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Picture

The Days to Come
The Cowboy
It Was A Tom Carter Funeral


TOM


The days to come

It's funny I no longer care how I
  look

And I could care less if I
  cook

 
But that's not how it use to
  be

He'd get up first & bring coffee
to  me

 
We would talk about our plans for
the  day

Then he'd go out & check on the  stock & his hay
 
He'd come back in & say you want
to  go to town?

Sometimes I'd go with him to make
his  rounds

 
Other times  I'd have things to do here on  the  place
Then he'd come home, with garden
seeds  by the case

 
Our life together has been good and
  blessed

I'm a better person because of him I
  must confess

 
But The Lord God said it was time
for  him to go home

And God's word assures me,  that I
am  not alone

 
I do trust God & his Sovereign
  word

My tears & cries I know He
  herd


Everyone says I'm really very
  strong

They would not say that, if they saw
me  alone

 
I found a job & I'm busy with
  work

But, the emptiness & pain still
  lurks

 
I don't know how to just go on
  alone

Tom was my best friend, He made me
  strong

 
I am lost, so lost without him
  here

But then there are times, he feels
so  near

 
That's when I scream & say don't go away
I"ll get better another day
 
Just let me feel your presence
  near

So  I can stop this flood of
  tears

 
They say there 5 stages of grief  to
go  through

Then you start your life a new
 
New, my life a new, that's not what
I  wanted for me

Why couldn't everything have just
been  let Be!!!!

 
But now I really have to face
  reality

And If I'm to make it through, God's
  word is the key.

 
Tom has been in Heaven 40 days,
I  miss him so

I will love you forever,
  Cheryl

Picture

The Cowboy

The second time I saw him he was herding
  cattle
And the way that man could set a
  saddle

Absolutely took my breath away
And I knew right then if he ask me, I would
  surely stay

As he rode his horse they both became
  one
And He worked those cows till past the
setting  sun

His arms were huge like two big old
  hams
And if you found yourself in a wreck, He
could  pull you out of a Jam

As he walked, I saw he had perfect, Cowboy
bowed  legs
To me other men, were just walking around on
  pegs

He was a rock of a man, the kind you seldom
  see
This is what horse people call a magic
cross,  and he was for me

I had seen drugstore cowboys, and I was
never  impressed
You know, they talked the talk and dressed
the  dress.

But he was the real thing, and I was in
  awe
He rode up beside me and said can you sing
  cattle call?

His eyes were sparkling as he started
teasing  me
You know the first time I saw you, was on
  TV

He had shocked me, because that was many
years  ago
I was an unbeliever and I told him
  so

That's a hard line to swallow I must
  confess
Then he described what I wore & the
color of  my dress

Yes this man was special, a man above most
  men
He became my husband, and a new life we
  began.

Almost twenty years  I spent with this very
  special Cowboy
We shed a few tears, but for the most part
our  days were full of joy

I lived in the fullness and blessings from
God,  in my life with Tom Carter
And I recognize the days to come without
him,  will be much harder

Yes, He is here on this ranch everywhere I
  look,
Tending the cows, the hay fields, & the
  babbling brook

What a Blessing I have lived....... I love
you  Tom
 
 
          *****************
 
In our years together, there was not a
day  that I did not tell Tom Carter of my love for him, I always said 
"I love you" first. He would smile & with his hazle eyes sparkling he would say
I love you too.
 That  hurt me because he would not say it right off.  Later I realized that was just his
  way.

In the beginning of our life together. I was told by Tom's
cousin  " well he will never buy  you a valentine, & he don't remember
  birthdays"

My reply to him was. "My first two
husbands  never forgot, my birthday, Valentines day, or anniversary, and they
both  Betrayed me. If Tom never remembers those things but is faithful....... I
don't  need them."    The first year we were married Tom went to a 
Hallmark store
 and bought a beautiful  Valentine that looked more like a small book. It said beautiful things a woman 
 wants to read from her man. He tossed it on the kitchen table & said this
is  gonna have to last you cause I don't buy cards. Every year I open it  on Valentines day & it has been
just as special as the first time I opened it  19 years ago.
I will cherish it always.
 
He was a special kinda man.  He was ask by one of his friends once...... Whats it like being married to Cheryl? He just smiled and said " It's like gentleing a new colt every week" What I loved about his answer is ...... He loved to gentle colts.
                 *******************************
Picture

It was a Tom Carter
  Funeral


There in the chapel Tom Carters
family  sat

Over 400 people came to pay their 
respect


At the foot of his casket was a
stand  with his saddle

There were rope marks on the horn
from  years of tying off cattle      


At his shoulder was a barrel with
barley & wheat

From seed he had planted that fall
for  his livestock to eat


A wreath at his head held his rope
&  his spurs

In my mind I could see him ridding Old Doc,
close behind a Gyp & his Kur


The music that played  reflected the 
 joys of his life

Country & Christian recorded by
his  Son, Daughter & Wife


The  preacher & a close friend
told  of Tom's 78 years

Of his generosity, & honesty
through  their laughter & tears


Many happy & wonderful  stories,
were told that day from the past

There were stories of deer & hog 
 hunts that made even the saddest laugh


There were  so many folks at the
service  that came from every walk

As they filed out the chapel doors
they  began to gather & talk


I believe this is the best funeral,
a  cowman began to say

And when it comes my time to go, I'd 
like to be sent off this way


You know I counted 96 pictures that 
flashed across the Chapel  screen

And I don't believe there was a one
that  old Tom wasn't wearing jeans


No Tom wasn't  fancy he lived
everyday  pretty much the same

But I can say, the lives that he 
touched. Tom didn't live in vane

 
There were mourners dressed in their 
finest, others in overalls & jeans

The service brought them to laughter
at  times, then their tears started to stream

 
I don't know of many people, that I can say I
never  herd a bad word about

Though I doubt Tom ever knew it, He 
truly made his life count


 
Yes It was a Tom Carter Funeral and
it  won't be forgotten soon

And the seeds of life lessons he 
planted, forever will they bloom

 
                              
  *********************

 
 
I have no regrets, We lived everyday
to  the fullest. I have peace as I feel his presence.

                 Thank You Tom and
Thank  You Jesus, Cheryl
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