In the Hidden Corners of My Heart

In addition to helping people better handle future challenges and struggles and effectively manage stress, this classic collection of poems helps people—especially those who are stuck—complete the grieving process and move toward recovery and happiness, enabling them to live a healthy, happy, fulfilling life in an overall state of wellness.

In chapter 1, “On My Journey (Learning),” you will find comforting poems that will help you understand how, as we go through life, we encounter stress, struggles, challenges, and many times we will be broken. Our souls will be crippled, yet with forgiveness, humility, and treating those who cross our paths kindly, our being transforms into a masterpiece of wholeness again.

In Chapter 2, “About ‘Him,’” Kathryn’s poems tell us why we should be still, so that we may hear Him whisper answers to the puzzles in our lives. She then leads us to awareness of our emotional voids and shows how God will fill them permanently by showering us with blessings, allowing us to realize how great He is. If you want to really see God, Kathryn tells us through her poems, look at nature—bigger, powerful than you can imagine and beyond your understanding. So learn to be part of nature and you will find that peace in the midst of your suffering.

In Chapter 3, “A Merry Heart Is Good Medicine,” Kathryn helps us to seek blessings for both the good and the bad. Thoughts of this nature, she believes, will make us feel good, make our behavior right, and give us good health in return. This has been proven by scientific research and is a great medicine that costs nothing, she believes. Finally, Kathryn tells us how we have to be thankful despite all of sufferings.

In Chapter 4, “Petition,” Kathryn writes poems about reaching out to God for His grace to expand our souls so we can know more about Him and have Him guide us as we make these gentle, small incremental steps on our journey in life. Not knowing your purpose could be very frustrating, but Kathryn leads us in her poems to hunt for that purpose.

In Chapter 5, “Out of the Book,” for those who are Christians, Kathryn begins with inspiring poems by examining the dialogue that took place at the “Annunciation” between Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Angel Gabriel helping us gain deeper insight about what it means to have faith while there is doubt about the message because his words were so puzzling. In our times of hardship, we should ask questions, seeking to increase our understanding, but we should still believe as we do so. Without the faith in Mary, we might not have been saved.

In Chapter 6, “Easter,” Kathryn sets us up wondering as to whether we still wear that “crown of thorns” (our suffering) that was pressed upon our heads and, if we do, whether we believe someday soon we will be redeemed by the cross and be triumphant, borne upon the angel’s wing to Heaven. We see how important faith is, yet some people despair here, thinking that they do not have faith, unsure if it can grow and develop. If you are not full of faith today, that does not mean you will be that way all of your life. You can choose to be a person of faith through the poems in this chapter. We need to spontaneously and unconditionally accept the suffering of this life, like Jesus did.

In Chapter 7, “Christmas,” poems signaling hope for those in despair are presented, from the night of Jesus’ birth through the bright stars and the angels, and finally, to the earth trembling, Kathryn described vividly the night to remember. The rest of the poems in the chapter describe the image of Jesus incarnated to live on earth as a man, reminding us of the beauty of Christmas that has become distorted by the hunting for Christmas spirit in the malls instead of the Church.

In Chapter 8, “Hope,” Kathryn seizes the opportunity to remind us to find the time to be grateful to our Heavenly Father for granting us life and, once more, find love in Agape (unconditional) love. She tells us in these poems that giving with no thought of return could be the best thing for the human spirit. She appeals to us to find the time to spend loving our grandchildren with mortar of love and pestle of wisdom.

In Chapter 9, “Seeking the Ruin of Souls” describes how Satan constantly is found prowling the world like a lion tormenting us and drawing us more away from God. Much of our suffering often comes straight from the Devil. Kathryn tells us in the poems how by denouncing Satan—the evil spirit—and his works, God will keep us in His shadow and keep His angels in front, behind, to the right, and to the left of us. We may fear and we may also sink, but let us not be dismayed because God will make all things right.

At the latest stage in her writing, Kathryn says “Something changed. As I wrote most of my poems, it was mystifying—the poems just appeared in my mind, fully composed and I would write as fast as I could so I wouldn’t ‘lose’ the poem.” Some she had to work on a bit and quite a few had no ties to spirituality, but the ones that concerned the spiritual seemed to be just “given” to her. Friends began to wonder if these were gifts of the Holy Spirit because they were spiritual. She once looked in the Bible in Galatians 5:22, where the gifts of the Holy Spirit are enumerated, and she discovered that poetry is not listed as a gift. “I am sure it was just an oversight,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes. Her great degree of empathy enabled her to write about things not in her actual experience, especially those in the chapter, “Out of the Book.” She had often wished she could use her poems to help children.

In 2012, she completely lost interest and motivation in continuing her writing. She remembers sitting in her den and suddenly asking God, “Do you have any plans for these poems for l have lost any desire to even look at them anymore.” Suddenly she had a mentor, a professional typist, who knew how to lay out the copy in book form and also knew an editor and publisher. Shortly thereafter, she connected with an organization whose ministry addressed exactly what she wanted to do with her poems. She could sell her books and support the ministry to which they were both drawn. “I have read that coincidence is just another name for God,” she stated. However these poems came about, they certainly have been a gift and privilege for Kathryn. She prays they “will help children who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in devastating circumstances.”