poetry

The Scream in the Night

August 27, 2020 By Annette1 12 Comments

Even though I know this poem below doesn’t include the word loud, as soon as I saw the word prompt from Miss Kate it simply spilled off my fingertips. 🙂 The scream in the night, in reality, was less of a scream than call. Just a fully recognized alert sounding for someone who knows the danger hidden in this particular fur coat.

The Scream in the Night

It came suddenly
the scream in the night.
Making my heart
Leap with fright.

With wondering eyes,
to the door I fled.
Hoping in my heart,
against all my dread.

Indeed it was true,
I saw it full well.
That beast of my terrors
Outside my home it did dwell.

What should I do?
This scavenger of might!
With one who would cause
Such alarm in the night?

A trap, yes indeed
This owner would lay.
To keep safe some bunnies
This predator would slay.

Raw in egg, a trap in the other
Place, bait down
Set in place
with a frown.

Would the predator come
Allured by the egg?
Prevent it from grabbing
a young bunnies leg?

Success! Oh the bliss!
There’s no scream in the night!
No more worry
No more fright!

A long-distance journey
A new home to find.
One predator a forest
to place his behind!

Much safer and better
than urban life to live.
Less traffic, natural food
I’m happy to give.

But Mercy Stepped In

August 21, 2020 By Annette1 11 Comments

Miss Kate has the perfect word for us this week. Mercy, isn’t that a wonderful word? Mercy is such a hard thing to understand, and it completely fills a heart when received. A grace for us indeed eh? 🙂

But Mercy Stepped In

This week received
unexpected shock.
Broke a momma’s heart
Almost in two.

But mercy stepped in.
Stopped hard words.

This week received
A time of solid tears.
A momma’s heart remembering
A child of younger years.

But mercy stepped in.
A hug received.

This week received
Conversation badly needed.
A momma’s heart starts to see.
A glimmer of hope.

But mercy stepped in.
Friendship renewed.

This week received
A game in the mail.
Expected two weeks later.
A God-moment in time.

But mercy stepped in
Reconnection enabled.

This week received
Responses from friends.
Rejection expected.
Open arms given instead.

But mercy stepped in.
Hope in the Lord renewed.

This week received
Prayers and phone calls.
Words of hope and peace
From God himself inspired.

So mercy stepped in
in the form of a boy.

This I really saw how
This beloved of God
The creator of worlds.
Cares for his own.

Verses from my heart to yours

Heb 4:16

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Lam.3:22-23

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Eph.2:4-5

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Exodus 34:6-7

⁶The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, ⁷keeping steadfast love for thousands,^a] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Romans 5:8

⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Keep Track of Grades

August 14, 2020 By Annette1 6 Comments

I have to admit, I haven’t really known what to write for this final day of the blog hop. What does a non-planner person do for a planning/record keeping day? Then I got to thinking about how my son’s in high school now, and I’m now required to keep track of grades. This reminds me of the stack of papers I have sitting under my laptop for me to file in the appropriate spot. (but we’ll just let that be my little secret eh?)

AND it’s five minute Friday today so I”m hopeful to combine two challenges at once… Think I can do it?

Keep Track of Grades

Highschool has crept upon us
The grades we need to keep
Looking back I do remember
something rather sweet.

Transcripts be made easy
I do remember well.
Keeping grades and scoring
My son thinks that is swell.

Do it right or not at all
My momma used to say
And highschool is done easiest
When approaching it this way.

Mistakes they sometimes happen
Deliberate or not.
And when they do, we’ll see it through.
In time it be forgot.

Be careful on those transcripts
Mark those tests fairly
For colleges and higher
Want the truth you see.

Figuring out the codes to use
It makes my old heart race
What happens if I do it wrong?
Will it slow my dear son’s pace?

I have to always remember
To use the brain I got
God gave it to me years ago
Let not it go fraught.

Take your time
and think it through
Each code needed
Will come to you.

Ah searching hard
The right words find
Course codes for Ontario High School
Takes a load off my mind.

Easy does it one by one
History, science, music too.
Keep track of grades
Four years to do.

Oh, that was fun! It was. Combining Kate’s FMF word RIGHT with the crew’s blog hop planning and record keeping! Took a load off my mind too!

This is day five in the not back to school blog hop.

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses shares Planning / Record Keeping Ideas for Homeschooling. .

Yvie @ Homeschol on the Range shares School Rooms, Charts & More!.

Jessica @ My Homeschool with a View shares Homeschool Planning: Record Keeping.

Lori @ At Home: where life happens shares Record Keeping in High School.

Annette V @ A Net in Time shares Keep track of grades.

Progress

August 7, 2020 By Annette1 8 Comments

Miss Kate has given us another word prompt, this week the word is progress. Shall we see where my muse takes us tonight?

Progress

The more the world moves forward,
the more it falls behind.

Forgetting what’s important
In the bid to always mind.

We must have equality!
Everyone must be treated the same!

Forgetting that our differences
Is part of the game.

The game of life that keeps us
Working in harmony.

In Christ there is no Jew of Greek
There is no slave or free.

It matters not if
Boy or girl.

For us to make progress
In this world.

What we need is the love of Christ
In whose own image made we

Male and female we both show
The God who made us be.

Without the Lord any progress shown
can never truly stand.

Without the Lord we only build
What only can man’s hands.

Is what we build the biggest thing
That for us progress make?

Always remember the Lord made us
Remember it true, for goodness sake.

Scripture Referenced

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal.3:28

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Gen 1:27

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Col.1:16-17

Faith Like the Young

July 24, 2020 By Annette1 10 Comments

As I pondered the word young (the FMF word prompt) this verse popped into my head. “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 18:3 I’ve been pondering it all day wondering how I can make it work with this word… and finally hit upon Faith like the young. We need to have this kind of faith!

Faith Like the Young

Faith like the young
the verse runs true.
Faith like a child
will see you through.

So often we say,
to childhood I will go
Thinking of the freedom
Avoid adulthood go.

But we often fail to see
the faith that children have
An important part of childhood
To their heart a salve.

But remember now these words
That Jesus said,
Hinder not the children
Let them come to me instead.

The faith of a child
so trusting and so deep
Is the faith that we must have
If to heaven we will leap.

Consider yet the wisdom
of the youth within our midst
Can still the foe and avenger
Cause them to desist.

The simple wisdom of a child
Simple faith they hold dear
Simple words of clarity
A faith that’s not so meer.

Remember when you seek
like a child so to be
It’s the faith of a child
that opes heaven up to thee.

Scripture Referenced

As I sought out the words to round out my poem Faith like the Young, I referenced these bible verses.

But Jesus said “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them,
for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:4

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 18:3

Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. Psalm 8:2

Building this type of faith means spending time in good devotionals. I found these affiliate links to items we have actually used that might might find helpful as well.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com also has some excellent devotionals and bible studies for all ages. Well worth looking into.

A Smile Makes it Better

July 17, 2020 By Annette1 18 Comments

Tired and sleepy-eyed on a hot Friday afternoon I fear I didn’t do justice to my thoughts, but perhaps I did. I was thinking about the word smile and thought about how often a smile makes it better. Wanted to encourage others in this Five Minute Friday word prompt post to remember the power of a smile.

A Smile Makes it Better

Have you ever noticed how
a smile makes it better?
Creates a bit of joy,
and welcome.

A smile is simply a frown
Turned upside.
A change in perspective
Needed to change the course of a day.

10-12 muscles to smile
6-11 muscles to frown
So consider that upturned lips
is a small weight loss tool! 🙂

Unfortunately at times
a smile is a falsity shown
hiding truth, yet
Perhaps believed?

But at times forcing a smile
Causes a change in behaviour,
Encouraging a postive outlook.
Where before bleakness lived.

Take a moment and try it
when feeling sad and alone
Smile at the person walking
down the side of the road.

See what a smile can bring
in the heart of a little child
or a granny sitting on her porch
a smile matters.

A smile brings cheer and
The cheerful of heart
has a continual feast
a feast of joy sown.

Have you noticed a grin brings
A light to the eyes
Which in turn rejoices the heart
of all who see it.

Show the cheer that you have within
Bring light to those around
It’s a grace we can offer
To a hurting world.

For a smile
Makes it better
Let it start from
the decisions you make.

Beam at those around
offer a moment of cheer.
Let the grace of God within
A beacon in the night.

Scriptures Referenced

A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. Proverbs 15:13

All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 12:25

The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones. Proverbs 15:30

People Matter

July 4, 2020 By Annette1 9 Comments

I don’t know how this post on People Matter will go today. I feel like I’m running late with writing even though it is still Friday when I’m writing. This is part of the Five Minute Friday word prompt group. 🙂 Check out Miss Kate’s post to read other posts on the prompt People.

Thoughts run through my head, making me question myself and others and some level of frustration creeps in. Making sense of it all is a struggle.

People Matter

I heard the other day
a gramma died,
and to be with extended family important.
But those they would leave at home.
Needed care.
The question to answer was
Which people matter?

Both matter but
sometimes choices need to be made.

We are told
BLACK lives matter.
That we MUST hear their stories.
We must understand.
We must choose to listen to
the Hard stories in order to understand.

But the question is this
Why?

I don’t need to listen to the full
story of my tenant.
She’s had a hard life,
with multiple bad things happening.
Yet, I don’t need to know her whole
past to love the person in front of me.

Do only the past lives
of People matter?

We can’t fix the past,
Even if we learn about it,
and better, learn from it.

People complain that
all of our history is white-washed.
No show of colour.
Or any colour shown is in
really poor light
or needing care.

I wonder if there is a reason for that.
That conquering nations always
show themselves in better light
than those they have conquered.

Does it mean white-washed,
or simply,
Pride in accomplishment,
or the need,
to make oneself look better?
Sometimes it’s just
one claims “conquering hero”
as a title.

Though part of me wonders
if perchance
it’s just a continued need
to protect the youngest
among us.
Sheltering young eyes from
the harsh realities of life?

Do young children really have to
know the horrors of residential schools
or the Trail of Tears?
Having to see,
REALLY see, what slavery means
to those enslaved, matter so?

Patterns begun in the past
are so easy to continue into the future.
It’s comfortable.
The brave and bold,
Will see a new path.
And hopefully with wisdom,
balance their conviction,
to the needs of the younger
Generations.

Protecting young minds,
because it’s true
People matter.

poetry

The Scream in the Night

The Scream in the Night

But Mercy Stepped In