poetry

After working hard all day, and occasionally giving myself time to think about this week’s FMF word, I came up with A Kitten’s Performance.  Not because of all my thinking, but because of the kitten’s reaction to being alone with just me tonight.   He was so funny, pulling all his little tricks on me so I’d engage in what he wanted.   Made me think about who is trying to train whom?  🙂 

A kitten’s performance

I have this little kitten
I’m trying hard to train
But I’m starting to think
that he’s picking MY brain.

He’s training us I think
to hear his different mews
the soft, the hungry,
and the most demanding with news!

My Lizzy cat I’ve trained
that on the chair you hop,
and suddenly before
this wonderful treat will hop!

The kitten just the other day
observing this wondrous thing
demonstrated his learning
meowing to see what we’d bring!

Treats just bring him running
and to stop the loud demand
I started to place to small nibble
to teach him where to stand.

Lover of salt,
demander of crackers,
sometimes I wonder
he’d do for other snackers!

Locked up every night
around a quarter to ten
I’m learning to expect
a bum in face around then!

Kittens, and their training
I wonder who trains whom
There are time I’ve to wonder
… should I chase with a broom?

Talking More

It’s a good thing that kittens are cute eh?   Otherwise…. oh boy!  🙂 

Benji’s his name.  He’s been with us for almost six weeks and is a bit too smart for his own good!  But as I think about him, I’m minded about how much he drives me crazy but I care for him nonetheless.  I do my best to train him to be a nice cat who is respectful of our rules.  It makes me think of how God wants us to care well for the animals under our care.  Caring well for them helps our animals, and the more we help them, the more they suit our lifestyles all the more.  And consider this, God takes care of the animals of the world, so why shouldn’t we follow his lead? 

Psalm 27:23

²³ Know well the condition of your flocks,
    and give attention to your herds,

Luke 14:5

And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”

Matthew 6:26

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

It’s Friday night and I’m actually doing the Five Minute Friday post!   Granted I’m falling asleep as I work on finishing up this post since I’ve worked hard today and feel very accomplished!  What all did I do?  I tore down an old shed, made two trips to the dump, leveled some ground, trimmed a tree back, and got a good start on a new storage area.   After I got all that done I made supper, got a turkey roast out to thaw for Thanksgiving supper, and then chilled with the family. It’s an excellent way to complete a simple word: Become.    What does this word mean to you? 

Become

Become

Being a person
It’s what we do
But is it

Enough? Should we
strive to be something
more or should be

Content to continue being
as we are, working, reading,
believing, living,

Organizing our lives
by what appeals to us
in the here and now, or

Maybe, just maybe
something additional
should be the driving

Effort of our lives,
Perhaps that believing we
do should be in something

Bigger than ourselves.
Enormous, and somewhat unknowable
Creator not created
Omnipotent saviour
Moving us to be more than
Enough, Connected together.

Become

Thinking More, Seeing God

As I think about how we become more, sometimes it’s just a matter of repeatedly just showing up eh?  As we show up to events in life, being intentional about them, then our lives can be better shaped into being something just a bit more. It’s, in essence, how we become more like God eh?   

Isaiah 41:8-10

But you, Israel, my servant,
    Jacob, whom I have chosen,
    the offspring of Abraham, my friend;
⁹ you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
    and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant,
    I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
¹⁰ fear not, for I am with you;
    be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Romans 12:1-2

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The Road Beckons is my result for the word prompt by Miss Kate.  It’s the result of considering a word after a full day of work and conversation.  I had such a lovely visit a friend this morning, and managed to get some good work done at home too!  I love a day filled with accomplishment, don’t you? So, at the close of this day, I wanted to finish out the day by drawing out the thoughts of the day. 

The Road Beckons

The road beckons
GPS tells me head south
Being directionally challenged
I blindly turned right
And found myself
Taking the scenic route
To visit a friend.

You gotta love
That rerouting bleep that
My phone emits when
Again I’ve failed to
Follow it’s instructions.

Sometimes I wish
That directions such
As North or South were as
Direct as right or left
And I wonder why my
GPS occasionally uses
Those less clear to me words.

This week I engaged in a
Discussion with a lady
Over the correctness or
Lack thereof with Calvinism
And following, or not following,
Calvinism is NOT a salvation issue
But denying the ultimate
Authority of God because
You can’t believe that a
Loving, caring God might do
Something you cannot fathom?
I struggle with that.

I have to admit
The struggle is real
It’s so easy to assume
That God won’t do something,
Or rather, won’t allow something
That doesn’t make sense
To our very human sensibilities.

And these discussions
Can do one of two things.
They can strengthen a person’s
Convictions/beliefs as they work
Through their points.
Or they can weaken a faith,
And leave a person
Struggling, making the
Road they travel harder
Than it needs to be.

So, do we in our
Eagerness to correct
Non-salvation issues
Make the narrow road we
Travel harder to navigate
Rather like a GPS?
And so, do we cause
Our fellow believers to
Take a more “scenic route”
As they work out their salvation?

God Word Speaks

1 Corinthians 8 encourages us to consider the needs of our weaker brothers/sisters in Christ.   For us to not do things just because we can and are very assured of our salvation or convictions.  We mustn’t cause stumbling in our fellow believers right? 

Romans 14: 1-4

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. ² One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. ³ Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-14

¹² We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, ¹³ and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

I took some time to ponder the Five minute Friday word prompt by Miss Kate.  I was going to write a poem about a variety of ways in which we can represent God OR the variety of ways in God represents himself to us.  My surprise was great when what do I represent then blossomed.   Sometimes I think too much of who I am comes out in what I write.  But it is what it is eh?  🙂

what do I represent then

How do I represent myself?

A homeschooling parent
with years of experience
offering to help
those with questions and more
Open-minded, yet unbudging
on critical matters,
lending an ear to listen,
a mind to bounce thoughts of,
and occasionally supplies to help.

A grocery clerk or
stock person, whichever label
suits you, matters not to me.
A smiling face, a willing body,
moving boxes and crates,
and making the dairy aisle
shine as best as can be.
Helping customers with queries,
do you know where I can find?

A woman, who cares not
for makeup or dresses,
who talks about the loves of
her life, her fellows,
where she live, and gardens.
As well as her extended family as
they live out their lives.

Faith Keeper

A lady seeking after God.
Bringing books of missionaries
and faith to work. Reading and
sharing what is learned, sometimes
to unwilling ears.
But yet, a person turned to
when prayer is a needful thing
a point that surprised when
first time asked.

A rabbit keeper, who can
talk rabbits all day, given
half a chance, who brings smiles
to faces when given a chance
with a bunny to handle and hold
And learning of a bunny sought after
says, in a couple of months,
he can be yours! Helping, moderating groups,
joining rabbit clubs and more.
Rabbits are fun, don’t you know?

But sometimes, sometimes
all that this one person
tries to represent falters.
Faith takes a back seat,
rabbit foes holler,
homeschooling seems forgotten,
and well … sometimes
work is just very hard, and
Sometimes being a woman
is the very last thing I want to be.
I just want to be home
isolating myself from the world
and all it’s troubles.
and I wonder,
what do I represent then?

Just a lonely, scared soul
that sometimes it feels like
the whole world depends on
and I’m just a small, rather
insignificant one, that no one
should really bother with.
And I just don’t know.

Reminders from God

One of the things I try to teach my lad is to have balance in life.  Just as you need to balance out your work, sleep, school, and free time… you need to balance out your eating habits.  I’ve TRIED to teach him throughout life that regardless of what you do, or how you feel, your first goal is to give glory to God in all the things you do.  If you do that, he will help you keep your life balanced well.   Sometimes, my life does not feel particularly balanced.. at least not right now.  

These verses are to REMIND ME of what should always flow through my efforts… and perhaps they’ll remind you as well.  🙂 

I Corinthians 10:31-33

³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ³² Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, ³³ just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

Romans 11:33-36

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Psalm 72:18-19

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    who alone does wondrous things.
¹⁹ Blessed be his glorious name forever;
    may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Amen and Amen!

John 17:1-5

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, ² since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴ I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed