Sunday, April 28, 2019

For Faith's Fortune-Seekers




Before us, to The Prize, unclaimed
Faith fixes humble eyes
Where Hope will never make ashamed
And God’s Truth never lies

The barrier twixt here and there
Is not an easy climb
Where warriors don Word and prayer
To carry them through Time

Because the fortunes that we see
Are nothing more than dust
And loving it is enmity
To God, in whom we trust

Who was before the world began
Who evermore will be
Who fathered mercy’s precious plan
For lost humanity

Then Lord, forbid that we forget
But rather, fix our eyes
Upon the Everlasting Yet
Of love’s eternal Prize

© Janet Martin

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy
and thieves break in and steal.
but rather, lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven
where neither moth or rust destroys and where
thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure,
there will your heart be also.

Matthew 6:19-21



Saturday, April 27, 2019

The 'Wait' Weight

Grand-daughter is already 4 weeks old, 
while a month ago we were anxiously/eagerly waiting to meet her!

(some small endearments...one dimple in her right cheek 
and she only wrinkles the left side of her forehead, 
and she LOVES being rocked!)


Right now, in this province, waiting for spring is everyone's common ground!


On a personal note I'm still waiting for someone to fix our internet issues.
It flicks on for a minute then it's gone and I have to wait for it to reboot
(or whatever it does.)
I have re-discovered a whole new-old way of life this week...
 a paper dictionary,
... a cook-book,
 work-out DVDs,
...no weather-forecast updates
... a telephone! (can sometimes see my e-mails but can't reply!)
...and last but not least, a record-player 
since we have no working cd or cassette player...
(or no music which means listening to my rusty singing voice :-/



‘Wait’ is a weight that can wear patience thin
‘Wait’ means the gate is still barred
‘Wait’ tries the trust we must muster within
‘Wait’ even when it is hard

‘Wait’ wafts in whispers of worlds held at bay
‘Wait’ is the bud full of flow’r
‘Wait’ is a word that teaches us to pray
‘Wait’ is a long-winded hour

‘Wait’ tests the will of the woman, man, child
‘Wait’ is not ‘yes, dear' or ‘nope’
‘Wait’ is an order that can drive us wild
‘Wait’ is the foothold of hope

‘Wait’ is the prelude to ‘if’, ‘then’ and ‘when’
‘Wait’ for the good of the ‘want’
‘Wait’ is the ship that has still not come in
‘Wait’ is an internal taunt

‘Wait’ is the lad wishing to be six
‘Wait’ is the babe before birth
‘Wait’ is a sleeve full of endless tricks
‘Wait’ is the way of this earth

© Janet Martin

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalm 27:14

While Staying True...

Love is not about staying true to ourselves but to God.
When we stay true to God, we stay true to the person He created us to be!
Doesn't this fill you with peace and relieve us of much needless fretting?!
If we just stay true to ourselves our pride is injured over and over!
If we stay true to God He helps us weather the 'weather' whether we like it or not!



Staying true, (not to ourselves) but to He who made us
Requires dedication as we forge from here to There
So often what we wait for is not what we thought it was
Thus we need more to live for than Time’s Temporary Care

While staying true to principles laid out in The Good Book
We learn that being true to ourselves is not divine
Thus, we should often ponder the Compassion that it took
As He who loves us so, wept ‘Father, not my will but thine”

While staying true to more than ‘points of view’ on that and this
We become more aware of He whose law is peace and love
Then we are not so easily offended by What Is
Knowing The Hope we fix faith on will be more than enough

While staying true to He who loves us all we should be kind
And find ways to forgive above the law of Duty’s Call
For soon the shell that Soul inhabits will be left behind
And we will see why staying true to God was worth it all

© Janet Martin



1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. 
And His commandments are not burdensome,



Come Over For Tea

PAD Challenge day 27: For today’s prompt, pick a direction, make that the title of your poem, 
and then, write your poem. There are so many directions: north, south, up, down, left, right, over, under, etc. But there are also more specific directions like “Across the Way,” “Through the Woods,” and “Beyond the Clearing.” 
Or give directions like “Clean Your Room,” “Tie Your Shoes,” or “Get Over Here.”



( today's outdoor tea unfortunately includes mittens and a wind warning!)


I’ll put the kettle on
With sweet treat on the side
And we will pull our chairs beneath
A wreath of blue sky-wide
Then as the hour flows
Through careworn taste and touch
We’ll chat about the way time goes
And love and life and such

For tea is less the tea
Or where we choose to sit
And more about the company
We keep while sipping it
And while we pour the brew
Of first, then second cup
We’ll pour a bit of heart out too
And cheer each other up

…where thrill and spill and ill
Will always have its way
Where hurt and hope fill and refill
Without a holiday
…where life, whatever bend
The up or down might be
Is all ways best shared with a friend
Over a cup of tea

© Janet Martin
 

Friday, April 26, 2019

Living the Dance



 Do you ever get the feeling this time of year when the earth is sheer and clean...
to twirl, light as feather across its floor like a graceful dancing queen?
 (but when I try to fit my feet to my fancy, rather than dancing
 it's more like a bumbling, stumbling, tumbling lurch;-)



Like a ballroom swept and polished
Gleams the earth, after the rain
Makes one want to twirl and sashay
‘cross the yard and back again

Makes one wish for wings to waft where
Birds and butterflies flit by
But I’ll settle for a soft chair
Of green grass beneath blue sky

Beauty is free for the making
Wonder is a world-wide art
Moments are like primed buds breaking
Into gardens of the heart

Always on the verge of morrow
Time soon sets today adrift
No one can afford to borrow
More than now’s momentous gift

Sailing, sloughing, slipping, sighing
Over seas of seasoned sod
Breath-by-breath living and dying
In a ballroom held by God

© Janet Martin