Monthly Archives: October 2015
Saturday October 10 2015 “MY FAMILY CAME FIRST”
Saturday October 10, 2015 MY FAMILY CAME FIRST
When Rebecca became a young teenager she would sometimes come crawl in bed with me, always late at night after a busy day and all I wanted to do was go to sleep. Instead of sleeping I would listen to her voice in the dark. Dave usually stayed up a lot later than me so we two “girls” would have a private time for sharing. She always talked best in the dark. I would listen intently until I sometimes I fell asleep and she would leave. I figured that it was more important for me to hear what she needed to say than it was for me to get my much needed sleep. I found out that some things change, but not everything.
Tonight she had some things to discuss, and of course it would be late into the night! The difference being, this time I was not in bed and Dave was with me and it was not in the dark. We were together all day and she waits until about 9:30 or so to start talking about what was on her heart. So we listened. We both knew I planned to come home, write my bog and get to bed early as we must be up early in the morning to prepare moving to another cottage and they have a long driving day ahead tomorrow. Rebecca has always had a lot of insight and wisdom about life since she was a very young child, and tonight she again said something that I agree with. As the hour grew late and my blossom faded, she looked at me and said, “Mom, what will happen if you don’t write your blog for one day? Just open it up and write, “MY FAMILY CAME FIRST”, and then say, “Just email me if you don’t like it”.
I’m smiling. I hope you are. It is past midnight but I did want to say hello to those that are following me as I travel. Dave and I are still in one piece and holding our own. Remember, this week we were up against one daughter, one son, one son-in-law, one daughter-in-law, two grandsons, and two grand-dogs! AND WE SURVIVED!
MY FAMILY COMES FIRST
By Kathleen Martens
October 10, 2015
Nothing can take the place
Of the time you spend
With those you love
Who are family, yet friend.
So tonight I lingered
Past the midnight hour
To build our relationship
And infuse it with power.
I’ve learned a great lesson
As I’ve walked this earth,
Taking time to listen
Has such valuable worth.
My family comes first,
The motto of our heart!
And it is NOW we are together,
For tomorrow we part.
So if I am tired
As comes the morn,
I’ll have a smile inside
And not be forlorn.
For I will have listened
To what daughter has spoken,
My body may be tired
But our love won’t be broken.
I have a word of wisdom for you today. This is something I have counselled parents about for years. As your children grow, especially into adolescence and teen years (and beyond), keep them talking AND KEEP LISTENING TO WHAT THEY ARE REALLY SAYING. I could write an entire piece just on this topic and perhaps one day I shall. Tonight is not the night.
It is late. Good night and God bless you!
P.S. Years ago I gave my sister one of the Amish calendars from which I quote my daily wisdom. Since I left my calendar home she emailed me and asked if she could send me the sayings on each day. So Velma, please continue to send them and I will post them. Thank you for thinking of doing this for me. Below is Calendar Wisdom for October 10, 2015:
THERE ARE TWO LASTING
BEQUESTS WE CAN GIVE
OUR CHILDREN…ONE IS
ROOTS,
THE OTHER IS WINGS,
Friday October 9, 2015 WE ARE STILL A FAMILY
Friday October 9 2015 WE ARE STILL A FAMILY
We survived the photo session! Whew! I was beginning to wonder about whether it would happen by the time we all retired for the night. We had previously planned to have everyone wear white shirts and jeans. I am certain I said “blue jeans”, Rebecca said I did not. She brought white jean. Okay, so we have seven pairs of blue legs and one pair of white legs. Now to the white shirts, four plaids (all different) showed up, two solid white long sleeve shirts (mine and Dave’s), one shirt I never saw, and one white shirt with a large red design over one side of the upper chest area. Hmmm, it wasn’t quite what I had in mind. I realize now that there was a breakdown in communication because I did not personally talk to all parties involved. Needless to say, I was disappointed. Was it really important? No. But I was still disappointed. I spoke in haste and told everyone to wear whatever they wanted and I just won’t hang it on the wall. That is about the meanest thing I thing I can remember saying in years. But, maybe I just remember things differently than others.
Of course, later I was sorry that I had been so flippant. We left it that everyone could wear what they wanted to wear, and we would do it at 10:00 a.m. the next day (which was this morning). I woke up to the sound of pattering rain. Hmmm…I was still so frustrated about the turn of events that I just told Amy that the photo session was cancelled due to rain. I do not use my cameras in the rain due to the damage the moisture does to my lenses. I was too chicken to call Rebecca and asked Amy to just text her and tell her that we would not be doing the session. You see, I was also bummed out because I committed to doing it in the morning when it is not the best light. So, any reason to cancel was good enough. I went to the gym and worked out and stopped by Rebecca’s house on the way home. It was still drizzling. I walked out on her ground level back porch, and I was looking at the perfect combination to make the session work. A covered patio, a beautiful wild nature preserve off the back porch and BINGO! A lightbulb moment! I could stand the tripod up on the covered porch and run and get into the photo. And it was then I realize there is no gate in the wrought iron railing for me to go through. Oh well, it was a nice thought.
And then it quit raining. Now the tripod could be exposed to the elements. Now we had to figure out a time. We had tickets to see the Acrobats of China that would take up most of the afternoon. We figured we could come back to the cottages, get my equipment and head over to Rebecca and Neil’s private nature preserve. The light wasn’t right but I took it any way. Actually, I took several. And guess what, I totally forgot to take one on my cell phone so I could post it on the blog.
We ended up with quite a combination of outfits. And…it looked fine. I am so out of practice with photography that if I was grading my work it wouldn’t pass. Since I had to run into the photo without really seeing how it looked before the lens clicked I had too much unbalanced space that did not suit my eye. Everyone was only intent in rushing to get it done so I didn’t take the time to check. Also a few arms were not where they should have been. Again, due to rushing. It is not easy to be the photographer and the subject at the same time. I am retired! I must constantly tell myself that. I don’t need to know how to do all that anymore. (So I am scheduled to do a school on October 30th). Oh well, this will be the last year. I told myself that last year too.
We are still intact as a family, enjoyed a lovely last evening meal together at a restaurant, courtesy of Amy and Courtland, and…we have a “family portrait” of sorts. I hope the memories will cause us to smile in the future instead of having a sour taste. I almost got through the whole week without getting into trouble. I have always been good at getting into trouble, especially with my sisters. But I won’t go there.
Thanks for listening to me spew out my shortcomings. Sometimes I’m just not perfect
Tomorrow we will spend our day with Rebecca and Neil. They head home to Florida on Sunday and then we will be alone. Sunday afternoon we will move to a smaller cottage here on the grounds and have four more days here in Branson with just the two of us. It already feels empty in my heart just knowing everyone will be going their separate ways. That happens when you no longer have “children”, but “grownups”. When people ask me if we have children I just say, “no, we have grownups”.
TWO LITTLE MUNCHKINS
By Kathleen Martens
October 9, 2015
Two little munchkins,
A girl and a boy
The loves of our life
Who gave so much joy.
Now all grown
Gone separate ways
We see them so seldom
Throughout our days.
Our days are quiet
Time is our own
There is no more noise
In our big empty home.
Except when our grandsons
Come bounding in
With giggles and wiggles
And great big grins.
And we share in the fun
Of laughter and noise
And we don’t even mind
The clutter of toys.
So fast they grow
Almost eight and four
And I know in my heart
There may not be more.
So I shall enjoy
Every hours we share
For these two little munchkins
Won’t always be there.
There are two reasons we do not live in Branson. Those two reasons are Zachariah and Alexander. At one time we had planned to possibly retire here in Branson. But then Amy and Court sabotaged our plans by making us grandparents. Now our hearts are wherever our grandchildren are. I highly recommend having grandchildren. I hope we live long enough to be able to see them become “ grand-grownups!” Regardless their age, they will always be “GRAND” in our hearts. We have had a blast this week living in the same house with them. But it’s good that it was only for a while. I like being sane. I hope Amy will survive!
It is almost 11:00 p.m. The kids are flying higher than a kite. The sound of laughter erases silence in a good way. No one wants the day to end.
I will say goodnight to you. And God bless you too.
Thursday October 8 2015 “THE UN-GROWN ONES”
Thursday October 8, 2015 “THE UN-GROWN ONES”
So much is happening around the table that I can’t wrap my head around it. I think this blog will be short tonight. We have a lot of different opinions being spewed back and forth around the table regarding family portraits which will take place tomorrow. I will not go any further tonight with that discussion, but if we are still together as a family tomorrow I will tell you how it turned out.
Today was a delightful, spur of the moment adventure. Son, wife and kiddos went to an amusement park. That left daughter, husband, Dave, and me on our own for the day. Neil has never been to Branson and wanted to see the area. Rebecca and Neil had a destination in mind which I had never heard of. So we went exploring to find “Top of the Rock” a bit south of Branson. Its actual name is “Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail.” It is a privately owned natural habitat, golf course, with lodging, restaurant, tours, museums, and amazing caves and waterfalls. Its location is referred to as Top of the Rock. It is located in Lost Canyon. Neil and Rebecca treated Dave and I to a beautiful lunch at the restaurant, which is housed in a magnificent barn. The barn was disassembled by the Amish from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and reassembled at the TOP OF THE ROCK resort area in 1987. The barn was originally built in 1852. It is an amazing hand hewn structure of great proportions. Some of the barn’s interior timbers are over 46 feet long and over 250 years old.
After lunch we were also treated by Rebecca and Neil to a tour of the lost caves. . It was a self-guided tour via a golf cart. Everyone voted that I was not to be the driver. Hmmm…for the life of me I can’t figure out why. Actually is was quite nice because I didn’t need to concentrate on driving and could pay more attention to all I wanted to see. So, we were all happy.
We returned home to have dinner and game time.
Now everyone is settling down for the night. The first quiet we have experienced since arriving home this evening. Whew! My head is spinning. I sometimes don’t know how Amy stays sane. I think she really likes her job.
THE UNGROWN ONES
By Kathleen Martens
October 8, 2015
My head is spinning
From all the sound,
From all the commotions
Spinning around.
Laughter and clapping,
Bantering and song.
No sound that could be made
Could possibly be wrong.
My smile inside
Just grew bigger
As I listened intently
As laughter triggered.
Two little boys
The pride of our lives
And of those present
Who are husbands and wives.
Grandsons and nephews,
Sons and brothers
And out of all the world
I’d rather have no others.
Today was a happy day for a lady I’ve never met but only talked to on the phone. Earlier this week my daughter-in-law found a beautiful piece of jewelry. She and Courtland asked the neighbors if anyone had lost a piece of jewelry. No owner could be found. It’s a long story but to make it short I will just say that the owner was found. Both Courtland and I were actually able to speak with the owner of the heirloom diamond ring on the phone. She was ecstatic. She had been crying off and on since she had lost it. I am so happy that we were able to help her have a good ending to her story. I hope she has a very peaceful sleep tonight.
This has been a fast week, a long week, a too short week, an exciting week, and a fun filled week and even a few minutes of “spewing”. Too soon it will be over. The kids (the grown ones) may actually be happy when it over. The two kids, (the un-grown ones) probably hope it lasts forever. Who wouldn’t like six adults doting over them, no school, wonderful meals (which they don’t really appreciate), videos, board games, loud laughing parties, later bedtimes, amusement parks, birthday parties, treasure hunts, two dogs to play with, and book tapes to listen to? It’s fun for them. It’s fun for us!
Good night faithful reader. May God bless your night.
Wednesday October 7 2015 JONAH AND THE WHALE
Wednesday October 7 2015 Jonah and the Whale
SIGHT AND SOUND THEATRE in Branson Missouri is an awesome place. Going there was our highlight of the day. It sits atop a high hill like a beacon in the night. SIGHT AND SOUND THEATRE offers presentations of fabulous musicals with the stories taken from the Bible. As of today, Dave and I have attended three productions presented there. We first saw Noah, and we thought no other production could ever top the scope and magnitude of that presentation. Then we attended the musical, Joseph, and it was equally as spectacular as Noah. Today we attended the production of Jonah. What a beautiful experience it was for our entire family to experience this together. SIGHT AND SOUND THEATRES is the nation’s largest professional Christian theatrical company and one of the highest attended live theatres on the East Coast and in the Midwest.
The stories come to life as you watch and listen to the performers tell the stories from the Bible. They are always bigger than life. Today was no exception. If you are ever in this area I recommend taking the time out to attend a performance. The Noah production will be performed through the end of 2015. Next year the presentation will be MOSES. What I find most interesting is that at the end of the show the M.C. came out and told the audience that the performers would be up front to pray with anyone who would like to come up and be prayed for.
We had a family day of playing games together, talking, preparing and eating meals together. It is late and I must not write too long tonight. I know I have friends and family who read me daily so I continue to write a little something, even while on vacation, so that everyone will know I am alive and well.
GOD’S GIFTS TO US FROM OTHERS
By Kathleen Martens
October 7, 2015
Oh, how fortunate we are
That we might give our talent away,
For God presented each a gift
That we bless another’s day.
Today I was the joyous receiver
While I sat watching the play
Of gifts bestowed by others.
Through actions and words they say.
Thank you God for sharing
What You give to others around
That they too can share their gift
And with their heart expound.
How so very fortunate am I
To be recipient of such great pleasure.
It is just another jewel You give,
Like a little nugget to treasure.
I have another little nugget to treasure also. It is from a lady who I met in the lobby of the SIGHT AND SOUND THEATRE. Her daughter took the family picture of my family standing in the lobby in front of the Jonah sign. I do not remember her name. Here are her words of wisdom.
“I love the Proverb in the Bible about the husband who sits on the edge of the roof because the wife nagged. I lost a husband due to nagging. So I would say DON’T NAG. I would say it is about the worst possible thing you could do. God has given me another wonderful husband WHO I DO NOT NAG and I have a much better marriage because of it.”
So…ask yourself, wife and HUSBANDS, “am I a nagger”. Step back and take a good self-look! If so, choose to change. Think it first, then put it into action. You may be pleasantly surprised to see the outcome.
Good night and God bless you.
Visions of Poetry 