Seeking

Feeling:  the general state of consciousness considered independently of

particular sensations, thoughts, etc.

Knowing:  shrewd, sharp, or astute.

Rely on what you feel or what you know?  You decide.

Adventures Of The Heart – Remembering Nana

I read this quote on my cell phone and am hesitant to admit it, but though a writer with notebooks everywhere, I at first thought “who writes letters?” The quote:

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart. - Phyllis Theroux -

That’s my Nana!  She wrote letters.

Oh, how I loved my Nana!  In her presence, especially in our one-on- one visits, I felt beautiful!  I felt wanted!  I felt unconditionally loved! I’m not saying “poor little Martha, nobody else loved her” but simply saying that there was something extra precious about our relationship.

Oh, the stories she told of days long past, of people she’d known, of mischief she’d gotten into . . . honestly, I’m not sure many people ever got to know her as I did.  Maybe, just maybe, she felt beautiful and unconditionally loved and accepted by me as well.  She was, I can tell you that.

She was a “shut-in” much of her life and lived near the church.  I would walk over after Sunday services while Mama and Daddy had coffee hour and while my small sisters played in the church yard.  Sometimes, I’d get to stay the whole afternoon at Nana’s!  I could sit at her feet and listen to her all day.  Her health challenges made her weak but her one room apartment was just enough to manage.  Her diet was restricted but she always had special treats for me and let me just say this.  If I smiled and told Nana I loved grilled cheese with extra cheese . . . well, you’d have a hard time lifting all that gooey, warm and melty cheese!  I still  make ‘em that way Nana!

She’d pull out old, old photographs and tell me all about these people who were “family” but had passed on long ago . . . even before Mama was born!  She’d sit in her comfy chair next to the bed and near the closet/kitchen and on a tiny table was pretty note paper and matching envelopes and a tattered address book.  Then there was a damp sponge and postage stamps for  sealing the flap and readying the letters for mailing.

You see, she wrote to EVERYBODY and they wrote back!  Don’t know about you, but a lot of my mail is “junk” mail.  Not my Nana’s mail.  Letters came to her from the postman every day!  Who got married, who had liver trouble, who’s cat had a litter of kittens . . . remember old Aunt Sally? . . . Remember the old days at Rye Beach?  I remember so many stories of people and places I’d never have learned about if I’d not had those delightful visits with Nana.  She passed on long ago and I don’t know what ever happened to the old letters or the tattered address book, but oh, the places we went, she and I!  So many wonderful adventures!  So many people we visited on our adventures of the heart!

Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for dropping by today.  I appreciate your company.  Please come again soon!  I’ll be sure and put the kettle on and we’ll have tea!

Very truly yours,

Martha

Top 10 Award!

I am blessed to share with you that Betty Bolden and

Jesus Is My Joy

Ministries/Devotions

has presented me with a new blog award!  I woke this morning to find that she’d nominated me for the Top 10 Award!  Thank you so much Betty!  I encourage you to visit her blog and am sure you will be blessed by her writing and her heart for Jesus!

Writing Challenge: Turn It Around

A fellow blogger invited us to share our testimony recently.  Live and Laugh With Jesus posted this challenge here.

This has made me think . . . it’s Monday as I write this and on various sites I’ve seen laments about “woe is me” as a new week starts.  Oh, I know those feelings.  Here’s the challenge!

if I let Him, the Lord will ALWAYS turn it around for me.  I’m still finding that I should let Him do this more often than I do, but life is a learning journey.  That being said, I’d like you to accept this challenge and in the comment section of this post, please share a time when you encountered Him in this way and let us rejoice in how He took “ho-hum” and turned it around for you!

Sharing these moments can bring hope to others.  Won’t you share with us?  If you would like, you are welcome to write this on your own blog and post a link in the comments section below.  I’ll edit this post and add a list of your links.  You are also welcome to share in the comment if you prefer.

Thanks for being His disciple!

Superbowl Five Sentence Story

A Patriots fan cheering for the 49ers for fun, but not entirely pationately STILL wants them to win.  I, said fan, am enjoying my solitary party and treats as much as the commercials and game itself.  While it is only halftime just now as I consider these things, one thing comes to mind.  I already know what special memory will remain with me when this game is done.  Surely that can only be the blessing of hearing children from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT singing as the game was about to begin . . . wow.

Five Sentence Story

It had been a long week full of disappointment.  I ran a few errands and was nodded at a number of times.  I was assured my business was important to a few.  I somehow felt alone in the various noisy crowded places.  Then it was time for church and I was reminded of the love surrounding me always

I learned of the five sentence story idea from Caddo Veil  who in turn learned of it from Linda of  purpleborough I had to try it.  Check their blogs and join in the fun, won’t you?

Daily Prompt: Burning Down the House

Here;s the challenge:   ”Your home is on fire. Grab five items (assume all people and animals are safe). What did you grab?”

Click on the above link to answer the question and join the challenge.  Now, as for me . . .

1. Bible
2. Cell phone
3. Computer
4. Eye glasses
5. Pocketbook

How about you?

Six Word Friday

Today?  More than I could handle . . . 

Mastering The Art of Listening – Daily Prompt: I Got Skills

The Daily Prompt has really challenged me this time.  Have you checked it out?  Click here and read all about it if you dare!  We were asked “If you could choose to be a master (or mistress) of any skill in the world, which skill would you pick?” Wow.  Think about it.  Oh, how easy it is to think of what I’d wish for if I found a genie in a bottle and could ask for anything, but fairy tales aren’t real and the challenge isn’t to choose between a handsome prince, a shiny new car, or an endless supply of gold, but rather what skill would I like to master. 

As I sit here in my home office, the television news is on in the background.  I’m hearing of school shootings, striking school bus drivers, high unemployment rates and political discord, to name just a few of the painful situations many of us face.  The answer came to me to this challenge as I heard all of these familiar battles.  I’d love to be the master (okay mistress, oops) of the art of listening!  Think about it!  Surely, we all want what’s best, don’t we?

• What’s best for me?
• What’s best for my family, my children?
• What’s best for my future?
• What’s best for my neighborhood, my town, my state?
• What’s best for my country?
• What’s best to promote unity?  To gain world peace?

So many questions and ultimately, the answer to each one, as I view it, is the same.  We just don’t listen!  Oh, I’ve said it many times; “I hear you.”  But was I really listening?  Did I really hear?  Did I really care?  I should care  . . . I must care.  But . . . are my listening skills all they should be?  Listening and caring go hand in hand and in order for the challenges in our lives to change for the good, we must not simply “listen”, but truly listen and focus and with an open-mind and an open heart.  Peace and unity wouldn’t be a long-shot or a false hope held by the naïve . . . it would be OURS!  How great would it be if someone didn’t have to come to me and say “listen to me!”  Why not?  Because they would know that I had the skill mastered!

A Wednesday Challenge

I just read something on a social media site which struck me immediately as a challenge I needed to take on.

I challenge you to do the same.  Jesus did.  You see, to paraphrase . . . someone mentioned “the moment” when she realized why “nobody” likes a certain person.

Friends, we’ve all been the person “nobody” likes at some point in our lives . . . whether fact or fiction, I’m certain inside yourself you’ve felt that way.  I challenge you to take the high road, as Christ did, does, and requires of us.  I challenge you to find a reason to LIKE the person.  Might be difficult, but will surely change the world!