Oh, Mister Full Moon,
You know you’re only fake light
Coming from the Sun?
TJ’s Challenge Haiku using full and only
MR MOON
Posted in TJ's Household Haiku, Uncategorized
Tagged fake light, full, moon, only, TJ's Household Haiku
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MY YOUNG FATHERS
Dear Friends, today I am introducing my
young fathers to you.
Dan, my grandson, is a step-father to two boys. For the love of Leeah, he became husband and step-father in one pledge of commitment forever. He is a man worthy of the respect of his two boys, plus a girl who has been added since then to their instant family. The picture gives a hint of their favorite pastime – camping or something else outdoors. Dan has been step-father to a teen-ager who just graduated high school. For that special time, he was able to complete legal work to give that son his own name – HAYES. We are so proud of that.
Josh, married to my granddaughter. For the love of Krissy, he vowed to love and keep her and her two girls “until death do us part.” He brought with him a daughter also, so they began with a blended family. They have added two more daughters since then. So he has the awesome duty and honor to be father to mine, yours, and ours. I have the utmost admiration and appreciation for him as a “man fit to raise my little ones.” That’s saying a lot!
Luke, is married to another granddaughter, Mandy. Luke is father to two more of my lovely grandchildren. Luke’s penchant toward technology and movie making pay off for me in wonderful pictures of his precious girls. He leads them into new adventure, mostly involving trips and exercise! And he does beautiful pictures with Mandy as his model! Thanks, Luke, for being a father in whom I have no fear for the well being of my precious little ones.
Lord Jesus, I thank you so much today for these trustworthy men. Men who take seriously their duties and obligations to see that their children have the material things they need. Men who know the needs are much more than just material. Men who keep family number one in their priorities. Men who know that life consists of body, mind, and spirit. Help them to sustain and progress in seeing that my babies (although growing up) have earthly and eternal needs met. Thank you so much for the love they have for their wives, and for showing what marriage and family mean. Be their support; be their provider; be their comfort; be their guide.
Posted in fathers' day, Uncategorized
Tagged generations, grandsons, legacy, love, marriage, raising children, young fathers
12 Comments
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME – UNLESS I’M ASLEEP
Husband drowsily answers, “OK, if you need me, call me.”
Me: “Who was that?”
Husband: “Carl, he said his car broke down.”
Me, frantically, “Where is he?”
Him: “In a bar. He walked there to make a phone call.”
Me, wildly mad: “He called you.” —– —–
Husband spent four nights in the doghouse!
******************
Challenge “blood curdling phone call” in 52 words exactly.
Posted in Uncategorized, writespiration
Tagged 52 words, call from bar, car broke down, dad fails, mm's mad, phone call, writespiration
5 Comments
ANCESTRAL FATHERS
I came to be by way of a little hanky panky back in the long ago, by way of the Moores, who are said to be offspring of the Campbells of the infamous traitorous treatment of them toward a neighboring Scottish clan – the MacDonalds, in 1692. Sometime before that they were the well- respected clan from which the song “The Campbells are Coming” originated. But wikipedia says they were not very welcome people – basically not to be trusted. Interesting little bit of family lore.
A couple hundred years later, some of them had developed into what I believe were civilized citizens of the USA. From what I hear and believe, they were nice people! 
As time went on, the Moore girl married a Riddle guy; a Riddle girl married a Rodgers guy. And they begat me!
Ah, so much for family roots.
Now to the part of my blog that matters! We have become a culture that downplays and sometimes even decries, the advantages of a nuclear family.
About forty years ago I had a class in a very poor district of the city. I had a class of 22 children, three of whom had a mother and father in the home; two of those were twins. As I made mention of that to my student aide, her response was “What’s wrong with that?” I suppose I did not answer her. That is how easily we traditionalists and conservative people become intimidated!
But it was not coincidence the family units in that poverty area were so unstable.
Most of those children are now grandparents! How many of those girls might have married worthy men, honorable men? Men able to support them financially, emotionally, and spiritually. How many of those boys became husbands and fathers who cared for their wives and children and provided for them financially, emotionally, and spiritually? A few did. I heard about one from that school who went to the Naval Academy. His daddy was quite proud of him! Come to think of it, how much of his success was because of a daddy who stuck around, a daddy who cared!
A daddy who was present to be proud!
Posted in fathers' day, generations, Uncategorized
Tagged ancestors, disadvantaged, family, family roots, fathers, generations, legacy, love of family, poverty
24 Comments
A FATHER’S LAMENT
She’s my shining star;
He’s a blooming idiot.
A father’s lament!
Use words “star” and “bloom” Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge
Posted in Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge, Uncategorized
Tagged blooming idiot, haiku, poetry, Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge, star
9 Comments
TAKING CHILD TO JESUS
“Welcome your wandering child back home,” will likely be good advice given from pulpits this Sunday, Father’s Day. And it is a good one and it is scripture based on the story of the Prodigal Son. This is tied to the love of God the Father. Good sermon but mostly predictable by regular church goers.
Then there will be many giving practical rules for good fatherhood that makes sense but have very little to do with Jesus.
Also, there will be some that are impractical. Good advice, but impossible to do for most fathers. “Take your son on a camping trip and give him a chance to talk,” kind of thing. Yeah, how do I do that working at minimum wage with one week off in July!
Many sermons will be good and full of common sense, but I fear short on Jesus.
So this is my Father’s Day sermon. It’s early so you can preach it if you like! 😀
My unpreached sermon is taken from Mark 5:22-24 and Mark 9:17. These two scriptures that show wonderful wisdom and love of two fathers, both of whom knew how to appeal to Jesus in behalf of their children. In one the father took Jesus to his child; in the other the father took his child to Jesus. In both cases the answer lay in connecting to Jesus!
How to do that? Let me count the ways:
- Love on your child – not just love your child. Embrace, cuddle, wrestle, bear hug.
- Teach respect for, love of, and practicality of the Bible. Use Bible stories in some form: story telling, movies, songs, rhymes
- Pray aloud with and for the child. Bring thanks and problems to Jesus.
- Teach Jesus stories. Invite Jesus into your lives in a daily manner. Give Jesus a pretend chair at you dinner table, place a chair in the bedroom where Jesus can sit to watch through the night, be creative in play and arguments about Jesus being present. Ask Jesus what he thinks about whether you need to do homework, watch TV or play ball.
Even if you do not know the Bible well, make yourself acquainted with some principles that might be needed by a child from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said:
- You are like salt and light. Do good to/for people. Make them happy.
- Love your enemies. Pray for people who hurt you. Try to do good (Paul said “as much as possible…) Your child will need to know he will not always be able to make peace. Then avoid problem or leave it to you (father).
- Keep your word. Never lie.
- Be generous. Don’t brag about it.
- Don’t worry, you (daddy) give security as God’s helper.
- Don’t judge other people, or talk bad about them. They can tell you (like grown ups can tell God)
- Make good plans.
Other Bible scriptures:
- Jesus loves the little children
- The two scriptures above that show Jesus love for children, plus Jarius’ daughter.
- Your body is to be respected as a proper place for Jesus to live. So avoid smoking, drinking, drugs, and things that give you bad thoughts (bad movies and computer games, etc).
- Husband loves his wife; therefore, the child will obey his/her mother and treat her with respect.
Remember that in our Bible models, the father was the instigator and he was there! He was present! You may sometimes assign the duty to someone else, but the real answer is in the three being together—father, child, and Jesus.
****************
Picture is mine. My son and his grandson.
Posted in family, father, fathers' day, Uncategorized
Tagged authority, family, fathers, fathers' day, generations, grandfathers, principles for fathers, take child to Jesus
8 Comments
ME TARGET AUDIENCE? YOU, OF COURSE!
(I’m enjoying reliving some of me Blogging U assignments from two years ago.
Hope you do to. )
So do I understand this fourth assignment right? I am to decide and discuss who I am writing for—otherwise, who is my target audience? Eeeezee! I am writing for anyone younger than I!
‘Nough said! But no, I’ll not stop. Who ever heard of an eighty year plus woman who would give up her platform that easily? Let me “sub-classify” some of my reasons. By “sub-classify I mean “make a list.”
- I’ve got more to say than I can put on my tombstone. (Boy, would I like to stay on this topic for a while. I’d love to have it said of me, as was said of Enoch in the Bible. “Oneta walked with God and God took her.” Now wouldn’t that be something.)
- I hope to show in my writing that life is wonderful—even past twenty-nine!
- I want to be remembered by my descendents for at least a full four generations.
- I want to pay tribute to wonderful people I have known, the wonderful country in which I live, the communities in which I have lived, the churches who have claimed me as their own, the God who sends shivers down my back when I really give him a portion of my time—well, maybe not shivers but tears flow easily in some of those most priceless times.
- I want to be funny now and then.
- I love words. Most of the ones I use are very simple and easy but I like to stir the pot a bit once in a while and say something like: It is my sublime pleasure to utilize a unusually diverse vocabulary in order to energize your brain activity. (I can’t find my thesaurus so I can’t play around much more than that!)
- I love picturesque speech. One of my favorite sentences was regarding Lot’s wife who became a silent stone statue standing still.
- When I die, I don’t want to be “dead and gone.” My precious offspring are going to have me longer than that!
- I want to leave them a hope – my hope – in the eternal. I want them to say, “No way did gramma’s spunk, faith, love, and teachings go to the grave with her.”
That’s it. I’m climbing off the platform. Would someone hand me my cane? Just joking, I don’t need one. Hey that gives me an idea of another thing I want to write about!
*************
(Today June 13, 2017 – Well there have been many days that I had to use the cane since then, even a wheelchair. I guess my idea at that time was to write Cane Pain. Some of you have read it, but if not or if you need another laugh, go see.)
image: don’tpanicmom
Posted in blogging, Uncategorized
Tagged blog friends, blogging, generations, legacy, why I write
16 Comments
CONTRABAND
Sixty years she cooked for her meat-lovin’ man. Now heart-healthy diet only! Fruit ok’d by the rehab nurse. Love found a way!
Challenge: Write a 140 character story about the picture prompt
https://katmyrman.com/2017/06/12/twittering-tale-34-12-june-2017/
A HARD CHOICE
How awesome that the tiniest newborn comes programmed with the five senses! How much we take for granted with so little thought for the ability to see, hear, smell, touch, and taste! It seems that we don’t think much about it until we see someone who has had to function with one or more of the senses missing. I have read stories of people who were blind who were just being so thankful they could hear; on the other hand, people who are deaf who are so thankful they can see. Because of age my senses are not as acute as they used to be, but nothing too troublesome yet.
But this is not to be a blog on the value of senses but about which I one would give up if I were forced to choose. If a doctor were going into my brain, and he must sacrifice some of my senses, what would be my priorities?
Please sacrifice the senses in this order: taste, smell, touch, hearing, sight. I would make the decision based on what I consider the most important to my safety. In over eighty years, I don’t think I have ever tasted anything that would have harmed me if I had eaten it. One night not long ago, I smelled gas in my house. I got up about two o’clock to discover I had accidentally turned a stove gas knob to the on position, I suppose when I was washing the stove top. I believe it was a nudge from the Lord that I awoke rather than slept blissfully into unconsciousness.
Touch seems insignificant, but it is so important to not injuring oneself in ways that are only avoided because of touch. I have heard that lepers lose their flesh because of not having nerve endings to warn them of not to touch something dangerous. (I’m not sure about that.) But I am sure I don’t want to hold on to my hot hair curler from the wrong end. If I couldn’t feel it, it would do great harm.
Hearing and sight? I guess they would be about equal for safety. I just think I would rather see my grand-babies grow rather than hear them if I had to make a choice. Can’t argue the point.
I am thankful for a Creator God who covered the basics.
*****************
(This is a re-blog with minor changes from an assignment in Blogging 101 in June, two years ago. The assignment was to write about which sense I would give up if I had to make the choice. I decided it was worth another look. Some of you have been with me for two years. Others have not. So here’s to a second time around.)
ESTHER’S humble BOLDNESS
Heb. 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Boldly is used over 40 times in the scripture; most of the time it means something like “aggressively”; for instance, when Paul spoke boldly. I have seen some who “strut their stuff” when expounding on this scripture. They say something like “When I see God I’m going to ask him why (he did whatever he did)” I doubt it!
I believe David boldly approached Goliath; I believe Jesus boldly threw out the temple merchants; I believe John boldly condemned King Herod. And I believe some, like Habakkuk, have boldly questioned God and asked for explanations for certain complaints. But when I see Him I expect to fall on my face in gratitude and awesome fear. Seeing a faint outline of him even when reading his Word, brings me to tears.
I suggest that one should be bold in a very humble way! Is that possible?
Check Esther 4:16 Jews fasted for three days after which in Chapter 5:1..Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood …(before the king)… She was bold to go to the king but she prepared herself as royally as possible before she went and she stood before the king until he recognized her, thus giving her permission to talk. Going before the king is not a time for arrogance and it is important that we have wrapped ourselves in the holy righteousness of Jesus Christ through whom we obtain mercy and grace.
With that in mind I still love the following verse which I copied out of a Billy Graham magazine many years ago. I pay special thanks to Nancy Spiegelberg, Ohio. I see on her website here that she passed away about two years ago. These words of hers presents a picture of being humble in a very bold way.
Lord, I crawled across the barrenness to you with my empty cup,
Uncertain in asking any small drop of refreshment.
If only I had know you better,
I’d have come running with a bucket.
Posted in boldness, God's love, inspiration, Uncategorized
Tagged boldness, Esther, Heb. 4:16, humility, seeing God
14 Comments
