WE ARE FAMILY!

Scrappy and I had lunch in our screened porch amid birds singing, a gentle breeze, blue skies viewed between leaf filled branches and the wonderful sound I love to hear – the sound of a saw cuttng wood! The sound and smell is life giving to me and perfume to my soul! Daddy was so skilled at EVERYTHING since if he didn’t know, he self-taught and worked with perfection. Sadly the last 15 years of his life were spent sedentary due to Parkinsons. Lord, heal me and or show me the way to shine and to make my parents proud for the 3 of us!  We love you and hunger to serve with the treasure you bestowed!

 

Prayerful Thoughts Over Morning Coffee

Do you ever have trouble sleeping?  I sometimes do.  I never did as a child.  If I close my eyes right now, by day, I can still recall the soft murmuring of Mama and Daddy talking in the other room.  I didn’t always understand what they were saying, but I felt safe and loved and knew everything would be okay and felt their comforting nearness as I drifted off to sleep.   I am not that innocent little girl anymore but whether I am feeling alone or not, my Abba is always near and loving me too!  All I need to do is let go, let Him take care of me, and rest knowing He will never abandon me . . . just like my earthly parents never did. Amen

REST IN PEACE

My heart is broken  . . . you were a gift from God Beany . . .

DADDY’S LOVE – ABBA’S SERVANT

 

Tapers on the sofa table

Gently lit the room

For it was night.

 

While mother slept,

Father and I enjoyed the gentle candle light

And stories from another time and place.

 

We needed no warmth

From those candles, though.

That came from father’s heart.

 

He knew I’d be waiing.

I knew he’d come.

Sleep didn’t come easily to him.

 

We spent hours together

He shared so many stories

Oa life as a boy,family,the farm…

 

Tales of many generations

Retold in the gently lit room

Well into the night.

 

Tears come as I share this

But not of sadness,

All of joy!

 

As we retired for the night,

I waited for his sounds of sleep

Before taking to my bed.

 

He is gone now,

But my memories still bring

Love, peace, and rest!

 

By Martha L Shaw – © 2017

 

 

 

 

JUST A CHAIR

It was just an old rocking chair

 sitting in my grandmother’s house

when my parents first got married.

It was black,

sat in the corner,

and nobody ever used it.

My mother was dusting there one day

and discovered layers

and layers of wax build up.

Mom cleaned the chair,

then dad noticed

that the seat was falling apart

and rebuilt the chair with a new seat.

They are gone now.

The chair is mine.

I recently added quilts,

pillows, and teddy bears

that I’ve made.

The chair is nothing special

but when I sit in it,

it’s a family reunion!

By Martha L Shaw ©2-8-2016

Inspired By Elmer – Book Exerpt

There is so much to go through when someone you love dies . . . practical and emotional. In going through more of my Mom’s things, I found a very few letters from her Dad to her Mom. I wish I had more. He died young so I never knew him but the letters painted a picture of a special man, Elmer – my grandfather. His letters spoke of his great love for Nana and also of ordinary events in his day. Love is like that. It enlightens us to the extraordinary in our seeming ordinary day . . .-from: “INSPIRED BY ELMER – Letters From My Grandfather” by Martha L Shaw

Love – Simply Defined

Love Is Like

The old quilt . . .

Its softness is enhanced

By age and use.

Its colors faded by the light of many days,

And its fibers show wear

Yet its beauty is all I see,

All I feel,

And all I know.

Its story is one of patience

And of time and effort.

It  contains both pain and pleasure.

The fabrics of many lives intertwined

To become one . . .

It is not one story,

But rather generations of stories

Shared by the fire,

Told over tea,

Revealed as fine thread

Wove scraps of many lives

Into something too beautiful not to share.

By Martha L Shaw – © 12-16-2013

This lovely quilt, subject of the symbolism in my poem, goes back multiple generations in my family and is approx 150 years old.  Oh, the stories it has to tell me are many!

Leaping For Joy!

Ah, it’s that time of year once more . . .

Martha L Shaw - Poet, Writer, Author, Artist

Just driving down the street to fill my car with gas the other day brought tears to my eyes as memories of my Dad came flooding back to me.  The anniversary of his death is coming near.  My Dad was my hero but not because he invented something world changing and not because he discovered a cure for the common cold.  My Dad was a country boy.  In my eyes he could do anything.  He found joy in simple things and taught me to do so as well.  He always had a smile, a laugh, a hug.  As I drove down the street with my car windows open, I saw a bit of smoke in the air and heard the crackling sounds of a brush fire well controlled in the neighbor’s yard and smelled that oh so familiar smell.  The smoke didn’t bring tears to my eyes, though.  It was the…

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Are You Lonely?

It happens, even though we do not like to admit it.  Sometimes even in a crowd we can feel alone and disconnected.  But, in reality as members of the body of Christ, we are in a very full household and as we work at the commission He has given us, the family keeps growing!  This is a wonderful thing.  There have been times I’ve felt in need of a hug from a brother or sister and when it seemed nobody was around.  I posted something here and suddenly my family, though scattered throughout the world, were here making me laugh, smile, praise, sing, dance, and feel their love.  How awesome!

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,”        Ephesians 2:19 NIV