OPEN YOUR EYES AND HEART

Some days just make me feel like the whole world has written me off!  I know y’all understand whether you can  admit it or not.  DO NOT GIVE IN!  OPEN THE EYES OF YOUR HEART!

My baby understands about needing luvin better than humans do.  This morning as I sipped coffee, she woke up in a half empty bed and came looking for me, gave me kisses, and snatched a sip of coffee.  Scrappy then smiled and snuggled up for a nap in Mommy’s lap!

 

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!

 

HAPPY TEARS

Memories are not always heartbreakers. There will come a time when tears become joy as the love is still in our hearts. As I wrote something on a different time in my life, though I miss people, places, and things from back then, I also feel the joy and love that I felt then and still can feel IT.. At this moment my feet are cold because this artist feels the snow that had fallen . . and the glow of evening’s moonlight. I can see Mom’s smiling face watching me through the window and can recall her scurrying off to bed so I would not know she watched. She didn’t want to upset me. Silly Mama! IT NEVER DID!

 

. . .AND HE CALMED THE STORM

HURRICANE FLORENCE

Ah, that moment when all the troubles of the world slip away holding no importance. The storm brewing, the money worries, the health challenges, the what ifs the how will I evers …..mean nothing.

SCRAPPY

To my right snuggled up close and feeling safe is a doggy that calls me mama who is no longer afraid of the storm or the big dog on my left… all she thinks about is that she is safe and  sleeps on with her head snuggled on my right leg. On my left is another dog that calls me auntie, who has also been afraid of my Scrappy until that moment and is snuggled with her head on my lap and sleeping…. And I am feeling safe and peaceful and surrounded by love and fully aware that nothing else in the world matters!

STARDUST

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

WHAT a life . . .

My Nana was SO VERY special to me.  When I knew her she always seemed very, very old and was said to be very, very sick but somehow I saw her differently the more I grew and visited her. Her one room apartment was so welcoming!  Bedroom, dining table, kitchen . . . all one small combined room.  She was on a very limited diet but bought candy and my favorite ice cream . . .

 

She should have been sad, depressed, lonely . . . she was too weak to leave her room, but she was not like that.  She called old Rocco when she needed groceries.  His little old store was near the home she had before Grampy died.  I knew he didn’t deliver nor carry what she needed, but actully ALWAYS had what she wanted. She called weekly and he went to the big store and secretly bought her groceries, he delivered then, he knew just where everything went and wouldn’t let her lift a finger, nor accept a tip, but he would visit.

I was always buying paper and her favorite pens . . .  and postage stamps, she told me to ask what pictures were on them . . , “you know what I like Muffin.”  For a shut in, she sure found a lot of friends to write to all over the country, and we had a tiny family.  Go figure!

If I was going to visit, I had to call first, She constantly had company.  How’d she meet them?  They had grand times visiting!  When I went to the small local stores, the shop keepers, long gone now remembered her from waaaay back and asked after her. . . . always.  She got tons of mail responding to those letters plus cards from the shop folks.

I can still remember sitting on the floor at her feet hearing stories of the old days and never did she run out of them.  She always made me feel special . . . so very loved.

At her funeral all were shocked she passed.  Yes, she was sickly all her life but nobody saw her that way.  She was just that sweet Miss Lee who made them feel so special.  To this day, I have never seen such a crowded funeral!

So many people feel hopeless these days . . . what can I DO . . . I can’t . . ., yes, but . . .  I can’t change the world!  My sickly Nana lived 20 years in one room but she dressed in pretty clothes  and heels and white beads in summer, always crocheting gifts, always smiling, with company or not she was never alone.

ME?  I can’t change the world . . . but why not?

Nana Lee changed a big piece! 

God knew what He was doing!

Nana Lee on the right.

This written by Martha Lee, her loving granddaughter!

 

 

WE DECEIVE OURSELVES!

Before we judge and

close our doors and hearts to one another,

we need to remember that

our church buildings would be empty of any but

our Triune God

were it not for

we sinners present!

By Martha L Shaw – © 2018

 

FEELING THE LOVE . . .

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 – © 2013

 

CELEBRATE!

BETTY’S HEART

There are really none like my late friend Betty, pictured here on the right with her Mom on the left.  Her heart?  Prime example!  THE MOUSE!  If I met one in my house we are sure to find I freaked out and left town until it met its demise!  Not Betty!  She found one in the attic,thought it was SOOOOO cute,and fixed up a hamster cage for it.  It became family!

With a loving heart like that, can you imagine what a blessing she was to humans? 

Leviticus 19:18

¹⁸ “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.