MckLinky

The following is part of a post on MckMama's blog today letting us know of a new "linky" service that she is instrumental in bringing to fruition.

"There’s a great new “linky” service available and I wanted to let you know about it. It’s called MckLinky – www.mcklinky.com. After realizing the need for a new, reliable linky capability, Brent Riggs and MckMama got together to create a free, easy to use linky service for all their blog friends.

MckLinky is a free link list feature that allows you to do include lists of other blog links like MckMama does on Not Me! Monday. You can use MckLinky any time you want your blog readers to leave a list of links on your blog. It’s simple, reliable, free...and loads of MckFun! "

I'm not very savvy about all of this yet but am sure it will lead me to many ways to help my readership grow. I look forward to offering my readers a lot of new things in the coming days.

For today's poetic post, I am using one of the very first if not the very first poem I posted that will tell you a little bit more about what I know about blogging and about what I hope to know in the future.

God Bless and have a super week,


Mimmy



BOGGLE SCHOOL


Today I’ve jumped in with both feet
To this world that’s known as "BOGGLE".
My experience is very limited
As through cyberspace I toddle.


If I can get to nursery school
Where I’ll learn about pretty pictures
I’ll really be quite stupefied
Having crossed through some restrictions.


So we’ll start this journey together
That I’m calling "BOGGLE SCHOOL",
If you have a way to help me
Please don’t hesitate to send the rules.


‘Cause I really want to graduate
Right now with a high school diploma.
But if one day I get a Doctorate
Would be like a sweet aroma.

Be patient with me in my baby steps
Crawling one day to the next,
Until I’m named "Dr. Boggle"
Having utilized all the text.

Mimmy
April 1, 2009

Words

Tonight, or should I say this morning, will be a short post. I'm really very tired having had two pretty bad days.

As I sit at the computer reading my favorite blogs and thinking about what I am going to write I think about a "communication" that I tried to get going on one of them on Friday without much luck. It was all about words and I wrote the beginnings of today's poem. It has been edited since then and only goes to tell you how very important I think words are.

Without words, and a very good working knowledge of them, we could not read, write, communicate, or do any number of other things. We couldn't cook, unless you have all of your recipes in your head or unless you are better at making up recipes than I am. We couldn't do word puzzles, at which I spend a great deal of time. We couldn't follow directions either to a sewing pattern, prescription bottle or homework for our children. We couldn't follow road signs, at least the ones without pictures on them. Number one on my current list is that I most certainly could not write poetry and I could not share it with you.

I'm so thankful that I have found a world where the inhabitants love words and love to use them. Hopefully we will get to know each other better and our worlds will continue to collide.

God bless,
Mimmy


WORDS

Words are a powerful tool!
Those who can use them rule!
Those who can't should learn to dance
So they won’t have to run and prance!

Words are a mighty powerful tool!
You need them to just get into school!
You need them to apply for a job!
You'll need words to halt a mob!

You must know the words of your language
Or life will be nothing but control of damage!
With those words you just might meet a prince
And talk to him with nary a wince!

I’m sure you’ll find words to be quite important!
Words build questions and you must recant!
If you read books, words build all fiction!
You not only must know words but use proper diction!

So as you are reading my little bit of rhyme
And you look at your watch to see what the time,
Remember that if you didn’t know words
You could not read this no matter if absurd!

Mimmy, June 27, 2009

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Kathleen at Grosgrain is posting another giveaway of a linked as Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!! The aprons are retro '50's and very "flirty". Sure hope I win one if they make them to fit my frame. Please take a peak and let her know you are interested, not only in her giveaways but in her blog all together. She has the greatest tutorials on just about any sewing topic you can imagine and just might do one for you special if you have a sewing problem you need to have addressed.

Thanks Kathleen and have a super weekend.

God Bless, Mimmy

Babies

Babies: they can make fools of us, make us wise, make us laugh, make us cry, fill us with joy, fill us with pain, turn us to towers of strength and then in the next moment turn us to complete jelly. Babies are one of my most favorite things and I love them just about as much as anything else on this earth. A baby can be an absolute stranger to me and all I have to do to fall in love is see a picture.

All of this has been proven to me by some of the blogs that I read. Little Baby Jonah was my first blog love. Jonah was born with epidermolysis bullosa or EB which is a group of diseases that are characterized by blisters that appear after only a bump to the skin. Jonah's little brother was also born with EB and died soon after birth. To read more about Jonah and Gabe, check out his mom, Patrice's blog entitled the Williams Family Blog. To have gone through so much and at such a young age, Matt and Patrice have a faith that rivals any of her readers. As her blogs have progressed, Patrice has turned into a fantastic writer and keeps us posted on their every day lives with Jonah while keeping us in absolute stitches.

I predict that one day Patrice will write a book for children with EB that will help them and their parents get through a day of pain with laughter and joy.

Another baby that I have come to love through blogging is Kayleigh Anne. Kayleigh Anne's father Adam Freeman posted daily at what was originally One Pound Miracle but is now One Pound Blessing because precious Kayleigh Anne passed from this life on May 11, 2009. Her little body, born premature, finally shut down after a battle of eleven months. To read Kayleigh Anne's full story, check out her father's blog or the first of two poems included in today's post. Adam still posts about life with the Freeman's but not on a daily basis. Kayleigh Anne's blog is well worth checking out. Adam has a sense of peace to his writing, even after they lost Kayleigh Anne. I miss you sweetheart.

There have been other babies that I have gotten to know through blogging. However, these two have impacted my life on a very permanent basis. There are also many other babies that I have come to love outside of cyber space. Twelve of them are my wonderful, precious, sweet, adorable grandchildren, Zachary, Hali, Dakota, Richard, Kaitlynn, Samantha, Tiffany, Tyler, Trey, Joshua, JJ and Memphis. Aren't you impressed that I could remember all of their names without having to cheat. You have already met Zachary, Hali, Dakota and Trey and it is my plan to introduce you to the other eight in the near future. Their parents just have to get me updated pictures. (hint-hint).

Babies are one of the most wonderful of God's creations. It is amazing to think that God takes two cells, puts them together, lets them "cook" for nine (or ten) months, takes them on a journey through an opening much too small and they enter a world much more chaotic than what they just left, loan them to two people for the next 18 years while they are changing every day, with only minimal instructions, and then one day, with patience, consistency and love God helps them develop into His true children, serving him every day that they live on this earth, only to have them pass from this life into eternal bliss with our God and Father and his son, Jesus Christ. AREN'T BABIES GRAND!!!

God Bless,
Mimmy



The Glory of God


"One Pound Miracle" she was called
On her blog created by Daddy.
She was so tiny her arm would fit
Through Dad’s wedding ring, quite uncanny.

She fought hard for eleven months.
248 procedures, 7 major ops.
1 on her open heart so small
The very smallest they’d seen, none topped.

Her room at home was all ready,
Painted brown with many accents of pink.
Every time she came near to coming home
She got sicker, very tough, don’t you think.

So many people would ask each day,
"How’s your sweet and precious girl",
That Daddy opened up her Blog
Answering questions coming to their world.

They heard lots of people began to pray
Some who said they hadn’t for a long time.
Others said they had returned to God
After reading her story on line.

So now I see this question
That recently entered into my mind.
It’s one that must have an answer,
That the answer to now we must find.

If the story of this little girl
Who died after her dreadful fight,
Could turn so many folks to prayer,
Could have others seeking the light,

How much more could the words of Jesus,
His fight that saw His death on the cross,
Lead people not only to kneel in prayer
But to salvation and of sin, total loss?

Do we start a blog to send out the word?
Do we post of his terrible dying?
Do we e-mail all of our family and friends?
Sure we can if that’s your way of trying.

But God has already written it down
In a post that resounds through the ages.
The book is called the Bible today;
He’s said to read and then share the pages.

Sweet baby you’re done with all your work,
Felt through the words of your story.
Now it’s our turn to take up the cross
Telling Christ’s tale to all of God’s glory.


Mimmy aka Joyce K. Smith
May 15, 2009




The following was penned for some friends of mine at the birth of their first baby. He just spent his first week at church camp which is absolutely unbelievable and makes me feel very old. At the time this was written we didn't know he was going to be a he, so please excuse the "she" references.



Baby Blessing

A baby is a precious gift,
A gift from God above,
Sent to us to cherish
To cuddle and to love.

But she’s not really yours, you see,
She simply is on loan,
From our Heavenly Father
As he sits upon his throne.

He’s given her to you to raise,
To teach and train and warn,
To cherish all that’s good in life,
And all that’s evil to scorn.

What she becomes depends on you
And how you live each day.
She’ll learn much more from what she sees
Than she will from what you say.

So love her each and every day
As the treasure that she is,
And guide her to that Heavenly home
Of happiness and bliss.

Mimmy aka Joyce Smith, April, 1999

Remembering

Only a little while ago I visited another blog Time For A Bucket List written by Margaret Hall. If you recall I introduced you to her blog Images In Thought a few days ago. They are both extremely well written and have made me think. They are very different in tone which only goes to show you how well written Margaret is. It is hard for me to come up with enough to post in one blog, let alone try to keep up with two.

Her most recent post in Time For A Bucket List reflects on her memories of her childhood days. We share many of the same memories which must mean that we come from very similar backgrounds and from approximately the same time frames. It made me start to think about some of my memories and led to me penning the following. Hopefully it will lead you to write about some of your memories and share them with both Margaret and me.



Take care, enjoy your walk through the past and



God Bless,

Mimmy



Remembering

What do you remember of your days gone by
Whether fifty, forty or ten?
Do you remember dolls as tall as you are
With clothes that fit your brother or friend?

Do you remember playing house, school and church
With props made from only a box?
Do you remember wearing braids in your hair
With bows tied at the ends of your locks?

Do you remember playing outside ‘til dark
Catching fireflies in a quart jar?
Do you remember the walk to your school
‘Cause your family had only one car?

Do you remember the walk home from school
With band instrument in your left hand?
Do you remember your mom and your dad
At concerts ‘cause you were just grand?

Do you remember banging the big screen door
To announce, "Hey, I'm here"?
Do you remember smelling roast and hot taters
When you came in from church, "Where's my chair"?

Do you remember how truly awesome it was
To find mom home and not just a key?
Do you remember dad taking the time
To let you sit right upon his knee?

Do you remember your very first date
That wasn’t to a school dance?
Do you remember wrapping yarn ‘round his ring
So you wouldn’t lost it by chance?

Do you remember when he finally proposed
After asking your dad for your hand?
Do you remember walking down that long aisle
While the very same dad held your hand?

Do you remember the first house that was yours
Your first car and your very first babe?
Do you remember when the money was tight
So tight for your heat your couldn’t pay?

Do you remember the friend who found out
You were worried about being cold?
Do you remember the thanks that you felt
When your friend paid the bill? Who told?

Do I remember? You sure bet I do!
Could I think of more? Yes, I can!
Can I think of them all as I sit hear tonight?
No I can’t! Wish I could! Sorry man!

You’ll just have to wait until some other time
For my memory to click into gear,
Then I'll write more of days all gone by
And the times I’ve had year after year.

Mimmy
June 22, 2009

Women and God's Word

In trying to decide what I wanted to post about today I was looking through some of the poems I had written in days past and found one about women in New Testament times. Part of that poem was written regarding the lack of worth placed on women in that time of history and as we are aware, that point of view existed in our country not all that many years ago and still exists in a great portion of this world today.

How men came to believe they are superior to women is a view I have never understood. The scriptures definitely teach that women are to be in submission to their husbands and I have never had a problem believing this. The scriptures also teach that I am to obey my parents, which would include my father, that I am to be in subjection to the elders of the church and that I am to obey the laws of the land. However, there is nothing, anywhere, in the Bible, of which I am aware, that teaches that women are in general less worthy of anything than are men.

Having said that, God has from creation placed a very high regard upon women. At creation, Adam was unable to find a being capable of serving as his companion in all of the being created by God up to that point. This is the reason God placed Adam into a deep sleep, removed a rib, and from it created a being to serve as man's help meet, or a suitable helper. Woman was created because there was nothing else in all of God's creation that was good enough to be Adam's wife. Doesn't that make you as a women feel special? (Please know that I do not intend to say that men are not special. One of the most special men I know is in the other room.) Not only did God create us to fill a special need, there are many times in His word that He addresses the fact that women fill a very special role.

The scripture that is cited above today's poem is there because this was an assignment I was given for publication in our congregation's daily devotional booklet. It speaks of women that our Lord met and from whom he cast out demons. It also speaks of how they dropped everything to follow him.

Hopefully you will enjoy this work and also take the time to read the scripture from which it was taken.

May you all have a glorious weekend and may

God Bless,
Mimmy


Jesus Speaks To a Group of Women
Read: Luke 8:1-3

Our Lord spoke to many people
As He walked upon this earth,
Some of them of humble means
Some who had great worth.

He spoke to little children
And He spoke to old folks too.
He spoke with teachers learned
And with those who’d had no school.

He often talked with men He met
Upon the streets He trod
Of things on earth, things in heaven
But always things of God.

Yet on this day He chose to speak
With those often overlooked,
Not for their lack of learning
Or the paths that their lives took.

They were thought of by so many
To be lesser folk than men,
For they were merely women
Put here mostly just to tend,

To the needs of those around them
And surely not to sit
And talk with one so learned
As this One from Heaven sent.

But He not only took the time
To pass the time of day,
But to throw out many demons
And send them on their way

So they could go and live their lives
Free from the demons’ power,
And could spend each day in joy
From morning ‘til evening’s hour.

They were so very thankful
That they chose to follow Him,
And give Him what they had to give
From what little they’d been given.

His words were so important
And His actions so profound,
That they did leave their very homes
To hear His voice’s sound.

Do His words mean half that much
To us who live today,
Who have His words in written form
In countless and wondrous ways?

Will we even cross the room
To pick up His great book,
Or change the internet address
So we can take a look?

Or are we just too busy
To let our Master speak.
And tell us how to live our lives
Each hour and day and week?

Mimmy
January, 2006

Word Bank/Two Lives

This afternoon I took a trip over to Margaret Hall's blog entitled Images in Thought. She has the most beautiful poem there that is more accurately portrayed as a painting done in words instead of oils. Please take a few minutes and go over there to see what she has written. It is fantastic.

In a round about way she gave me or anyone else a challange who might want to write a poem from a word bank. The 10 words she used in her poem were given to her by Roger Bacon another blogging poet. The words he gave her are marked in my post in teal and should be fairly easy to spot. Why not give this a try. It was a bit challenging for me because the words don't lend themselves easily to just one topic. We need to see how many different formats we can get out of the few of us who are connected with my blog. Please invite your friends to participate also.


Poem from a Word Bank:

"Two Lives"

This morning at the break of dawn
A cool gentle breeze did blow.
By noon it was so hot outside
She looked for a cool place to go.

Her clothes are so very tattered
She's ashamed to show her face.
Why could she not have pretty clothes;
The ones others throw on in haste?

If she were to have such pretty things
She wouldn't treat them with disdain.
They'd be treated like pretty flowers
Blooming in the sunshine and rain.

All the people in their little town
Always look on her with pity.
At night in her room all alone
She dreams that they live in the city.

It is easier to get lost there.
It's much easier to be alone.
You don't have to worry about making friends.
Your room's your only friend, just one.

Her room was dark and dreary.
Paint melted from off the walls.
The bed was in a tiny nook.
Curtains a long time ago did fall.

Her mother slept 'til nearly noon
Every day of the very long week.
Down the hall her mom totters
To the kitchen where food Mom seeks.

Mom says to fix her two fried eggs
And a piece of toast with jam.
Oh, how the young girl wishes
She could warm Mom a big slice of ham.

She knows that all of her wishes
Shan't come to be in her youth.
There's just as much chance that they'll be
As if a fairy would pay for a tooth.

She also knows that when she grows
Things won't be the same for her kids.
Now her Mom works two hard jobs
Just to keep them off the skids.

School is where you will find her
Until she can get her degree.
She's going to make something of herself
So she can care for herself if needs be.

Unlike her hard working Mama
Who loves her and stands so bold
That she works her fingers to the bone
So she's not homeless, hungry and cold;

Because her dad walked out on them
Leaving them with nowhere to go.
Her mother stepped up to the plate
No training for work did she know.

She loves her mom so very much
But she needs a better life.
Someday she wants to have a home
Be a teacher, a mom and a wife.

She shot straight up out of her bed
Her dreams had been life long ago.
Thank goodness it was summer time
So she didn't have to work to go.

The day would be spent with her two girls
Doing this, that and the other.
Before they would go to their first stop.
They'd go by and pick up grandmother.

Mimmy aka Joyce K. Smith c