Poetry Friday: Angels Among Us, Angels Above Us

Head over to Penny Parker Klostermann's blog, 

for this week's round-up of poetic goodness.  

Thanks, Penny, for hosting this week!

I'm a sometime poet and a frequent procrastinator.  A friend reminded me at church on Sunday that it was my turn to write the message for our monthly women's newsletter.  I assured her that it was on my schedule for Sunday, and I would get it to her soon. Somehow, Sunday got away from me, and Monday was spent laboring with my daughter at the hospital.  Then I found myself at home after grandson's arrival on Tuesday morning, needing to write the message.  Since I write the message once a quarter, I keep a file of ideas that I collect and refer to for inspiration.   As I flipped through the file, nothing seemed quite right.  And that's how I found myself composing a poem for the message.  I grew up with a mother who definitely believed in angels.  This is my meditation on angels.  

Angels Among Us, Angels Above Us

A December meal together,

angel decorations at each table.

But the most beautiful angels

decorating the room

are the sisters among us.

We celebrate angel actions,

blessings that come

as sister angels serve and

reach out to bless our lives

with loving care.

A January morning

I reflect on the spirit child

who will soon join our family.

I send a plea to my mother,

“Give him up, Mom.  Send him our way.”

I peer into Jack’s wide open eyes

and think of the spirit world

so freshly left behind.

I ponder the poet’s words,

“Trailing clouds of glory do we come . . . ”

I pick up the February Ensign.

The cover art,

She Will Find What Is Lost,

takes my breath away.

Angel hands reach out in love.

Our beloved apostle, Jeffrey R. Holland, confirms:

“Angels are still sent to help us. . . .

I testify of angels,

both the heavenly and the mortal kind.”

Angels above us, angels among us. 

- Ramona Behnke

She Will Find What Is Lost  (I'm not trying to sell the print, but I wanted to share the image I saw on the cover of our monthly church magazine, the Ensign.) http://www.latterdayhome.com/products/b-kershisnik-she-will-find-what-is-lost-framed-print-no-glass  I love what the artist, Brian Kershisnik, had to say about this painting:   "...many unseen forces are interested in you, love you, and work to influence matters for your profound benefit.  Most of what we all do is resist it, misinterpret it, or mess it up, but my experience indicates that these unseen efforts persist impossibly.  I thank God for that."

“The Ministry of Angels,” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, October 2008
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/the-ministry-of-angels?lang=eng

Spiritual Journey (First) Thursday: Rise

It's the first Thursday of the month and a fine time to rise and write with friends about our spiritual journeys.  I'm delighted to join with friends to write about Leigh Ann's OLW, rise.   To read more Spiritual Journey stop by Leigh Ann's blog, Turn.

I have fond memories of a dad who sang us out of bed with the words to "I Can't Get 'Em Up" always followed by the three words "rise and shine."  He loved morning, and I've inherited that propensity.  I have a son who is also a morning person.  I love it when he comes to visit.  When I come downstairs, he's already in the family room, ready to chat with his mama.

And last night, I had the unique opportunity to rise in the middle of the night.  It was grandson Jack's first night home from the hospital.  And he needed Grandma to sing to him.  We sang hymns, lullabies, and made up songs about the blue elephant and the brown bear on his changing table.  We actually named them, an elephant named Brown and a bear named Blue.   You can get pretty silly at two in the morning!  And I felt the presence of my own Mama who came to me when my two were born and was available for those middle of the night handoffs.

Right now, I'm watching Jack sleep.  There's nothing better than watching that gentle rise and fall of a  sleeping baby's chest.

I'm reading posts from my Spiritual Journey friends and thinking about a Christmas song that came to mind this morning, "Rise Up Shepherd and Follow."  Here's a quartet rendition of the song that I found on YouTube:

I read the history of this song and learned that the first publication of it appeared in a short story with the text only.  The slaves on a Louisiana plantation were at a Christmas celebration hosted by their owner family.  During a dance, two of the slaves sang this spiritual and invited those present to join in on the refrain:

Follow, follow, follow, follow,

Rise, O sinner, rise and follow,
Follow the Savior of Bethlehem.

My OLW for this year is nourish.  One of the best ways to nourish myself spiritually is to make time for daily scripture study.  For me, the best time to do this is first thing in the morning.  It's so easy to get distracted and let other concerns take the place of my valuable study time with the word of God.  Maybe my new morning mantra should be RRP - rise, read, and pray!

Slice of Life: An Early Arrival!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, and Melanie

 for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives.

Jack Wyrill Passey

Born Jan 31, 2017

 7 lbs 15.8 oz  & 19.75" long

Jack meets Grandma and Grandpa Behnke.

Jack Wryill Passey arrived one week early.  I pulled an all nighter (except for a brief two hour nap) with the expectant parents so I could be part of the welcoming committee. We are thrilled to welcome
Sara and Will's sweet bundle of joy to our family!  

Celebrate This Week: Movies and Plays and Books, Oh My!

                             Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres. 

                                                      When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy.

 

A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember! 

A movie, a play, a movie, and a play.  It's been an indulgent week.   Monday night we met Sara and Will at the theater to see "Hidden Figures."  Wednesday afternoon I went to the Rep with a friend to see "Woody Sez."   Friday afternoon we went to the movies again.  This time to see "Fences."  And today we have tickets for the matinee of "The King and I" at the Paramount.  If you haven't seen Hidden Figures yet, go!  Woody Sez, about the life and music of Woody Guthrie was delightful (especially for this homegrown Oklahoma girl).   "Fences" was thought provoking and intense.  We saw the play years ago in Houston.  And today, after "The King and I," I'll be humming those familiar tunes.  All in all, it's been a great way to spend the week.  Can you tell I'm avoiding the real world for now?  

We belong to a film club and tonight our friend Bobbi will be doing her Year in Review discussing favorite films of 2016.  That's why we were "forced" to fit in two movies this week that we'd been meaning to see.  

I also celebrate our Three Musketeers occasional book club.  When two good friends moved away, we set up a google chat book club.  It's always a challenge to get the three of us together, but what a delight to catch up with these two dear friends over a book.  This week Coleen was in town for her annual ski trip with some other friends, so she came by my place and we connected with Renae for our discussion of What Alice Forgot by Lian Moriarty.  Next up is The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton.  (I was a bit sneaky suggesting this title since it's what I'm reading for my other book club.)  

And as always, I celebrate our friend, Ruth, and this community of friends who come together weekly to look for and celebrate the good in our lives.  

Slice of Life: Newbery Joy at Book Club!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, and Melanie

 for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives.

Every January or February, I attend a favorite event in my pjs from the comfort of my own bed.  It begins at 8 am so when it occurs on the east coast, I'm up before 5 am to be sure that my computer is working and all is in order for me to watch the live feed of the Youth Media Awards from the ALA mid-winter conference.  

I've hosted Mock Newbery groups for more than a decade, first in my classroom and now for three years in our after school book club, Books, Brownies & Beyond.  We partner with the children's librarians at KCLS (King County Library System).  Each fall they select some titles for a Mock Newbery list and encourage classroom teachers to utilize the list with students as they examine Newbery possibilities.  This year the KCLS Mock Newbery books were Wolf Hollow, The Wild Robot, Ms. Bixby's Last Day, and The Inquisitor's Tale.  I added four additional Mock Newbery titles for the students in our after school book club:  Pax, Some Kind of Courage, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, and In the Shadow of Liberty.  

We follow a balloting system that was provided to me several years ago by one of our community librarians.  Each member votes for three books, a first, second, and third choice.  The ballots are counted according to a point system:  first choice books receive four points; second choice books, three points; and third choice books, two points.  Last week, our book club voted for our top three titles in our Mock Newbery election.  Wolf Hollow and The Girl Who Drank the Moon tied for first place.  The next book was only one vote behind those two titles.  So The Inquisitor's Tale was named our Mock Newbery Honor book.  

Fast forward to book club this afternoon as we watched the Youth Media Awards.  It took quite a while to get to the Newbery announcement.  The students were thrilled to learn that The Girl Who Drank the Moon, one of our titles that tied for our Mock Newbery, won the actual Newbery Award.  And that our other two favorite titles - Wolf Hollow and The Inquisitor's Tale - both received Newbery Honor status.

And I'm excited to report that my search after Monday morning's award ceremony yielded some important information.  In 2018 the ALA mid-winter conference will be held in Denver and the following year in 2019, it will be in Seattle.  So no more 5 am alarms to watch the book awards (at least for the next two years)!

Celebrate This Week: More Loose Ends!

                            Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres. 

                                                      When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy.

 

A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember!

Sometimes procrastination serves us well!  Because I hadn't sent my postcard poems out, I had the perfect activity for Friday.  I relished the time to handwrite notes to poetry friends.  I immersed myself in the hopeful words of two past inaugural poets -

Elizabeth Alexander and Richard Blanco.

I appreciate the lady at Wal-Mart who tried to help me print the image a friend had created for my haiku.  When that failed, she walked me through the steps to add my own text to the pic.

I'm thankful to my friend who shared her pic of our

New Year's Day dusting of snow to accompany my haiku.

I loved this comment from Kristi on Tuesday's Slice of Life:  "Yippee for tying up loose ends! Congratulations and what will you get to do next, now that this is taken care of?"   

Her words nudged me to some productive tying up: 

I finished my Christmas thank you notes.  I took care of another long overdue thank you note.  I finished up a couple of care packages
that never got mailed before the holidays.

(As you can tell, I excel at procrastinating!)  

I enjoyed the last of the nuts from our Christmas stockings.  This nut bowl is one of the treasured items from my youth.  It has the power to transport me to my ten-year old self seated beside my daddy learning how to crack a brazil nut so that it comes out in one piece.  I never managed that this year, but the last one I cracked came out in three pieces that I put back together

in honor of those happy memories.  

Because my son-in-law was on an outing with the Scouts, 

I enjoyed a sleepover at daughter's house on Friday night. 

We're looking forward to sweet baby boy's arrival 

sometime in the next three weeks!

Slice of Life: Tying Up Loose Ends!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Lisa, and Melanie

 for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives.

One of the things we do on our Christmas card is to note important events of the past year.  Author Irene Latham's visit to our middle school was listed this year along with grandson Teddy's first visit to Seattle.  

As I cleaned up a bit before the holidays, I guiltily unearthed a green banner completed by the members of our after school book club with their thoughts about Irene's visit.  My slice of life on October 4th summarized Irene's visit to the Seattle area and her stop at our middle school.   I linked to padlets created by one of our ELA teachers and promised a forthcoming padlet that would record my takeaways from both presentations and responses from the students in our after school book club.  

So that is the loose end that today's slice refers to and here's the link to the padlet with my notes and the responses from members of Books, Brownies, and Beyond (who were treated to a special session with our visiting author).  The banner was reduced to small snippets of paper that I cut off the banner and then photographed.  I hope you'll enjoy this late share of quotes from Irene's visit and student responses.  I know I'm enjoying the relief that comes from finally taking care of this obligation.  Better late than never, right?