Showing posts with label courage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label courage. Show all posts

Monday, January 30, 2023

(Temporary) To-do List/Must

The gray, sunless stretch of weather continues!!
sometimes it seems to threaten to seep into our spirits😏😐




Do you ever wake up feeling defeated before you begin
a new day, a new week, as struggles and battles seem to hit 'repeat'?!!
Call on God, call on a friend, 
call on a mother, spouse, sibling
but whatever we do, let's not try to do it alone!




Do you ever wish for a life without care?!!
(I confess, sometimes I do! But,
a life without cares would make us 
pretty careless and self-reliant, wouldn't it?!

On the other hand, sometimes we can create cares
 by being careless and self-reliant!
Here is the balance challenge:
To not become complacent,
 yet, to not become discouraged
as we shoulder the yoke of faithfulness!
 The only way to accomplish this requires
constant refueling in God's company/His Word!

(To keep our eyes on faith's prize is impossible
if we love the world...more)

1 John 2:15-17 (BSB)
Do not love the world or anything in the world.
 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh,
 the desires of the eyes, 
and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world
17The world is passing away, along with its desires;
 but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

Happy Monday!
Let's make the most of to-do lists 
not simply with what we have wherever we are,
but with Who we have wherever we are,
 (if we have believed in He who is able!)
💓🙏

this hard-to-do to-do list kind of unfolded as I contemplated
what to write about, as I weighed wishes and wants with what is, etc.
Some successes, no matter how hard-fought 
seem to evade, maybe because we're not ready for it yet!


...to loathe the pride that lurks inside accolades of success
To hunger for still waters and green pastures of His Word
While feasting on a five-star meal of hope with thankfulness 
And to pray without ceasing, leaning wholly on the Lord

To love our neighbor as ourself without selfish reserve
To be more kind and patient where we all have much to learn
Where only by God’s favor we have more than we deserve
A glorious inheritance that we could never earn

To fight against desires that wage war against the soul
To count spiritual blessings and to covet more and more
Its measure, life’s true treasure beyond time’s transient toll
When at last, we will see what now we are yet striving for

To make Heaven our goal, so that we labor not in vain
To remember, the garment of the soul will soon decay
And what once seemed so far off and arduous to attain
Will be an everlasting crown that never fades away

© Janet Martin

1 Cor.9:24-27 (NIV)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,
 but only one gets the prize? 
Run in such a way as to get the prize.
 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. 
They do it to get a crown that will not last, 
but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
 26Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly;
 I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.
 27No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave 
so that after I have preached to others,
 I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.









Monday, August 30, 2021

Courage, With Joy

Below is a message from my friend Jane, sent to me years ago
after I confessed how terribly terrified I am to share the poetry publicly...
I printed and scotch-taped her reminder beside my computer screen
and it has been a powerful reminder more times than I can count...

Because of the prolific nature of this 'poem-porch' 
one might assume it's easy to hit 'publish' and bare heart-pieces to the world. 
But if it were possible to pull apart the place where feelings lie you would see
so much would-be insecurity, timidity and fear! 
However, whatever our creative outlet is, 
we only ever create with what God first has created. 
We are like children playing with His crayons 
and thereby we create 
and owe God an answer when He asks,
'What are you going to do with it?'

The most terrifying, exhilarating thing we will ever do
is to 'let go and let God!'

My friends host our church's podcast for women.
 Another friend is the guest on the latest episode 8.
I was so touched by her reminder that,
'as we are aware that we create with what He gives
creativity becomes a source and form of constant worship'
Yes, and
 This worship helps to fill life with constant joy!


George Macdonald wrote over a hundred years ago
"A poet is a man who is glad of something and
tries to make other people glad of it too"
That quote is still as true as ever
and reveals why an artist has the courage, with joy,
to share what they/we have created...

...to recognize with holy awe that all we are and touch
Is created and granted by He who loves us so much
We are so very diff'rent, yet still so very 'the same'
Created in His image to bring glory to His name

How loud doubt's voice would shout with fearful insecurity
Without His still small voice that whispers 'just do it for Me'
Then suddenly dark demons flee and joy transforms despair
As we honour His majesty with talents He put there 

Forbid, when face to face we give account for what we did
That pride or doubt or lack of faith kept our talents hid
Or that Comparison, (the deadliest kill-joy of all)
Would have succeeded in making us ashamed of His Call

So pray for courage to proceed with joy to glorify
The Giver with the gift that He has given you and I
Then, as we hold the crayons, may we be filled with sheer awe 
To feel His Hand over our fingers, teaching us to draw

Janet Martin

Let's all seek to bless others by glorifying the Giver
with our gift/s.

This poem could also be called
Why my to-do list grows longer and longer
because in the middle of Very Busy...a poem might nudge😊


Sunday, April 19, 2020

The Tender Risk


 This morning I had in my inbox a poem written by my niece
for a history assignment;
a strong piece of writing in Reverse Poem and well done!
It tempted me to attempt this form I had long forgotten.
In much shorter version.
 (also forgot how challenging it is;
the trick to keep one line flowing
into the next...)




So much to celebrate… and grieve
With what we suffer to achieve
And weave love’s longing, bittersweet
As hunger and fullness compete
To penetrate with piercing ploy
The climax of sorrow with joy
To fragmentalize and finesse
The highs and lows of happiness
Where what we have and hold is but
Slow loss that waits to sheer and gut
The heart that dares to trust enough
To take the tender risk to love
Again

© Janet Martin

Again
To take the tender risk to love
The heart that dares to trust enough
Slow loss that waits to sheer and gut
Where what we have and hold is but
The highs and lows of Happiness
To fragmentalize and finesse
The climax of sorrow with joy
To penetrate with piercing ploy
As hunger and fullness compete
And weave love’s longing bittersweet
With what we suffer to achieve
So much to celebrate… and grieve

© Janet Martin


 Even in laughter the heart may ache, 
and rejoicing may end in grief.
Poverbs 14:13


Wednesday, October 16, 2019

If We But Ask

No matter how much we brace ourselves for what we might face we are fitted only as we need it!
Sometimes it's comforting to visualize His nail-scarred Hand 
reaching down to hold our so-small hand as we reach up...
It's also comforting to visualize those same hands 
enfolding the rebel/prodigal/atheist as we pray!
(For we still live in the day of grace)



The Hand that lowers twilight’s bars
Then fades yon fathoms filled with stars
As daybreak like a weightless tide
Unfolds the muffled countryside
That tells the season by the shell
That cloaks the woodland, field and dell
And steals the wand’ring, wond’ring gaze
With nature’s invincible ways

That Hand that grants the benison
Whereby plant and harvest is done
That guides the earth’s orbit of teal
That spins upon The Potter’s wheel
That shapes with rise and set of sun
The legacy where said-and-done
When we are stripped down to bare clod
Are too small to shake fists at God

The Hand that weathers mortal glove
By the sheer joy and grief of love
That lends all that He gives and takes
In this go-round of sacred stakes
And instills shoal of dust-to-dust
With soul’s indelible Must
Where none, with rebel set of heart
Can shuck That which sets us apart

This Hand that does not slip or fail
That tunes the wind that fills the sail
That vexes vanity’s intent
And perplexes want’s prideful bent
Has scars left there by hate fulfilled
As He made Heaven possible
This Hand that fits us for trust’s task
Will hold our hand, if we but ask

© Janet Martin


For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you,
 Do not fear; I will help you.
Isa.41:13


 


 



Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Hope, Courage's Candle...

...but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. 
They will soar on wings like eagles; 
they will run and not grow weary, 
they will walk and not be faint.
Isa.40:31

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable 
to show them that they should always pray and not give up.


Hope fords the streams where dreams have died
It forges faith from yielded fear
Where morning spills Time’s virgin tide
It bids us to be of good cheer
And where we reach but cannot see
Hope whispers through the pining air
And beckons us to trust in He
Who keeps us in His tender care

Hope puts its arms around our dread
And ushers step-by-stepping stone
Where no one knows what lies ahead
Hope is God’s hand over our own
And as we rise to meet the day
Where night becomes a molten sea
Hope is a Voice that seems to say
Be of good cheer and trust in Me

Hope helps us look toward The Prize
Though trouble takes no holiday
Hope holds a lifeline through the fray
And where the ash of days gone by
Can sting our eyes with founded fear
Hope lifts courage’s candle high
And beckons still, ‘be of good cheer’

© Janet Martin



Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Keep Your Eyes On Jesus...


Isn't this true for us too as it was for Peter...
if we keep our eyes on Jesus he will help us 'walk on water'
 but if we look around and focus on the dark waves
we will sink in fear!

When grief wreaks havoc in our form
And dreams in shambles lie
Pray that we hear within the storm
“Take courage, it is I”

When hope is tempest-tossed about
Where faith and fear-lords vie
Pray that we hear beyond all doubt
“Take courage, it is I”

When Love draws loved ones out of reach
And leaves us wond’ring why
Pray that we hear a Voice beseech
“Take courage, it is I”  

And when we that last strait must brave
Where death’s dark mysteries lie
Pray that we hear across the wave
“Take courage, it is I”

© Janet Martin

 But Jesus immediately said to them:
 "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

Matt.14:27