Showing posts with label blessings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blessings. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

This Life Is Full of Lovely Things (in a much-amiss world)

To sun-rise starved Southern Ontarion-ers this morning's stunner
was like a sweet elixir to the soul!


Beneath a rush of blushing wings
A fresh start is unfurled...







This life is filled with lovely things
The fresh start that each new day brings
As dawn unfolds translucent wings
Where God prolongs Time’s grace
Child’s laughter to set hearts aglow
Gardens asleep beneath the snow
Waiting for spring to steal the show
As bud-looms burst with lace

This life is filled with countless joys
Mischievous pups and little boys
The beauty each season deploys
To leave us humbly awed
With handiwork by God designed
Then etched, splashed, pearled, swirled and entwined
Like surprises we thrill to find
On sky and sea and sod

This life is filled with wondrous ways
God wills and grants to gladden days
And turn would-be lament to praise
And weight of want to love
Where learning’s tattered lesson-book
Is brightened by bird-song, a brook
And God-ness, everywhere we look
(If we look long enough)

…where life is full of you and me
And Today’s opportunity
A hand to hold, a friend to be
A tender word to cheer
Each other on, through ups and downs
To be part of the art that crowns
The heart and face with smiles, as frowns
That would-be, disappear

This life, filled with mercies renewed
As morning rends night’s tent, star-strewed
Kindles courage with gratitude
In a much-amiss world
Where life is full of lovely things
To counter cares it surely brings
Beneath dawn's rush of blushing wings
A fresh start is unfurled

© Janet Martin

It was impossible to capture the full scale of the magnitude of the sunrise with
a camera lens. Its colors ran north and south without bound!



I began today's poem yesterday morning before Duty prevailed...
I wonder what yesterday's poem would have been??😅

Yesterday afternoon I was treated to this 'bird-song'
from a treetop symphony!


Before I finished 'yesterday's' poem this morning,
the wonderful Psalm below from today's devotion
began Today with utter loveliness!!

Ps. 130
Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.

3 If You, Lord, should [a]mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is mercy,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
8 And He shall redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.

Yesterday's poem-kindling...






Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Today's Treasure Hunt


Today's poem was inspired in part by today's post from The Homespun Wife.
She shares her artful, encouragement-treasures on Facebook etc.


Though circumstances vary every day is always new
The crosses that we carry, as we trust, God sees us through
He, the Maker of the earth and sky presents a big buffet
That authors wonder’s ‘my-oh-my’ many sweet times a day...


So let’s be kindly, humbly, gently grateful, ...

The cold water got his attention!!!😅😅💖


'better get my lost shoe' thought Tot


Let’s look a little slower, awed by autumn’s color-flood...



As today’s moments tumble through touch-taste-sight-smell and sound
Let’s turn it to a treasure hunt for favors that abound
Lest haste produces blindness and ingratitude’s increase
Or fear becomes a thief that robs us of hope, joy and peace
Or Want becomes a thought-consuming, self-indulgent creed/greed
As we trample kind mercies in a success-bent stampede

Let’s look a little slower, awed by autumn’s color-flood
And mourn and pray for those, where leaf-song wafts to pools of blood
Let’s reach a helping hand and meet life with love's tender touch
Let’s need each other rather than steal-kill-destroy and such
Let’s savor the full flavors of feasts on a smorgasbord
Of unmerited favors that we never could afford

Moment-momentum slips, drips, spirals, like leaf-poetry
And not a one returns to re-taste-touch-hear-sniff-or see
So let’s be kindly, humbly, gently grateful, for who knows
Who will be next to pass through time’s eternal curtain-close
Let’s pause to be utterly awed by God, right now and here
And thank Him for His perfect love able to cast out fear

Though circumstances vary every day is always new
The crosses that we carry, as we trust, God sees us through
He, the Maker of the earth and sky presents a big buffet
That authors wonder’s ‘my-oh-my’ many sweet times a day
To counter life’s unlovely with a hymn of grateful laud
As today’s treasure-hunt reveals the faithfulness of God

© Janet Martin

1 John 4:18-19
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, 
because fear involves torment. 
But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19We lovee because He first loved us.

With very agonizing news-clips from Israel this
chapter was especially powerful today... 
because our hearts are heavy with concern and grief!




Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.


Wednesday, April 19, 2023

I Love a Life of Simple Joys or April Awe

 One of my favorite spring-highlights is unfolding...maple tree buds





I love a life of simple joys
Cup o’ chamomile tea
Laughter of April afternoon
Trickling through lace-graced tree
The tender tug of budded lures
Soft wafting overhead
Starred dark where dreams embark before
We are asleep in bed

I love the color of surprise
The violet stars that fall
To dapple dells and spark swells of
Sheer wonder-of-it-all
The innocence of child and pup
The flower-bowl of earth
Crowned with the perfect hue of blue
The merriment of mirth

Roused by the way the day begins
As heaven overflows
And mercy brims into hymns of
Coral, purple and rose
And as if this was not enough
Bird song that rings and rings
And rouses from awe-humbled hearts
Joy for life’s simple things

I love the way spring makes us glad
From our head to our toes
Like a firm handshake that can make
Us smile in spite of woes
The way that April woos the land
With kisses fit for kings
And wakens us to worlds unfurled
With wealth of simple things

I love a life of simple joys
Dimple in chubby cheek
Of baby boy or girl, a curl
To tease, a chin to tweak
A little plot to teach a tot
Who makes the garden grow
And how the seeds we plant can't hide
And we reap what we sow

I love the way a warm hello
Makes worth the farewell tear
How grief is the brute fruit of love
Yet oh, so very dear
If I could ask for anything
T'would not be stuff or toys
But just a humble plea to see  
Life, rife with simple joys

© Janet Martin

I love a life of simple joys
Dimple in chubby cheek
Of baby boy or girl, a curl
To tease, a chin to tweak...





Thursday, February 23, 2023

Of Abounding (Confounding) Luxuries

I used to equate the word luxury with the things money can buy!
As I grow older, more and more I realize that the true 'luxuries' of life/love
are so often overlooked, having nothing to do with plump pillows, fine wine,
tropical climes, etc.!!!




There's nothing like the trouble and sorrows of this world to open our eyes
to take notice of beauties/luxuries we might otherwise never give thanks for!



The luxury of laughter spills like sparkling silver stars
While innocence of tots teaches their teachers how to trust
The morning rolls unsullied over still hushed, blue-brushed bars
Laden with fresh reminders of life’s numbered days of dust

Ah, precious little nose to wipe and chubby cheek to kiss
Ah, joy, full of surprises to cheer us midst constant cares
Ah, means to make amends when hasty judgement flies amiss
Ah, God’s Word-wellspring never drained of faith’s bedrock for prayers

…as courage counts hope’s blessings where sorrow and sickness groans
Where so much more than we deserve comforts our creature cry
With promises made possible because God’s grace atones
And suddenly we do not need to know the reasons why

…as we advance across the threshold of what waits to be
Tuned to time’s tender treasure in moment-measure unfurled
Extravagantly lavished with the priceless luxury
Of words like ‘we’ and ‘us;’ surely the dearest in the world

God, let us not be guilty of sight-blind indifference
While beauty’s coffers overflow with fleeting season-lease
Forbid that we should live, embittered by the dissonance
With ears, deaf to the music of Life’s Sacred Masterpiece

God, tilt our visage upward beyond what thought understands
Where learning to be humbly grateful draws us to our knees
And makes us meekly more aware of what still fills our hands
Brimming, if we take notice, with abounding (confounding) luxuries

© Janet Martin

Watching Janet feed the birdies...





Psalm 40:5
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done,
 and the plans You have for us--
none can compare to You--
if I proclaim and declare them, 
they are more than I can count.


Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Exquisite Things


Nobody else can offer my worship to the Giver of every good and perfect gift from above!

 

So, though often my poems are but bumbling responses 
to something written by master wordsmiths,
(The phrase 'exquisite things' snagged on my soul
 and stirred the first trembling of this poem!)
...my defense is simply that, at the end of the day, 
only I am responsible for my worship; 
only you can offer yours, by whatever gift or talent you have been given!
 Only I can offer my thanksgiving hymn. 
No one else can sing it for me, nor I for you!
But we can sing together!!
Let's take today and make it a joyful noise/shout to the Lord, shall we?!!

Psalm 100
1{A Psalm of praise.} 
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2Serve the LORD with gladness:
 come before his presence with singing.
3Know ye that the LORD he is God:
 it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
 we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
 and into his courts with praise: 
be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; 
and his truth endureth to all generations.



Though the noise of joy's employs/voices may vary, 
when offered in thankfulness it is always in perfect harmony
to God's ears!


(yes, even messes!😅💖😏)


Today, rife with exquisite things bids us delight; each morning brings
Fresh measures of pleasure’s surprise when we view life through thankful eyes
And recognize joy’s sterling thrills unfurling like treasure that spills
From mercy’s generosity to humble likes of you and me

…to cheer the years to growing old with so much beauty to behold
And so much wonder to arouse worship’s reply of breathless ‘wows’
Where nothing seems quite commonplace as we esteem the Giver’s grace
We often overlook and waste or trample beneath futile haste

I want that I should taste anew the darling dance of me-and-you
To gaze at God’s extravagance in ways that woo no thought but thanks
For heaven-glimpses here below, like feathers of fresh-fallen snow
For burgeoning where budded molds hold beginnings that spring unfolds

Today, rife with life’s high and low brims with hymns we would better know
If we would cease to hurry so like mad beasts charging to and fro
But pause to let awe’s ocean roll in holy thunder through the soul
Agog with wealth awareness wrings from vaults filled with exquisite things

© Janet Martin




Thursday, November 24, 2022

Thanks-living Lyric


Happy Thanksgiving to our American neighbors and friends!

For heavens that declare God’s glory age to age to age...


For children in the sweet, fleet sacredness of innocence...


For front porch lights 


and blazing hearths 


and fresh-steeped cups of tea...



For heavens that declare God’s glory age to age to age
Masterpiece after masterpiece ignites awe’s flawless wage

For nature’s law unruffled by the changes progress brings
Beauty’s bounteous coffers charged with Eden’s glimmerings

For children in the sweet, fleet sacredness of innocence
Before the tug twixt right and wrong begins its arguments

For home’s most cherished havens and the love of family
For front porch lights and blazing hearths and fresh-steeped cups of tea

For worth earth cannot grant, but He whose breath of life we breathe
For mirth to plant its laughter where our spirits often grieve

For hope to help us cope with ‘nope’ when we had prayed for ‘yes’
For ups and downs that humble and meeken our happiness

For all the ways we could have erred, but by God’s grace, did not
For mercy’s goodness undeterred though He is oft forgot

For God’s unfailing promises for better or for worse
For dawn, unveiling Today like a gift from heaven’s purse

For faces not yet kissed and wonder not yet tasted, oh
For sadness of farewells hinged to the gladness of hello

For doors waiting to fling ajar on shores beyond our reach
For knowing that right where we are has lessons left to teach

For friendships and for favors, free of charge and fit for kings
Like the trill of a songbird or the thrill new baby brings

For night’s rest from our labours and for neighbors, sweet and kind
For duty’s wealth to guard against snares of an idle mind

For farm fresh eggs and other fine culinary delights
For simple fare to satisfy heartiest appetites

For fresh-ground, fresh-brewed coffee, for the cup of life that brims
With still untasted melodies of still unfolding hymns

For seasons that we sail through, like the twinkle or a chime
Stunning new generations with the olden ways of time

For challenges that teach us to trust more and worry less
For flowerpots on windowsills and tot-anointed mess

For dreams that keep us on our toes/knees and drive impatience wild
For moms and dads committed to the welfare of the child

For unexpected moments that bestow a breathless ache
With bliss we miss when hurry’s flurry sets the pace we take

For faith to face the new year with our faces all aglow
Like children as they dash to play in fresh untrodden snow

For jar shelves laden with collections gleaned from garden fare
For cozy nooks and books when the weather growls like a bear

For flowers, and for bowers bright with fall foliage, for spring
After winter relinquishes its grip on earth’s awning

For treasuring the timelessness of life’s most simple joys
Shared with the cheerful company of little girls and boys

For poetry still wafting in whispers still unsubdued
For more than we can tally when it comes to gratitude

For love's lingering essence like a fragrant curlicue
After the flame is snuffed that flickered with life's me-and-you  

And, (last but never least), for salvation’s security
To make our joy complete despite what was, is and will be

© Janet Martin


For treasuring the timelessness of life’s most simple joys
Shared with the cheerful company of little girls and boys...



For love's lingering essence like a fragrant curlicue
After the flame is snuffed that flickered with life's me-and-you  



Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Happy 80th birthday, Mom

 

With the circle still unbroken,
(Mom and Dad and all ten children with our spouses,)
our 80th birthday celebration for dear Mother on Sunday
was precious indeed!

Numbers 6:24-26
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.


The laundry lines you filled would reach up to the moon and back
And we could build skyscrapers with dishes, washed, dried and stacked 
The meals, prepared with thoughtful, loving labor, by God’s grace
Would humble us immensely if gathered into one place

Thank-you mom, for your diligence in ‘training up a child’
While we outgrew dresses and shoes, while days-to-years ran wild
While we would laugh and work and play and learn to humbly pray
To our Father up in Heaven to guide us each day

You taught us how to find joy in earth’s beauty, grand and free
Though busy you were never blind to God-penned poetry
You showed us (not just told us) when there was a task to learn
You took the time to read or pause to watch the seasons turn

You never did complain (or if you did I don’t recall)
A helpmeet for your husband and a mother to us all
With love enough to go around with never one left out
Love was the priceless plenty we never had cause to doubt

What happy days of childhood from heedless innocence slipped
From ‘now I lay me down to sleep’ to prayers without a script
From ‘Goodnight, yes, I’ll leave the hall light on, at least for now
(Unless the talker talked too long and laugher laughed too loud!)

Dear mom, I want to thank you, for too often I forgot
And simply took for granted tasty meals, healthy and hot
And work-worn hands that did not eat the bread of idleness
But tended to duty’s demands with cheerful faithfulness

I’m thankful for God’s love that has allotted eighty years
‘The multitude of sins’ you covered with your prayers and tears
And for the treasured memories that sparkle in a trove
Where surely the greatest of these is our sweet mother’s love

I pray each day for God to bless and keep you in his care
That come what may you sense the power of His presence there
I thank Him for the gift of a mother who read His Word
And let us by example with devotion undeterred

Happy eightieth Birthday, may the year ahead be blessed
With God’s mercies and if He wills, with health and happiness
Happy eightieth birthday, as your numbered days decrease/increase
May they be overflowing with God’s love and joy and peace

© Janet Martin

Psalm 71:18
Now also when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, forsake me not;
until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation,
and thy power to every one that is to come.

Psalm 37:25-26
I once was young and now am old,
yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned
or their children begging for bread.
26They are ever generous and quick to lend,
and their children are a blessing.

Psalm 90:12
Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.


Thursday, August 11, 2022

How Often We Are Thieves...



Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 
How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
Rom.11:33 NKJV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who has blessed us in Christ 
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms...
...In Him we have redemption through His blood, 
the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
8that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
Eph.1:3,7-8 BSB

I would LOVE a whole sermon series on the
'depth of the riches' of spiritual blessing! 
(God bless the teacher/preacher of truth
by the power of the Holy Spirit 
able to verbalize thoughts I grasp at,
to stretch me beyond my personal and often inept
'wisdom and understanding' 
turned into words to encourage, exhort and edify)
Why should we obey?
What is the reward?
and many more challenges and concerns
for myself and for all who have
'repented and were baptized'
as we are urged to,  then...(Eph.4:1-3)
'walk in a manner worthy of the calling you/we have received:
2with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another in love,
3and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace...

***

Last night Victoria offered to do the supper dishes
giving me the glorious opportunity to soak in 
Summer Dusk in the Garden...
truly a glimpse of heaven on earth!
In goes a seed and out of it grows God's amazing handiwork!!

August is a vault of beauty and blessing...
 









...but August's beauty and blessing
 pales in comparison to the blessings
Invisible, without envy/awe-inducing attractive appearance;
the 'spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms'
for the reverent and obedient
both now and forevermore!
 Oh, pray we do not rob ourselves of this wealth
by becoming consumed with lesser riches.

how often we are thieves, though unaware of what we steal
we rob ourselves of riches beyond price, for ‘nice’ appeal
forgetting, in the forfeiting of what God cannot bless
we rob the branch/tree of bearing the sweet fruit of righteousness

forgetting in the whetting of a carnal appetite
we cannot taste God’s goodness, if we do not find delight
in the law of the Lord, if the desires of our hearts
are worldly, rather than craving what God alone imparts...

as we dredge His Word for wealth this world cannot comprehend
bent on one sacred mission; to be faithful to the end
lest, when weighed in The Balance we are found wanting, oh pray
we recognize the treasure that will never fade away

and keep our eyes fixed on a Prize only true faith holds dear
giving more earnest heed to what transcends Time’s transient sphere
lest, in the quest for more we care less about how we live
and steal from ourselves the blessings only God can give

...and rob ourselves of priceless wealth that money cannot buy
beyond the minute pleasure of things pleasing touch-taste-eye 
how often we are thieves, dear God forgive us and renew
our minds to hunger for the depth of riches found in You

...lest we thirst for what is cursed rather than 'riches of grace'
lest, by the voice of choice we worship vices, vile and base
lest, though our lips confessed Your name, our actions disagree
'dogs returned to their vomit' nay! oh, may it never be

how often we tend to shrink from faith's fundamental price 
how often love unbridled is lured by he who deceives 
only God's Word to gird, keeps us from turning into thieves

© Janet Martin