Advent Joy

Joy Stamp Reflected

John enjoyed creating cards with hand carved linoleum cuts.
This greeting read, "May your joy be complete" reflecting
Jesus' words found in John 15 (vs11) and 16 (vs 24)

(Of course the stamp is carved in the negative, so
the photo above is a reflection in the mirror.)

John's linoleum cut stamp for greeting:
May your Joy be Complete

~ Advent ~

Advent offers time to thankfully reflect on a

gift given so many years ago yet with us daily

and on the endless echoes of that gift exchanged

throughout the year: human kindness reflecting

Godde’s Love

JoMae

12/2/19

Remembrance

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Remembrance

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of John’s death.  I love this print and share because it expresses so eloquently the loss of one’s spouse. The artist, James Browne can be found at https://www.etsy.com/shop/brownieman 

Artist: JamesBrowne

John's Tree

~ John’s String Tree ~

for years it was a string tree he had designed

and painstakingly rebuilt every December
then carefully stored away until the next

later, when age no more allowed the reach

atop the pole, came a huge three part bargain

decorated, yet too unwieldy to assemble at eighty

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the building of the tree

was often agony for me

the reason for my angst:

the stringing of the tree!

that old beloved tree, created in youth

of a tall bamboo pole, pegboard strips

screwed into a circle and Aunt Lydia’s

rug yarn (always patiently rewound

into a big green ball) was a bear

to put together every year

it was a puzzle to decipher worn instruction

 notes, frustration if a crucial peg were missing

or some gadget didn’t fit the way it should, while

five excited children sought to help - so eager
for the finished product they remembered

which was

a festive tree to grace our living room each

Christmas - sometimes with a train around it

always with the paper angels wafting to and fro

as if dancing to the music of the shepherd’s pipes

waiting above a growing pile of tantalizing parcels

JoMae

12/14/19

HaHa - I daydream a lot. And some dreams morph into a memory to keep.  JmkS

Silent Grace

~ Silent Grace ~

My world is wrapped in written words these days

some that I write; some gifts from far away

each breaking into the silence of my day

with joyful noise, a hug, a quiet smile

to say what they must say to let me

think a while, in thanks pay honor

to the giver of all blessings, all

silent seeds to nurture and

mature with loving grace

my cup is overflowing

Thanks be to Godde

Amen

JoMae

12/7/19

Wondering

~ I Wonder ~

Did Godde see I needed this time alone

to grapple with the questions I used to

ask wrestling with my preacher Dad? 

Was this unwanted present a gift of

Grace LOVE knew would benefit my

pondering soul with silent time to think?

time for this old book worm to curl up

with Word Godde un-interrupted by

that loved human voice now gone 

time to mine deeply rooted lessons

planted in days long gone - now nurtured

in new answers first formed on Mother’s lap

yet always re-forming through the years

as new questions rose to challenge --

to clarify old answers with new

Wondering

JoMae

12/5/19

Frozen Glaze

~ Freezing Days ~

My world has been

painted in disappearing

ink etching every surface

glowing bright in morning sun

reflecting one last burst of beauty

before melting under its warm gaze

The Frozen Glaze

JoMae

12/8/19

My Woods

Recalling summer on this frigid day all draped in white.

(ran across this piece while sorting files this morning)
Enjoy!

~ My Woods ~

my lovely shallow woods

where sunset filters leafy shadowed

silhouettes onto stately trunks of pine

and last light of dusk reflects the

glory of a summer day

JoMae

7/28/19

Morning Thanks

~ Morning Thanks ~

Good morning dear MotherFather Godde.

Thank you for walking with me again this day.

Please guide my way, my actions, work and play 

grant wisdom in my thoughts and all I say

all this I pray in Jesus’ name

Amen

JoMae

11/25/19

This morning something prompted me to notice that the prayer of a Christian asking Godde to be with them each day might also be framed as a thank you. We who believe and trust already, know Christ’s presence is always with us. (Even though we are apt to mindlessly take it for granted far too often.)  

I’m thinking that ask is akin to a child daily requesting her mother to be her mother - asking for something that is already a fact. So I’m changing my prayer. I know Christ’s Presence is with me always.  Even when I’m prone to wander or forget; fail to honor that reality, Christ’s Grace is holding me. Through marvelous moments or unthinkable misery - and I am deeply thankful.  

Widowed

John & JoMae 8/29/1959

~ Widowed ~

Grief is a huge transition

the loss of all familiar patterns

in one’s life - the universe has shifted

you feel oddly out of place without your love

for half of you is missing, one shoe has fallen off

Grief is also metamorphosis

a long slow patient process while

the butterfly is forming - while seeds of

life are sprouting preparing buds to flower

watch  notice  trust - new life will form in you

Trust the seed within a tragedy

buried in unexpected change that

devastates  and lays you low - please

know this, deep sparks will quietly emerge

first unseen, their glow will one day blossom in

New Life

JoMae

11/18/19

Sharing what I’ve learned so far as I consider the next leg of this journey. Soon it will be three years since John died. I am so thankful for the blessing these quiet solitary days (at first so strange and unbearable) have become.  Somehow, since that awful day, my lifelong haphazard hobby of journaling began to pour out in a new rhythm. I find great comfort and joy in the writing. Waking each day eager to know what will come.

Then, if it feels right to me, I post with a prayer that perhaps my words will bring courage to someone. ‘Casting bread upon the waters,’ as a friend said long ago of her own work.  

So here are the words that came knocking this morning - distracting me from what I was reading, demanding to be written down.  Enjoy!

Autumn Snow

11/13/19

~ Early Autumn Snow Storm ~

dead leaves are falling on the snow

a pristine white quilt has lost its glow

smudged in early dusk of late afternoon

reminding that tomorrow’s wished for thaw

will bear with it a mess before its wintry claw

releases to return a sense of order to our world 

JoMae

11/14/19

My large viburnum, still holding their leaves, are bent way over - noses in the snow.