·

My Basket Overflows

I
want you to meet my Mom, Anna Daisy Suderman! 
Anna Daisy was
born in 1907, on a farm in mid-Kansas. She grew up learning to plow, plant a
garden, can food, sew clothes, play the piano, and became an excellent
cook.  She married my Dad, Herman Siemens, in 1928.  They taught in a one-room
school in Oklahoma for a year.
         Dad and Mom made it through the
Depression with sheer determination and creativity.  They raised three children, born in 1929,
1930, and 1932.  Dad delivered mail,
raised a garden, raised chickens, and milked our one cow. We lived in town, yet
they were still farmers at heart.  Mom
sewed for  her family and others. She
grew flowers to take to the old people, even after she was eighty years old.
         I don’t know remember when Mom began
her love affair with words. She enjoyed cross word puzzles and learning new
words. This book of poems, Life: Full
Measure…Running Over
is the last book she wrote, before her death in 1998.
        
                  My
Basket Overflows
         I
want to dine on simple wholesome fare;
         All my open lines to God are trust and
prayer;
         I like to run on blooming April daisy
slopes
         And walk through gloomy vales with
heavenly hopes.
         I need a challenge of wide-open doors.
         The soberness of tackling mundane
chores;
         Display my creation master’s brilliant
art
         And retain a copy for my homesick
heart.
         Each time I thank the Lord for lessons
learned
         I find a sparkling gem I never earned;
         This simple life is such a lovely thing,
         I can only praise the Lord and sing.
         The first poem tells about the life and
faith of Anna Daisy. The book of poems reflects almost ninety-two years of her
walk with the Lord. Mother poured out her life, giving and serving. God gifted
her with many ways to share His love – from raising her family to giving of
what she had to others.
 As a young woman, she plowed the fields where
wheat would be planted and harvested. She baked bread, beginning with grinding
whole kernels of wheat. She kneaded loaf after loaf of bread. The tantalizing
aroma of baking bread often filled her kitchen. While she kneaded, verses of
scripture flowed through her mind and into her heart, Mom desired open lines of
prayer to God and trusted God and His word, above all.
         Her God-given energy and delight in
life tells the way Grandma Daisy faced each day. I have often seen her through
the years skip in joy in what the Lord has done. When she could no longer
physically proclaim praise – she gave voice to the chorus, Doxology. No matter
the hard times and losses she faced, she breathed in heavenly hopes. Praise God
from Whom all blessings flow
.
         Grandma Daisy always rose to the challenge
of the day.  Whether she tried a new
quilt pattern, squeezing the juice from sugar cane stalks through the wring of
her Maytag washer, or building a stage-prop airplane for a play my brother was
in, learning a new song on the piano, or helping me write a musical play for my
elementary students to perform.
         She taught her grandchildren how to
cope with mundane cleaning, always a present need, by setting and racing with
the stove ‘dinger’.  The mundane parts of
our lives didn’t keep her from enjoying our Father God’s creation.
         One sunset eve, on the back porch, Mom
and I watched for the Evening Star – Mom’s star. As a girl, Mom watched for the
star and told her secrets and joys.  She
constantly felt the pull of Heaven and always retained a memory-copies of each
view of His Creation in her homesick heart.
         Grandma Daisy saw life’s hardships as
her book of God’s Lessons. These hardships were learning more about God’s great
love. She always found a glorious gem of truth she treasured. No matter how
difficult the lessons, she still sang and praised the Lord.
         What do I remember most about my Mom? I
remember her enthusiasm for each day. One day she confided she viewed each day
as a beautiful gift from God for her delight!
         He put a new song in my mouth, a
hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to
the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods. Psalm 40:3-4.
         Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down
from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like
shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of
truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
James
1:17-18.
         I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your
wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and
rejoice in you;
I will sing the
praises of your name, O Most High.

Psalm 9:1-2.

Comments? eacombs@att.net