weather
we finally had a long overdue
week of rain.
Not heavy rain, nor constant,
with sun sandwiched between,
but enough to refresh and nourish
to bring dormant seeds to life.

and today
SUN oh my that glorious sun
making people talkative and
happy, rejoicing that the rain
given, now replaced with sun
to encourage those nourished seeds to grow.

We need them both the
rain and the sunshine
each giving life to the
other and changing moods
and giving hope, both ways.

Acts 14:17

17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”

Isaiah 55:10

10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

Job 5:10

10 He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside.

I’m a bit later than I expected to be in posting my five minute Friday post.   Yesterday proved to be a bit busier than I expected with a small hiccup, easily managed, to add to the busyness.  It just left too little time to indulge in my love of writing.  🙂   Miss Kate posted the prompt quick, which I had a post for on Friday night, but then fell asleep before writing!   Now on Sunday that post in mind changed to the one I wrote today, life circumstances being what they are, now is Quick to Protect. 

Quick to Protect

So I sit, quietly, on a
Sunday afternoon, the third in
a row choosing not to go to church,
not wanting to risk anyone
getting the virus our family
battles, because it’s one that can
knock a body flat.

I missed not being able
to visit my mom, who doesn’t really
understand why, if I can go to work,
why I would choose not to go to church,
or coming to see her.
And at times I lack the words to
explain to her why, close proximity, and
close contact for 1-5 hours presents
more exposure, than simply going
to work, where people are exposed
to all sorts of bugs, just being out in public.

Celebrating her birthday with her
would have been a joyous occasion,
as it not every day someone turns
her current age (if you want to know it,
you’d have to ask her). 🙂

But I’m quick to protect
my mom, with her health, I
don’t want to spread something that
could potentially knock her for a loop.

It makes me think though,
since I was browsing facebook a bit,
about how often we don’t see,
just like my mom can’t really see,
how quick I am to protect her from
the potential of something throwing her for a loop,
of how God does this with us.
I wish I could find the meme… but it was
how “mother hen” God is with us.
protecting and minding us from dangers
we can’t always see, much less understand.

It makes me think of yesterday,
a thing my boy doesn’t quite understand,
God’s timing in him being sent home from
work JUST BEFORE I had to leave for an hour.
that perfect timing so I could pick him up
and yet still be on time for a meeting
I had to attend. God’s timing with making him
cough so badly his manager said “You Boy,
GO HOME, you are too sick to work!”.
Just in the nick of time.

How God works, blows my mind.
So very very often.
and yet there he is
quick to protect.

God Speaks to us

Psalm 32:7

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Psalm 5:11

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

It’s funny you know?   A person thinks they know what they are going to write for FMF post (graciously hosted by Miss Kate), and then a quirk of the day pokes its’ head into the mix.  Sometimes I wonder if the chapters of our lives cause us to forget some of the growing pains of our own lives. What kind of fall-out might that have in our understanding of each other? Just gotta wonder sometimes eh? 

The Chapters of Our Lives

there are times I wonder
if perhaps the chapter of life
I am right now
precludes me understanding
some of the things the younger
generation struggles with.

Not just the moral battles
my lad will have to wade
through. But some of the
emotional struggles so many
20-25 years olds seem to struggle
with, and I wonder what caused
that shift… or perhaps I am
just misremembering the angst
of my own early 20’s.

and that well enough could be
that the more comfortable
I get with who I am, and
whose I am that I forget all
the steps that it waded
through to simply get to
where I am today.

What do you think?
Might it be possible
that as we move through the
chapters of our lives that
we forget some of the emotional
baggage we waded through on the
way to getting to where God
has brought us to?

What is the cost of such
forgetting? Does it stop us
from trying to understand the
cost of growing up and what that
looks and/or feels like?
Does forgetting make us grumpy old
adults who say “kids these days! Bah!!
they have no brains!”

Or do we think back to how
stupid and thoughtless we used to
be and remember the strain of
getting it all together
(and I can’t even say I’m there yet!)
and ergo show more patience
then perhaps we knew we had?

And perhaps, just perhaps,
in remembering our past we can
then consider more clearly the
emotions and thought-processes
of the younger generations following?
And through it all, perhaps,
just perhaps, we’ll learn a thing
or two ourselves!

Ah, today’s word seemed to sit well with me today, coinciding well with my work and my own frame of mind.  🙂   Deliberating over deliberateness is my answer to Miss Kate’s word prompt of the day. Deliberate is the word, let’s see how everyone plays with it!  🙂  

Deliberating over deliberateness

Taking time throughout the day
to deliberate on the word deliberate.
One has to ponder just which
pronunciation and meaning of the word
one might wish to expound upon.

I’m not a person who takes a
long time to deliberate most often.
There are, of course, moments when I do take
my time, and then I do so very deliberately.
Pondering my options, or even just
taking the time to calm down so that I
can think through thoughtfully.

But today was a good day to ponder
as I shifted cans, and boxes, trying
to figure out the best way to
display items in the baking section
to please only my manager, and my boss,
but also my own esthetics, and the customers.
There is a deliberateness to displaying items,
not only to encourage sales, but to make
a section look inviting.

In many ways, having only been on the
job these past 18 months, I have
much to learn, but innate
ability helps in the deliberating
over the deliberateness of
product placement. 🙂

And when I’m stuck
I have a lovely manager
who always offers her
years of experience to balance
out my learning curve.
And so, with each new task,
my skills improve, and
I have fun learning more. 🙂

Faith Connection

1 Peter 1:13

¹³ Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 24:27

²⁷ Prepare your work outside;
    get everything ready for yourself in the field,
    and after that build your house.