Memorial Day was set aside
to honor our family's dead.
Those who in uniform died
honored for the soil they tread,
given a bit more recognition
because they defended us too.
If they were fallen in combat,
talk of ways they served true
was joined and tucked in a bonnet
for remembrance again a year hence.
Others, remembered for who they were--
a good word said that did not mince
the contributions one did confer.
The family plot was decorated
with flowers, artificial and planted--
and flags for special honor granted.
Now the day is thought special
as the first summer get-away for fun.
No thought is given to things stressful,
and no history of family is spun.
Persons in our past are mostly forgotten
and no day is set aside to remember
special service or skills they were totin'.
Many get away in a fifth-wheel camper;
while others prefer to pitch a tent
and build a campfire for their supper.
Yet others prefer a more modern bent
with room to let and meals served proper.
The day is now a summer holiday
with a forward view far and away
from the memory of our yesterday.
As a kid, I remember an early rising
with a picnic to pack for the family,
visiting graveyard plots of those resting
and decorating each resting spot nicely.
The noon-time meal was specially planned
with contributions by a multitude of kin.
The spread of food was home-cooked or -canned
with favorites and new fare thrown in.
Before the meal a short service was given
to give thanks and mention those sleeping
in this beautiful spot 'specially chosen
for those awaiting Jesus' coming.
The day was complete after noontide fare
and visiting had finished with those there
for the remembrance and annual prayer.
tkbrownwriter — Nominated By: chasingthemaximumlife — 24 August 2020
My blog family keeps growing and is so very supportive. I am honored to be a part of the group who have been standing by my side, holding me up at times to help get me off the ground. This is my fourth nomination for The Liebster Award. https://chasingthemaximumlife.wordpress.com is such a supportive peer. Many of our peers present this type of compassion, and it is steadily growing. I really appreciate everyone’s support. Chasing has an outstanding blog. Thank You, Chasing! I am so honored to receive this award from such an amazing and uplifting peer.
Chasing just completed her 50th post and is conducting a survey of her blogging peers. So, if you have not yet seen her blog, please check it out at https://chasingthemaximumlife.wordpress.com. Be sure to take her survey while you are there. It will help her decide what type of posts to create in the future. That is what this peer support is all about–helping each other.
The Liebster Award has been created as a way for bloggers to recognize relatively new peers who create posts they deem worthy of special notice, but it is not necessarily just for new bloggers. If you know someone who has been around a while and is worthy of recognition, nominate them.
This site: https://bloggingfilter.com/liebster-award/ tells us “Liebster” is a German word which means ‘sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, enduring, and welcome’. The encouragement I receive from my peers when nominating my blog as worthy of recognition is beyond description. Again, Thank You Chasing for this nomination. I really appreciate you!
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Rules for the Liebster Award:
Thank the blogger who nominated you and give a link to her/his blog.
Answer the 11 questions asked of you.
Nominate 11 other bloggers.
Ask ‘your nominees’ 11 questions.
Notify your nominees once you have uploaded your post.
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Chasing’s questions to me:
Where do you see your blog in a year’s time?
My goal is to have a paid website within the next year. I have a lot I want to do with it and cannot do with this. I am working on new arrangement pages for some of my posts now. I really appreciate the availability of the free program WordPress offers, and I am learning a lot about the development and daily maintenance requirements. So, I can see I will need to expand to my own site in a few months, and am working steadily toward that goal.
If you could live anywhere on earth (and take whomever you wanted along), where would it be?
I have been told Jamaica is 70 degrees basically all the time. That would be a dream come true because it would be not too hot and not too cold–exactly what I need and would love. Ultimate perfection would be accomplished if I could take my children and grandchildren along. Maybe they would enjoy those temperatures as much as I.
Would you rather lose the ability to read or lose the ability to speak?
If I had to choose one or the other, losing the ability to speak would be my preference. I do not talk a lot anyway. I have been a ‘listener’ all my life. With my training in counseling, I could adjust. What I would need to say could be written. Reading is essential to continuing education and study of God’s word. Those, I cannot do without.
What’s that one negative thing you would get rid of so you can have a better life?
The apostle Paul prayed repeatedly for God to remove his ‘thorn in the flesh.’ He discusses this at some length; so, I will quote four verses below. He says it much better than I ever could.
7 — “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations, a ‘thorn in the flesh’ was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I be exalted above measure.”
8 — “Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.”
9 — “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
10 — “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong“
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (Holy Bible – New King James Version)
When I became disabled several years ago, I finally had the time to begin writing. I believe He has wanted me to write some things for many decades, but there was never time. Now, I write as a hobby and as a passion because He has given me the knowledge to do just that. I will not complain, because — like the apostle Paul — “when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Favourite thing to do when you’re sick?
Read and write. Always, since childhood, I would read and write when I was too sick to be up and about.
Would you rather be a famous director or a famous actor? And why?
I would rather be a famous director. I am very good at organizing and doing things behind the scenes. People know I am there if they need me, but I don’t have to be with each person all the time. I am not one wo likes to be in front of the camera. Family pictures were typically taken by me, not of me, and that is the way I like it. Just like ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive,’ — ‘it is also more blessed to be unseen but the effects of my presence be felt .’
Do you trust your own memory? Why or Why not?
Yes, for the most part I trust my own memory. As with everyone, when one ages recollection and recall often slow and sometimes things are remembered incorrectly. However, this can be a problem for young people too. I have been told very few times and by very few people that I don’t remember things the way they happened. In fact, most have told me I have the memory of an elephant. Suffice it to say, I could sit now and write lectures from college classes more than two and three decades ago and not miss too much. It may not be worded exactly as they worded it, but I would get the big picture complete.
Favorite guilty pleasure food?
Ooooeeeyyy, Gooooeeeeyyy, and/or Cheeewwwyyy, Chocolate, Chocolate, and more Chocolate. “Death by Chocolate Ice Cream” was invented for me, because I love all things chocolatey delicious. I don’t eat it often because it is the one food I would eat too much of. So maybe once every six months I allow myself to indulge. Other months I settle for an expensive Ice Cream Bar covered in Chocolate and Caramel — or I eat a Snickers Candy Bar. Otherwise, I am very strict with my deserts–opting for fruits mixed with my cereal, in smoothies, in salads, over French Toast, or by themselves.
Favorite appetizer?
“Spinach Artichoke Cheese Dip” from “Top of the Rock Restaurant: eleven miles south of Branson, Missouri, take a right off Highway l65 onto Highway 86. The restaurant is right there, and the resort is about two miles further off to the right. When I lived in the Branson area, I would get some of this dip about once a month–that was my treat instead of chocolate. It goes good with crackers, bread, vegetables, most anything.
Your favorite genre? Why?
I love to read — fiction, non-fiction, biographies–whatever is there. However, through the years, I have found I prefer historical fiction. It is based in reality and in something that really happened. That is why my novel is requiring so much research. It will be historical fiction.
What is your blog related wish for 2020? Your favorite genre?
Hopefully, poetry and promotion of my poetry books, is part of the reason I will move to a paid site in a few months. Also, Spirituality is a strong component to my blog posts. I want to complete the series on Jesus Ministry while He was here on earth. It is too important to leave any of it out. I want to include some essays on several topics. As I coordinate my pages, posts, and menus in a more readable manner, I am hoping to create a more unified appearance..
If you were writing a fictional novel, what genre would it be?
How has the coronavirus influenced the person you are today?
In addition to writing, do you paint, sketch, sculpt, etc.?
Is writing a passion for you, or just something to pass the time?
If you were on a deserted island with only one item, what would you choose?
On that deserted island, what would you do to survive?
Do you have a ‘number’ that seems to follow you? If so, what?
What was, or is, your favorite subject in school? Why?
If you are in the library, what section do you go to first?
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The Liebster Award is a way to be discovered but also to connect and support the blogging community. It is a great idea in promoting your own blog and those of others. Originally it was given out to blogs with less than 2000 readers, but this has slowly lowerd as the reward has gained popularity. It is now supposedly only 200 readers or less. It’s really not an arbitrary number. If you like helping other blogs, go ahead and recognize it regardless of size. This award is all about promoting and viewing other peoples blogs.
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Once again, I would like to send a great big THANK YOU to chasingthemaximumlife.wordpress.com for bestowing this honor upon me. Also, to those whom I have nominated, Thank You, for all you do to grow and support the blogging community. I extend a heartfelt thanks to each of you!
I cannot imagine what it must be like
to be in his position, having lost so much . . .
How does one rebuild after such devastation?
. . . after seeing so much suffering and misery?
. . . after opening eyes to the cruelest of cruel
and the most surreal of the most beautiful?
The pain in his facial expression, his eyes,
brings tears to mine that won't blink back.
So much planning! Will it be enough
to bring life to a town so marred by death?
Can any amount of planning or effort
to jumpstart life -- after so much death --
ever diminish or take away the pain?
The stress of shouldering so much responsibility
must overwhelm even the strongest of men at times.
One must respect, if not admire, the tenacity
of those in public office, muddling through the mire
that life has suddenly wrought -- with no warning --
no time to prepare for the insurmountable struggles
faced by all during these uncharted times.
These are the times when I look to the scriptures
for guidance and for resolution within myself.
Many specific passages come to the front of my mind,
but for this day, one can take comfort in the message
meted out in the thirteenth chapter of Romans (NKJV).
To those in positions of power during this time
of foreboding, each is to be subject and to give honor.
He or she has been burdened with the greatest load
any leader has ever known. Even war does not
wreak the havoc, pain and loss of incurable illness.
In the end, each of us, whether stricken or not,
whether impoverished or not, must answer
for deeds directed toward those in power --
for each is appointed that power by the Lord God.
Let me never forget, if characteristics needed
to address the burdens of the time were mine,
I would be there; but, I do not have what it takes
to meet today's challenges head-on --
most of us do not . . ..
Thus, I must respect those whom God deems
able to fill whatever needs arise on this day,
and on every day throughout this time of trial.
May God Bless and Keep Each of Them,
and May He Be Their Strength and Refuge!
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Source Referenced: The Holy Bible (NKJV) — the New King James Version
by tkbrown 
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