Visions of Poetry

Saturday September 26 2015  HEARTFELT THANKS

 

Next Thursday, Oct 1^st, I will have been home from my trip for three months.  These are the fastest three months of my life.  So much has happened since I’ve been home that I actually haven’t had my feet hit the ground much.  On the flip side it seems as if it has been a time of forever, as if time has stood still and at the same time a whirlwind swished through my life causing so much to happen that I can’t keep it straight.

Today has been a day to remember.  This is the first day I have had since I have been home that has not been scheduled.  And that is only because I didn’t sign up last week for an event, which took place today, and that I look forward to attending each September.  So what did I do with that time?  I promptly fell asleep on the couch when I laid down to rest for a few moments. 

I’ve worked hard, played hard, cleaned hard, talked a lot, spent time at the hospital with a sick husband, had the grandkids overnight, cooked incessantly, had overnight guests, planned another upcoming trip, and a myriad of other situations, including writing my blog each evening.  Finally, today I had a few unscheduled moments, and I FELL ASLEEP!  It felt good!

I said all that to say this:  I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank every single person who hosted me as I traveled cross country this spring.  It is amazing all that must happen in one’s life to prepare, plan, rearrange one’s schedule, entertain, clean, and cook for someone to come and spend the night.  I want everyone who did that for me to please accept my heartfelt thanks once again.  I know many will probably not read this blog but I wanted to write it perchance there are those who are still reading it.  I offer the hospitality of our home to you as our guest if you ever have a chance to be passing through our area, or even if you want to make us your destination.  My friend Lana who was with me the last three days hosted me on two separate occasions on my travels.  What a blessing she and her husband were to me when they opened up their home, served me delicious meals, took time off to visit and drove me to special sights.  It was such a pleasure for me to be able to reciprocate even a fraction of what they did for me!  It was such a joy to be with Lana but it just didn’t seem like it was long enough.  Is any part of life ever long enough?

Many thanks to my nephew Eric and his wife Karen for treating me to lunch on my first day on the road.  Thanks to Karen’s aunts who hosted me for my first two nights of travel without ever having met me.  It was so good to see my Aunt Gracie and Uncle Bob as I traveled through Rolla.   Many thanks to my longtime friend Kathleen and her husband for opening their home to me in Willow Springs Arkansas.  Thanks to my cousin Rita and her husband for allowing me to spend several nights with them in Branson and taking me to Springfield to see my cousin Janey and her family.

I would especially like to thank my Aunt Esther for opening her home once again to me as a headquarters in the Russellville Arkansas area so I could visit with her as well as see my sister Scarlett and my Aunt Vela and Uncle Buddy.  Thanks to my cousin Janet and her husband for opening their home to me as a stopover on my way to Austin Texas.  And even though I disturbed them due to the sounds I made being up so late while writing my blog they even allowed me to come back again.

Thanks for longtime friends Dave and Peggy in Texas who hosted me for several nights.  They are two of the most significant people in our entire lives.  It is because of them, allowing God to use them in their ministry of finding homes for adoptable newborn babies, that we have our daughter Rebecca.  It was after this visit that I returned to Euless Texas to stay once again with Janet and her family.  Thank you Janet for all the work and any disturbance I may have caused.  She made it possible for me to also see her sisters Nora and LaFawn.  Nora, I thank you with a deep heart for taking time off work to go with me to the gardens in the Fort Worth area and President George Bush’s Library in Dallas.  Also thanks for the trip to Old Fort Worth.  That was awesome!  One of the things I really loved was our shopping spree!

It was during the next interlude that I stayed with Lana.  Intermittently along the way I stayed in Air BNB’s.  I am so thankful for the Air BNB families who rent rooms in their own homes to strangers who are traveling through their cities.  I had a respite time with Lana and then took off for Denver to stay with my “other” adopted daughter, Cynthia.  Thank you Cynthia and hubby for your hospitality and the love I felt while in your home.  Cynthia had a newborn baby waiting for me to meet.  Her oldest son was also a delight.  He calls me “grandma”.  I will never forget going to Red Rock with Cynthia and Chris.  It was amazing!

And then I drove back to Albuquerque to stay at Lana’s for several more days!  Twice in one trip.  And she still came to see me!  She left last night and I am already missing her.

After I left Lana’s I stayed with someone else very special, a friend from church who moved to Arizona with her husband when he retired.  The drive to her house was one of the most magnificent drives I have ever seen.  I drove through the Tonto National Forest.  It was worth the entire trip.  Seeing JoAnn and her family was also worth it.  I felt like was living in a dream at her place.  She lives right in the middle of the most beautiful desert I have ever seen.   I never realized how beautiful the desert really was.  She treated me like royalty and I felt as if I slept in a queen’s bed every time I climbed the steps to reach the mattress. 

From Mesa Arizona I drove across Southern California, almost to the coast, to a little town in the San Diego area.  There I visited with friends whom my husband I met right after we first married 42 years ago.  She and her husband lead a quiet, very private life on top of a mountain in the middle of an avocado ranch.  That too was an amazing stay!  And what an amazing story their life is.

I am concerned that if I mention any more places I stayed in tonight’s blog no one will continue to read.  So, I will continue at a later date until I thank each and every person I stayed with along the way.  What these friends, family, and strangers did for me, and with me, will never be forgotten.  Simple words seem not enough.

 

WORDS SEEM NOT ENOUGH

By Kathleen Martens

September 26, 2015

 

Simple words seem not enough

To express my thanks to you.

All because of friends and family

My one wish came true.

 

My actual dream was to see

Once again all those I love.

It was my joy to visit each,

But your love went far above.

 

Each and every place I stayed

In memory I hold dear.

Wonderful thoughts I will hold

To reminiscence year after year.

 

Thank you for such hospitality

That you so freely shared.

Your time was like pure gold to me

And showed me that you cared.

 

And now nostalgia rears its head

As I think about the recent past,

With hope that my thanks to you

In your heart will forever last.

 

There are still so many places to remember along my way.  I will finish at a later date to give my thanks to each and every one who had a part and made it possible for me to visit those I love.  There were so many I did not have opportunity to see for various reasons and that will forever be a loss to me.  I am just so thankful for all that I did have chance to visit.  Thanks for letting me relive my travels in this evening’s blog.

I shall now see if I can salvage this day and “feel accomplished” before bed time.  Perhaps I shall take another nap.  Now that would be an accomplishment.

God bless you, and good night. 

Friday September 25 2015  CALM OR CHAOS

A long day, so a short blog.  My friend Lana and her husband are safely settled in their new housing situation in Columbus.  Dave and I picked up Lana’s husband at the airport at 4:30 this afternoon and then drove over to Olbrich Botanical Gardens to enjoy the summer evening before going to dinner.  That didn’t last too long because the buildings in the garden were closed and there were no available restrooms.  With two women, that ended the garden session.  So we went to dinner.  A place in downtown Madison called Tubbs Tacos.  It has been there for years and I have never noticed it before.  It was absolutely amazing.  The selections were delicious, reasonably priced, with fresh local organic produce and fresh meats with a wide variety of picks on the menu.  I highly recommend it if you enjoy Mexican cuisine.   Very interesting menu.

Our day started out early with a workout at the gym and then a trip to St. Vincent’s in Madison.  We had a great time shopping for our one of a kind apparel.  We all left very hungry and went home and had lunch.  We all cleaned up and then took off for the airport and the rest of the day described above.  It all sounds so simple and not very long to do.  WRONG.  Everything uses up time so quickly.  And now I am at the end of the day trying to stay awake at the computer while I type.  Tomorrow I hope to sleep in.

While at St. Vinney’s I met a delightful lady, and you guessed it, I asked her for her wisdom.  She gave me some great wisdom and when I asked her if I could quote her in my blog she said no.  I finally received her permission to use her wisdom as long as I didn’t use her name.  Here is her wisdom:

“CALM…

OR…

CHAOS. 

YOU CHOOSE.”

I found this wisdom to be quite personal for her.  As I thought about her statement I realized her choice of words went strong and deep in her life.  As she spoke her words she lifted first her left hand, looked at it, and spoke forcefully “CALM”.  Then she lifted her right hand and emphatically said “CHAOS” and then looked me in the eye and strongly spoke her words, “YOU CHOOSE”.  I wish I knew the rest of her story.    I so choose the “calm”.

 

CALM OR CHAOS, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE?

By Kathleen Martens

September 25, 2015

 

Calm or chaos, what do you choose?

It’s your response that will win or lose.

Slow to anger is a good sign

That with calm your spirit aligns.

 

And when you stay calm

Tranquility ensues

With peaceful rest

That is always renewed.

 

Disorder the fruit when chaos reigns,

And to others you may cause pain.

Confusion and bedlam rears its head

Until inside, your heart feels dead.

 

So what is best when you must decide?

How to self do you confide?

When undergoing turmoil and all its commotion

Choose peace, and sweet emotion.

 

Think not on self but on the Provider of Peace

Who calms troubled souls with sweet release.

Allow confusion to depart from your day,

As cool composure settles in to stay.

 

CALM…OR…CHAOS…

WHAT

DO

YOU

CHOOSE?

 

Tonight I will stay calm by allowing my bed to lure me into peaceful slumber.  I choose CALM.

 

THANK YOU ANONOMOUS LADY FOR YOUR RICH INSIGHT AS TO THE CHOICES THAT ARE OURS.

Good night and God bless you.

P.S.  I enclosed a photo of Dave and I taken today at Olbrich Gardens.

Wednesday September 24 2015  ALAS, I AM NOT PERFECT

 

I am not perfect.  Never have been.  Never will be while on this earth.  But someday I will be perfect.  That will be the day I enter into heaven.  Until then, I will make mistakes, bad judgments, things won’t always go as I planned, but I will tell you one thing.  Even when those things happen I will try to remedy the mistakes, learn from them, make better judgment calls in the future, and try to plan more accordingly to what I am capable of doing.  Especially, now that I am aging.  I am like a toddler going backwards.  While a toddler is learning to walk he/she gets back up over and over and tries again.  Eventually, the child will learn to walk and go on to even greater achievements, little by little as they will test their boundaries and try new things.  Do they always make the best decisions?  Not really, but they keep at it until they can accomplish what they set out to do.  For them it might mean climbing on a chair, or greater heights, like the kitchen counter.  They keep on, keeping on.

As a “toddler going backwards” it means that there are things I’d like to do but no longer have the ability to do.  Do I just cave in and decide to quit?  No.  I keep on, keeping on, until the day comes when I can no longer accomplish what I set out to do.  I don’t let one misjudgment of time, or intensity of work, cause me to sit down and go no farther.  No, I press forward to see what I CAN do.  But someday the time will come when I may not ever again be able to climb as high as I used to, or walk as far as I used to. And that is when I slow my pace a bit.  Regardless of what I must give up along the way, I will keep pressing forward to ensure that I can no longer do it before I give up trying.  The toddler presses forward.  Old age hangs on to the tug of war rope for as long as possible until the opponent of time pulls them across the line.

Yes, yesterday was a bit helter skelter as far as amount of things I needed to accomplish and my timing limitations.  It happened in an unintended way.  And when things started mushrooming I decided I could muster what it took for the challenge, rather than let the day get the best of me.  And besides, what happened was really no big deal when I look at the scheme of what it means to my entire life.  So today I rested.  Well, at least for a while.

This day has been a blessed day.  A time to share with my friend as I hosted a luncheon for her and her friend.  Lana’s friend offered to give Lana a foot massage before lunch.  They went into the sun room for a time together as I prepared lunch.  Lana’s time here is so limited and today was planned so she could visit as many friends as possible.  When I found out Lana was coming I wanted this to be a pampering time for her.  Lana has been fighting breast cancer for several years and her cancer reared its head again a few months ago.  She has been working about 20 hours a week with therapies, both physical and nutritional to shrink the cancer marker numbers and the tumor.  The numbers are lowering and she can now have the surgery she needs.  Her numbers should be low enough by November for her mastectomy.  She has been under a lot of stress and pain.  Please pray for her total recovery.

Lunch was awesome (I will say no more) and afterwards I prepared for the open house that started at 3:00 p.m.  Lana had a wonderful turnout of friends, and once again had the opportunity to visit with those she loves.  We closed up shop at 7:00 p.m.  We had dinner and she is now tucked in bed as I sit and type at 9:51 p.m.  Dave is reading in the next room as he patiently waits to help me proof read this blog.

Though I have no great words of wisdom tonight I did ask one of Lana’s friends, Diane, what her wisdom is.  She quickly responded: “Enjoy your parents while they’re around.”

I thought this was very sound wisdom.  My parents are no longer living.  My father died when I was 17 years old and my mother died in 2010 at the age of 91.  There are times when I so wish I could call my mother for just one more time to talk.  One thing I know for certain, I will enjoy my children while I’m still around!  AND MY GRANDCHILDREN!!!  And even my granddogs!  I just truly hope that they will enjoy me.  You never get too old to desire being cherished.

 

A PARENT’S LOVE

By Kathleen Martens

September 24, 2015

 

A parent’s love for their newborn child

Is a love that never parts.

It only grows more each year

Deeper in their hearts.

 

Children grow and walk away,

Loving parents the best they can.

Only when they become mom or dad

Are they really able to understand.

 

It is then that they experience

How deep a parent’s love goes.

They see mom and dad with new eyes

Because now they really know.

 

The above poem was inspired by the words of wisdom from Diane.

 

Another short blog.  My husband is fortunate.  Not too much to proof.

God bless and keep you in your tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday September 23 2015  ME AND MY IDEAS

It would be such an easier life if it wasn’t for some of my ideas.  I am always interested in so many things and so many people and so many books and so many new recipes and so many, so many, so many, etc…etc…  And they are all wonderful at the time.  What I forget to remember, is that if I take on something new, then I must give up something I already do.  I don’t seem to have learned that yet.  I just keep trying to do it all.  Somehow it all gets done, but sometimes it takes a mighty long time.

I’m still working on my metal tobacco table that I purchased in early August.  I finally realized that I did not like the looks of it after I scraped the paint and the rust off.  So I perceived the bright idea of having it sandblasted.  Remember me mentioning that our life here in Wisconsin is predicated by the season?  I knew I had to get this table done this week or at the latest, next week, due to the weather changing soon.  So, I called Stripmaster Sandblasting Company yesterday, and yes, it could be sandblasted, and it could be done tomorrow (which meant today September 23^rd).  Also, remember that I told you my friend was coming in at the airport this afternoon and I was to pick her up and then make a dinner for her and a friend she invited.  The man at the sandblasting business said if I brought it in early it would be ready by midday.  No problem I thought, I could just pick it up next week.  WRONG.  When I dropped it off (my alarm woke me at 6:00 a.m. to take it in) this morning the man told me he would have it finished for pick up later and he would call and make arrangements as to when I could be there to pick it up.  I didn’t understand that I didn’t have the option of another day, just the option as to what time I would pick it up before noon today.  He then informed me that I would need to have the primer coat on the metal before nightfall or the steel would oxidize and immediately start rusting again.

So, best laid plans flew out the window.  I had a lot to do in a little time.  Went back home, broke my fast, and picked up the copies of time-sensitive legal material that needed to be mailed today and another batch that needed to be dropped off at a destination across town.  I then left the house to go to the gym for a short workout.  Then I proceeded on my rounds, stopped at one store for an item which I forgot yesterday that I needed for company dinner tonight, then to the hardware store to pick up the rust-oleum, next the carwash, then on to Costco, and then to drop off the legal papers, and barely made it back to the Stripmaster Sandblasting Company before they closed at noon..  And you got it!  When I arrived home I had to then clean the two pieces of metal and start spraying rust inhibitor on everything.  I did three coats on one side, went to the airport to pick up my friend, came home and while I was preparing the guest cuisine, finished spraying two coats on the opposite sides of the metal.  Now the pieces that started with an idea are safely tucked in my garage, comfortably coated with primer to protect their 150 year old designs.  And I didn’t even mention all the last minute details that had to be accomplished when expecting an out of town friend and then a number of her friends the next day.  Well, to be truthful, not exactly everything was accomplished.  But that’s okay, my friend still loves me.  Oh yes, I don’t want to forget to mention I rested today also, for fifteen minutes!

Lana’s in bed, I’m writing, and Dave is still out on the town (it’s Wednesday).   I too hope to be in bed soon.

 

SO SOON THE DAY IS OVER

By Kathleen Martens

September 23, 2015

 

So soon the day is over

And it seems to go so quick.

And all that I did becomes a blur

Especially the words I pick.

 

All I actually desire to do

Is write a little poem for my blog.

But my thoughts say I am too tired,

And my brain seems to be in a fog.

 

So I will wish my friends good night,

And say have a great tomorrow.

Try to live each day to the fullest,

And never from the future borrow.

 

Use up today for all its worth,

For it expires all too soon.

Think of these 24 hours

As its own personal room.

 

Tomorrow can never again recall

What was yesterday left undone.

So use each day that is the present

By utilizing all its fun,

 

And then when you say goodnight,

You will have no regrets

Because you did all you could

And you have no need to fret.

 

And that says it all!

Good night and God bless you.

P.S.  Need I say that I used up my day, every minute of it?

 

 

 

Tuesday September 22, 2015  BLOG OR JOB?

 

I should be working.  Simple statement. Big job.  But…I would rather blog first.  So, since I am a woman of reason I decided to do what I like to do first because I know for certain that I will still have to do the “job” and will somehow get it done.  If I do the job first I may run out of time or energy to blog.

So what is the BIG JOB?  It is the one job in my house that I like the least.  If I ever win the lottery ticket I will pay someone else to do it for me.  We have lots and lots of tiled floors in our house and it takes a long time to clean them.  That is what I must do, TODAY.  My friend Lana is coming tomorrow and I must have my floors clean and sparkling before she arrives.  So now that you know what my job is, let’s get down to what I want to write.

I actually do not know what I want to write.  I’m just stalling for time to see if anything pops into my head.  Nothing yet, but let’s see what I can come up with.  It has been a busy day, every moment taken up with something, but not a great day of accomplishments. I just now went downstairs to put a second rise on my shower curtain that is in the washing machine.  I need to get that rehung so Dave can take a shower in a bit.  So that will be at least one accomplishment.  I always wash the shower curtain before overnight company arrives. 

Dave and I had a conference call this morning regarding legal matters and that took up a portion of our morning.  We then went to the gym, then to the store, and home for a later than normal lunch.  Since then time has just disappeared. 

 

WHEN TIME DISAPPEARS

By Kathleen Martens

September 22, 2015

 

What to do when time disappears?

How do you hold it in place?

No matter how hard you try,

 How do you beat the race?

 

Work has a way of piling up,

Always so many better things to do.

And time just keeps marching on

As if it doesn’t care about you.

 

If I could put time in my pocket

And pull it out whenever I need,

It would be like living in paradise,

If I could make time heed.

 

But alas, it has a mind of its own

And keeps running when I sit,

And all that needs to be done,

Cannot be accomplished quick.

 

So I ponder to work it out,

What exactly must I do?

Then I have it figured clearly,

Just have no clock in view.

 

Well to be truthful I did get a few things done.  I’m just not allowed to mention it.  Oh yes, I do have something worthwhile to tell you.  Remember the metal table I purchased a while ago?  Well, I worked and worked at scraping and scrubbing and trying to clean it up.  The more paint that I removed, the less I liked it.  I finally sat down and called to find out how much it would cost to have it sandblasted so I could start over with a near new finish.  The price was very reasonable.  Now remember how heavy I told you that table was (and still is).  I knew Dave should not help me lift it.  I asked the lady next door if she would help me get it in the car so I can deliver it to the shop tomorrow at 6:30 a.m.. She came over and we two muscle-women put it in the rear of my car and it is ready to go.  I haven’t told Dave yet because I have no time in my pocket right now and he is out mowing and I am in here keyboarding.  I’ll try to remember to tell him before he proofs my blog and finds out by reading it.  I already made the mistake of perturbing someone else because they found out a certain bit of information via the blog and I had failed to call them.  Or at least they think I failed to call them.  We did call and leave a message but I suppose it didn’t get to her.  I certainly do not want to make anyone upset with me about anything I write.  I’m saving that for my next blog that I will be posting next year.  The name of that blog is:  The Opinion You Did Not Ask For.  My son asked me what I was going to put on the blog.  I simply said, “My opinion, of course”.  I figure that may irk a few people.  But I will force no one to read my blogs.  I think I will have open forum on the blog next year.  (I just hope I’ll be able to get it done by next year).

Well, my floors await.  I know that this is a short and uninformative blog but please know that I just wanted to come and say hello.  Sometimes if I get my blog posted too late I have comments about people being worried about me because of past health issues.  Please do not worry.  There may even be days coming up that my blog will not be posted due to my traveling plans.  Even if I can’t write an essay I’ll try to at least say hello and good by on each day so you’ll know I am still kicking.

I shall go now and do my back breaking labor.  Sometimes a small house would be such a delight.  And I mean that from my heart!

God bless you and good night.

 

 

 

 

Sunday Sabbath September  20 2015  REMEMBER THE SABBATH TO KEEP IT HOLY

 

I like that verse in the Bible that says to remember the Sabbath and to rest on the Sabbath.  I haven’t always been faithful to the resting part but I do believe the Sabbath is a Holy Day.  It is a day when my heart is turned to God so that I will always be reminded of his love and protection over me.  It reminds me that God loves me so much that He sacrificed His Son to atone for my sins.  I so desire to know more and more about the character of God.  It says in Isaiah that the entire universe fits in the span of God’s hand.  Can you imagine a God that big?  I am still studying the prophecies in Isaiah and find them totally interesting and fascinating.  What is so interesting to me is the way the speaker (Damian Kyle from Calvary Chapel Modesto) presents the verses as well as verifying the facts from the prophesies to situations that are now happening in the middle east, down to the geopolitical moves that are currently transpiring.  There is no fear for me when I study the scriptures regarding all the things yet to come.  I realize that God is so in control and I do not need to fear.  Actually, so many of the prophecies have already been fulfilled.  There are still many more to come.  If I did not know the God orchestrating the coming events I would be quaking in my boots.  But, like I said, I need not fear.  God has already promised and fulfilled my eternal salvation through the death of Jesus on the cross.  HOW AMAZING IS THAT.  I know I have said this before, but if you have ever wondered about the prophetic scriptures yet to be fulfilled, go to Isaiah and Revelation taught by Damian Kyle that I mentioned above.  Go to the “THRU THE BIBLE” tab.

So today is the Sabbath and I choose to keep it Holy.  Today I will rest and tonight I will attend a beautiful concert our church is hosting to sing and give praise to our Father above.  Thus, I am writing this blog extra early so I may come home and go to  bed.

Dave and I just played a card game called 9 Hole Golf.  Just thought I would tell you that I won!  We are practicing for our Ladies verses Men tournament in Branson.  I cleaned his clock today if you know what I mean.  Now I am not being proud or anything, just stating the facts.  (Husband is proof reading for me and this is his comment regarding my last sentence, “Yeah, right!” (Spoken with a growl).

I have nothing else planned for this day (God may have surprises for me) except to lie down a bit and rest my back.  I was hoping this “old age stuff” would just pass me by but it doesn’t appear it will happen that way.  I think I need a little bit more education to see how it is supposed to be done.  Actually, I think it would be a great thing if women would get together in groups, based on age, in order to mentor those younger.  Everyone’s teacher would be someone who is 20 years older than themselves.  All the secrets would be revealed, all the “unmentionables” mentioned and a bit more education of what it is like to be 20 years older.  We could then in turn be teachers to those who are about 20 years younger than ourselves.  I know we all age a bit at varying rates according to our genetics and lifestyle, diet, drinking, smoking, exercise, and attitude.  I still think a general study of what is physically changing in our bodies, minds, and psyche would be an excellent place to start learning so we could prepare for what is to come.  The problem being, is that a lot of women may be too much like me, and need to live the experience in order to learn it thoroughly.  I learn best by experience and hands on contact.

Even though I learn by experience, I did know enough a few years ago to prepare for my aging.  I knew I needed repair on several parts of my body.  I put it off for as long as possible and then decided the time had come.  I had both rotator cuffs repaired.  I had major foot surgery on one of my feet because I could barely walk and doing weddings was extremely difficult.  I had a breast reduction because I was tired of my back and shoulders hurting me so much.  I suffered through a most agonizing and difficult recovery of a thumb/wrist joint replacement because I had so much pain in my disintegrating bones of my left hand.  That surgery was absolutely the most painful thing I have ever experienced (that is until I remember when I had to have my jaw bones operated on and my mouth wired shut for six weeks).  After the wrist replacement it took about six months of grueling therapy to recover the use of my thumb.  The jaw surgery about two months.  I often wondered if the jaw surgery was so painful because I couldn’t speak for six weeks.  I also needed repair work on the outside edges of my eyes because I no longer had peripheral vision because of a fold of skin that drooped and covered he outer edges.   The surgery wasn’t painful, but because of the surgery I had to have a second follow-up surgery that could have cost me my life or the removal of my left eye.  I ended up with a drug resistant bacteria in the wound and was extremely ill for quite a while.  All the above was done in order to improve the quality of my life as I aged.  I knew once I entered into Medicare years the above surgeries might not qualify for payment.

I also needed bunion surgery. I had my surgery date and went in for the preoperative appointment, had an x-ray, and then was told I couldn’t have the surgery.  The x-ray showed that I was missing two bones in each foot and there would be nothing to anchor the bones to after the bones were realigned.  Because of all the things in my body that have fallen apart my husband likes to tease me that when God made me he saw a pile o f “seconds” that had been tossed aside and decided He could make me out of them.  When I came home and told him about the two bones missing in my feet he looked at me and said in all seriousness, “Wow, I knew you were made out of “seconds” but I didn’t know that God had run out of parts”.  So we laugh at the analogy.

Well, my retirement years are greeting me with bells and whistles.  It’s as if your body knows when you retire and when Medicare begins and then just starts crumbling, slowly for some, faster for others.  Well, I am doing everything I can to push back a bit.  So far I have lost weight, eat healthy, exercise, meditate, have a great attitude about life, go to bed earlier, and now I have decided that I must now rest during the day.  I rest, but not because I want to, and on most days don’t even feel as if I need to, but I try to do it anyway.  I realize however, that resting is accumulative.  It is sort of like being a baby again.  Remember back to your parenting days with infants and toddlers.  Every once in a while a nap could be skipped without too great a repercussion.  However, try to skip two days in a row of napping and you have a melt down on your hands.  And that is how it is as we age.  I can go and go and go and then I crash.  My crashing consists of becoming dizzy and my heart being out of rhythm.  I am seeing a bit of a pattern and I realize now that RESTING DAILY is essential for me, just as is was for my babies.  It might not be what I want to do, but…it is a necessity. 

I will close, leaving you with the above wisdom to do whatever you so like.  If you are twenty years younger than me, then enjoy these next twenty years or so.  If you are twenty years older than me, send me some insight as to what it will be like for me when I’m approaching 90.  If you are only 10 years older you can just tell me what is happening to you now but spare me the gruesome details.  Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

If I live long enough, I guess I’ll just find out for myself.

So…enjoy this day, regardless of  your age or health or size or attitude.  FOR THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE AND I CERTAINLY DO NOT WANT TO WASTE IT!  I’ll go rest now.

I almost forgot to write my poem.  I can rest my body but it is nearly impossible to rest my thoughts.  I hope I can think for a long time to come!  Today I am going to post a poem I wrote in 2011. 

 

YOUR LIFE YOUR CHOICE

By Kathleen Martens

March 23, 2011

 

As you walk

Down the road of life

You’ll encounter joy

And you’ll encounter strife.

 

Decision made

Consequences yours,

Reaping benefits

Or settling scores.

 

What you do

Is your choice,

To be silent

Or give word a voice.

 

What do you desire

To accomplish in living?

A life of selfishness?

Or a life of giving?

 

The struggles you live,

Do strength impart.

Wisdom of life

Instilled in your heart.

 

Without temptation

No growth made.

And part of you

Would only fade.

 

Under trial

Self control grows,

Walk tall in God’s sight

And your maturity shows.

 

The easy road

Not always right.

It may lead to darkness

And not the light.

 

With best foot forward

Hand in God’s

Your steps will be firm

Upon this sod.

 

To live is Christ

To die is gain.

He’ll take the sorrow

He’ll cover your pain.

 

God is the answer

Through all we live.

Surrender to Him,

As your life you give.

 

Just in case I don’t get back to you I will say have a great rest of your day (no pun intended) and a wonderful tomorrow.

 

9:48 p.m.

I’m back.  It is past my bedtime and I thought to write a little poem today on my Sunday Sabbath to honor my King

 

YOUR SABBATH PLAN

By Kathleen Martens

September 20, 2015

 

Thank you Lord

For Your Sabbath Day

I’ll follow Your plan

For I like Your way.

 

I will rest

And give honor to You.

As I praise Your name

And Your plan ensue.

 

God Bless you.