Introduction
Hi my name is Linda Smith and I was born Dec 19, 1949. I grew up in a non chrisitan home and had one brother who is 20 years older than I am.
My grandmother was my constant through these years as my parents were alcoholics. My gramma had 12 children and was only 4 foot something and 75 lb. with a size 4 shoe. What a woman! She had her foot cut off when her skirt got caught in my grandfathers sawmill. It was a miracle that the doctor of that day decided to try to restitch her foot back on. That was unheard of and she did suffer for the next year with infections etc and had to stay in bed. But she kept her foot needless to say with a very big indent where it had been severed almost completely. My grandfather was a big man - over six feet tall and over 200 lb. It was a comical site to see them together. When pictures were taken he had to sit down and she stood beside him and even then they were about the same height. All 12 of the children were taller and larger built. It was a funny family picture to see.
My own parents divorced when I was a child and my dad raised me as my mom decided to go out and enjoy her own life. It was such a sad thing that she had to miss out on being a mom and having love around her. Her selfishness lead her to a life of lonliness.
I loved school and put all my efforts into getting good grades because I enjoyed learning. I helped my dad keep the house running by doing the shopping and cooking and cleaning. Ihave to admith it was fun to have the run of the home. My dad worked hard and still helped out with dishes and cooking so we could work together. I really appreciated having him there to set rules. I needed that structure in my life and he provided it. My brother Darcy would carry me in blankets to the car and take me to my gramma's very early each morning so I could walk a mile to school from there as he and my dad worked in a Steel Mill.
I met my husband while only 10 years old but only to know his name and who he was. We met at a friends house and we ended up sitting at the kitchen table talking for the next 3 hours. Then a few years later when I was twelve he made it a point to meet me each day as we passed going to different schools. He would go out of his way to be where I passed so I would notice him. I however, was not interested and he decided to make an introduction and get me to notice him. I was at a dance with my friends and he walked over and asked me for my phone number. I replied that I didn't give my number to anyone and he said, "Well, I will give you my number." My answer was that I don't call boys and he showed me a list of other girls names which they had written down for for him. To this I replied, "Well, then call them." I turned away to ignore him and he turned a chair backwards and sat himself down beside me. When I continued to ignore him he said, "I know how I can get your attention." and then reached out and took my arm and proceeded to give me what was then called a snake bite by rubbing my wrist with his fingers. I turned and promptly slapped his face. Even this did not dissuade him however.
He remained persistant and suddenly he was catching up with me and turning around towalk me home each day and then staying to visit with my dad even if I ignored his presence. I guess I got used to having him around and after 3 years of coming every day he asked me to marry him. There were only 3 days that he was unable to come and that was because he had to go away overnight with the Air Cadet band to North Bay and another time he was confined to bed with a tooth infection which caused him so much pain. We were then engaged for almost another year. My dad jokingly said, "You might as well marry him, he never goes home!" I was only 16 and had to have my dad's permission and becuase he loved Gary as a son he was thrilled to do so.
That was Oct. 21, 1966 and we are still happily married. We have had our rough times but I can think of no other person I would rather be married to.
Our first son Stafford was born in 1967 which began our little family. I longed for a second child and the Lord blessed us with a daughter Stacey in 1968. My life seemed complete but we did not realize we were missing a Head to our home.
Stafford was about 5 years old and attending a Sunday school at a small country Baptist church and started asking us if his sister Stacey could come with him. I said she was too little and he proceeded to tell me that other small children were there. I asked "Who watches them and he quickly stated, "Their mommies!" Wow, was that convicting. I felt like crawling under something to hide.
Then there was a contest and he told me if I would go he would get points. Well, off I went. This was all so new to me. I had never been in a church that read from the Bible and everyone here read along in their own Bibles. This was very strange to me and when I heard the truth that ALL had sinned, I did not like it. I went home very angry and decided I would never go back there. What a battle that went on for me to realize my need of a Saviour. The Lord has His ways to bring us to where we should be to finally get His message. After a huge struggle in my mind I realized my need of a Savior. Hallelujah! I made my plan to talk to a lady at the backof the church after the service but to my total surprise I found myself at the front of the church and no idea how I got there. The lady I wanted to talk to came and talked to me and showed me the plan of salvation. What a wonderful joy that filled my heart to know that I had eternal HOPE and was now a child of the King. The struggle was over and I was His child. Oh, what a wonderful day that was. My life was changed. His Word came alive to me and I was amazed at all the things I was learning from the Spirit teaching me His Truths from His Word..
Gary continued on in his way of life for the next four months and one day decided to share with the pastor and his wife that he also had accepted the Lord as his Savior. What a thrill this brought to my heart. He had always been a quiet man and suddenly he couldn't stop talking. He had something important to say now.
The Lord enabled Gary to write a number of songs and poems over the next years and they started to accumulate everywhere. He would write on any scrap of paper he could find handy. I would find cereal boxes ripped open with a poem, or a chocolate box lid would be covered inside with scribbling. Since his mind would be going faster than his hand it was often illegible. He wrote on paper bags, old receipts, napkins, church bulletins, anything at all. These were all over the house, in boxes, bags, drawers and briefcases etc. I am sure many scraps were thrown away accidentally.
One day the Lord laid it on my heart to do something with all these scraps. Since we were living without electricity and had no typewriter I would go to the public library every week for an hour or two (if no one else needed the computer) and type one at a time and save them to a disk. Many times I could not read the writing and when I would ask Gary he had no idea what it said either. I would laugh and say what kind of challenge have I taken on anyway. Eventually I managed to finish and printed out over 200 pages. There were sometimes 2 or 4 poems to a page. This was such a wonderful gift of love to be able to punch holes and put all these sheets into a binder to give to Gary to check over. I have kept all of the original copies as a remembrance of those times.
About three years ago we moved to Calgary and decided to get the internet where we discovered many wonderful christian poetry sites and the Lord prompted me to post a few poems to share with others. This has been so precious as we have gotten to read many other wonderful poets who love the Lord with all their hearts and these poems have touched our hearts and lives in a special way. Gary often laughs that the Lord can accomplish so many poems and writings from just 26 little letters. Amazing! Well, I really should stop this rambling. I was surprised when I wanted to respond to someones blog I found myself suddenly creating my own. How exciting that the Lord uses these type of things to prompt us to do something else. I do hope this will become a place to honor and glorify His Name. I am new to this but hopefully I will learn quickly how to use this blog. I have no idea at the present time.
My grandmother was my constant through these years as my parents were alcoholics. My gramma had 12 children and was only 4 foot something and 75 lb. with a size 4 shoe. What a woman! She had her foot cut off when her skirt got caught in my grandfathers sawmill. It was a miracle that the doctor of that day decided to try to restitch her foot back on. That was unheard of and she did suffer for the next year with infections etc and had to stay in bed. But she kept her foot needless to say with a very big indent where it had been severed almost completely. My grandfather was a big man - over six feet tall and over 200 lb. It was a comical site to see them together. When pictures were taken he had to sit down and she stood beside him and even then they were about the same height. All 12 of the children were taller and larger built. It was a funny family picture to see.
My own parents divorced when I was a child and my dad raised me as my mom decided to go out and enjoy her own life. It was such a sad thing that she had to miss out on being a mom and having love around her. Her selfishness lead her to a life of lonliness.
I loved school and put all my efforts into getting good grades because I enjoyed learning. I helped my dad keep the house running by doing the shopping and cooking and cleaning. Ihave to admith it was fun to have the run of the home. My dad worked hard and still helped out with dishes and cooking so we could work together. I really appreciated having him there to set rules. I needed that structure in my life and he provided it. My brother Darcy would carry me in blankets to the car and take me to my gramma's very early each morning so I could walk a mile to school from there as he and my dad worked in a Steel Mill.
I met my husband while only 10 years old but only to know his name and who he was. We met at a friends house and we ended up sitting at the kitchen table talking for the next 3 hours. Then a few years later when I was twelve he made it a point to meet me each day as we passed going to different schools. He would go out of his way to be where I passed so I would notice him. I however, was not interested and he decided to make an introduction and get me to notice him. I was at a dance with my friends and he walked over and asked me for my phone number. I replied that I didn't give my number to anyone and he said, "Well, I will give you my number." My answer was that I don't call boys and he showed me a list of other girls names which they had written down for for him. To this I replied, "Well, then call them." I turned away to ignore him and he turned a chair backwards and sat himself down beside me. When I continued to ignore him he said, "I know how I can get your attention." and then reached out and took my arm and proceeded to give me what was then called a snake bite by rubbing my wrist with his fingers. I turned and promptly slapped his face. Even this did not dissuade him however.
He remained persistant and suddenly he was catching up with me and turning around towalk me home each day and then staying to visit with my dad even if I ignored his presence. I guess I got used to having him around and after 3 years of coming every day he asked me to marry him. There were only 3 days that he was unable to come and that was because he had to go away overnight with the Air Cadet band to North Bay and another time he was confined to bed with a tooth infection which caused him so much pain. We were then engaged for almost another year. My dad jokingly said, "You might as well marry him, he never goes home!" I was only 16 and had to have my dad's permission and becuase he loved Gary as a son he was thrilled to do so.
That was Oct. 21, 1966 and we are still happily married. We have had our rough times but I can think of no other person I would rather be married to.
Our first son Stafford was born in 1967 which began our little family. I longed for a second child and the Lord blessed us with a daughter Stacey in 1968. My life seemed complete but we did not realize we were missing a Head to our home.
Stafford was about 5 years old and attending a Sunday school at a small country Baptist church and started asking us if his sister Stacey could come with him. I said she was too little and he proceeded to tell me that other small children were there. I asked "Who watches them and he quickly stated, "Their mommies!" Wow, was that convicting. I felt like crawling under something to hide.
Then there was a contest and he told me if I would go he would get points. Well, off I went. This was all so new to me. I had never been in a church that read from the Bible and everyone here read along in their own Bibles. This was very strange to me and when I heard the truth that ALL had sinned, I did not like it. I went home very angry and decided I would never go back there. What a battle that went on for me to realize my need of a Saviour. The Lord has His ways to bring us to where we should be to finally get His message. After a huge struggle in my mind I realized my need of a Savior. Hallelujah! I made my plan to talk to a lady at the backof the church after the service but to my total surprise I found myself at the front of the church and no idea how I got there. The lady I wanted to talk to came and talked to me and showed me the plan of salvation. What a wonderful joy that filled my heart to know that I had eternal HOPE and was now a child of the King. The struggle was over and I was His child. Oh, what a wonderful day that was. My life was changed. His Word came alive to me and I was amazed at all the things I was learning from the Spirit teaching me His Truths from His Word..
Gary continued on in his way of life for the next four months and one day decided to share with the pastor and his wife that he also had accepted the Lord as his Savior. What a thrill this brought to my heart. He had always been a quiet man and suddenly he couldn't stop talking. He had something important to say now.
The Lord enabled Gary to write a number of songs and poems over the next years and they started to accumulate everywhere. He would write on any scrap of paper he could find handy. I would find cereal boxes ripped open with a poem, or a chocolate box lid would be covered inside with scribbling. Since his mind would be going faster than his hand it was often illegible. He wrote on paper bags, old receipts, napkins, church bulletins, anything at all. These were all over the house, in boxes, bags, drawers and briefcases etc. I am sure many scraps were thrown away accidentally.
One day the Lord laid it on my heart to do something with all these scraps. Since we were living without electricity and had no typewriter I would go to the public library every week for an hour or two (if no one else needed the computer) and type one at a time and save them to a disk. Many times I could not read the writing and when I would ask Gary he had no idea what it said either. I would laugh and say what kind of challenge have I taken on anyway. Eventually I managed to finish and printed out over 200 pages. There were sometimes 2 or 4 poems to a page. This was such a wonderful gift of love to be able to punch holes and put all these sheets into a binder to give to Gary to check over. I have kept all of the original copies as a remembrance of those times.
About three years ago we moved to Calgary and decided to get the internet where we discovered many wonderful christian poetry sites and the Lord prompted me to post a few poems to share with others. This has been so precious as we have gotten to read many other wonderful poets who love the Lord with all their hearts and these poems have touched our hearts and lives in a special way. Gary often laughs that the Lord can accomplish so many poems and writings from just 26 little letters. Amazing! Well, I really should stop this rambling. I was surprised when I wanted to respond to someones blog I found myself suddenly creating my own. How exciting that the Lord uses these type of things to prompt us to do something else. I do hope this will become a place to honor and glorify His Name. I am new to this but hopefully I will learn quickly how to use this blog. I have no idea at the present time.
posted by Linda Smith | 9:37 AM
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2 comments
