Life, Love & Faith: Poems and Memoirs of an Ordinary Woman

By Vida Carol Catledge

Life, Love & Faith: Poems and Memoirs of an Ordinary Woman is exactly what the title suggests. The poems were inspired by everyday life experiences, relationships and circumstances that either instilled or challenged the author's faith. The memoirs are simply reflections on true stories, the lessons learned, and the wisdom that the author wishes to impart to the readers. It is sometimes funny, sometimes thought provoking, but always written with love and the desire to motivate the reader to keep believing, keep loving, keep living.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 29, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453525869

Vida Carol Catledge

Vida Carol Catledge is a Legal Secretary and freelance Resume Writer from Chicago, Illinois. She has taken Bible study classes through Moody Bible Institute and served in the "lay ministry" department at Abundant Life Teaching Center under the late Pastor Watson. She is currently a member of the Chicagoland Christian Center. In her spare time, Vida loves to travel and spend time with her friends and family, including her twin daughters, two sisters and a brother, a niece, nephew, and two grand nieces. She is also an advocate for stopping violence against women and children.

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Life, Love & Faith

Poems and Memoirs of an Ordinary Woman

Vida Carol Catledge

Copyright © 2009, 2010 by Vida Carol Catledge.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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CONTENTS

MAMA’S LAP

ON MY OWN

LITTLE BLACK GIRL

SASSY

THE HANDS OF TIME

WISDOM

PENNY CANDY

SMALL MINDED PEOPLE

THE JOURNEY

IN LIMBO

THE CYCLE OF LIFE

I THINK HE LOVES ME

HE SAYS, SHE SAYS

WITH ME

TO KNOW YOU

FAR APART

WEDDING DAY

CHEATIN’

FIRST LOVE

I MISS YOU

IN HIS EYES

LOVE—UNCONDITIONAL

BEHOLD THE MESSIAH

GOT A SAVIOUR

TEACH ME

REFLECTIONS ON PSALM 8

BEEN DONE WRONG

LORD, RIGHT NOW!

THERE IS A GOD

BECAUSE OF YOU

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

RISEN

WHERE IS THE CHRIST?

ANGEL

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my entire family, especially my mother, Vivian Catledge, who gave me a pen and told me to write. To all my friends and everyone who has shared my journey called life; undoubtedly you have all helped to make me the person that I am.

I Thank You.

Posthumously, I would like to dedicate this to my natural father, George Catledge, and my spiritual father, pastor James Watson, who both lost their battles with cancer. To my best friend, Libby: you were truly a work undone and died entirely too soon.

I Miss You.

Most of all, I dedicate this writing to my daughters, Brittani and Briahna, who are my Life, who teach me unconditional Love every day, and who are the manifestation of my Faith.

I Love You.

PREFACE

When I first got the vision to write this book, I felt that my life was so unremarkable that I really didn’t have anything to write about. However, after some reflection and a lot of insight, I realized that I do indeed have everything to write about. Life is a journey; and while on that journey we all have experiences and meet people that ultimately impact our lives, whether negatively or positively. The love, faith, and even the pain that oftentimes result from those life experiences are all well worth writing about.

Life, Love and Faith is the culmination of a life long dream. It has been a labor of love and at times, a test of my faith. But it is my sincere prayer that the readers of this work would be encouraged, inspired and blessed by its message.

INTRODUCTION

Life, Love & Faith. The three are virtually interchangeable. For love is reserved only for the living, and what would life be worth without love? For most people, belief systems or faith is formed by life’s experiences and nearly every religion of the world has its basis in love. So the connection between the three is undeniable.

The Bible says that God made man in His own image and after his own likeness and that He breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. So we see that God freely gave life unto mankind, but He did not stop there. He also created a garden, with vegetation and animals, and gave man dominion over His creation, so not only did man have life, he was given a sense of purpose in his life. But even with all this life and purpose, still something was missing. God, in His infinite wisdom, knew what man needed, so He created woman. Now, in addition to life, man also had love. You would think that man now had everything he needed but since love, and even life can be temporal, man needed something eternal; he needed faith. So what did God do? He dwelt in the midst of the garden along with his creation, Adam and Eve, so that they could know Him and have fellowship with Him. Adam and Even knew that they were not alone and that they had someone with them always, someone they could believe in and trust; they had faith!

As fate would have it, times changed. The whole world has evolved since biblical times and it is ironic but the three things that God gave freely are now seemingly the hardest things for mankind to find. A meaningful, purposeful life; a good, loving, lasting relationship; unfaltering faith that works, even in the worst of times; the attainment of these can be the most difficult challenges in present day life.

In this book, I have attempted to take a light-hearted, yet thought provoking look at these subjects, both from my own personal perspective, and in some cases, in light of the scriptures as found in the King James Bible. While most of the poems were written contemporaneously with this book, some of them were written in my young adult years, but they have not lost their meaning so they have not been altered nor updated from their original form. Unless otherwise noted, definitions are taken from the Merriam Webster Dictionary and where God is referred to as He or Him, I have capitalized for emphasis and out of respect for my creator.

LIFE—(lif) n. 1. "The property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter, manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, response to stimuli, and reproduction. 4.) The physical, mental and spiritual experiences that constitute a person’s existence. 11.) A source of vitality; animating force.

Have you ever pondered the meaning of life? Have you ever wondered about your purpose