Showing posts with label life's pathway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life's pathway. Show all posts

Friday, February 16, 2024

In All That We Achieve...

 Inspired, in part by a paragraph from this book previously mentioned here



In all that we achieve today, however common its demand
If we approach its come-what-may, with willing heart and open hand
And humble consciousness of holy ground beneath each step we take
Aware of how footfalls compound to leave a pathway in its wake

Then we will not forget to ask, ‘Dear God to purify each quest’
And we will find within each task an impetus to do our best
And face each challenge that we meet with more than self- int’rest in mind
Because, a world of little feet, are following not far behind

Where it is up to us to show, without a shadow of a doubt
Through ups and downs of yes-and-no, Who, what we do is all about
So pray, in all that we achieve, as aftermath of pathways wend
In sacred steppingstones we leave/weave, they lead to Heaven in the end

© Janet Martin

Ps.119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet 
And a light to my path.

Today's part-inspiration!

below continued from above...

I love how the paragraph below is a metaphor for life!





 


Tuesday, March 14, 2023

World-full-o'



The swirl and twirl with youth...

The sparkle of the child
The wizened crown of years...

The silence more pronounced
In woodland's leafless tolls




The pleasure of the win
 The sting of defeat's blow
The sense of springtime waltzing in
On a world full of snow

The swirl and twirl with youth
That ruthless hands estrange
The resolute bulwark of truth
In a world full of change

The sparkle of a child
The wizened crown of years
The laughter when sheer joy runs wild
In a world full of tears

Love's proof by how we live
Where so much is at stake
The kind and tender touch of 'give'
In a world full of  'take'

The secret second mile
The mother's earnest prayer 
The sunshine of a simple smile
In a world full of care

The season swiftly spent
The scarred, prayer-pounded Gate
Hearts, hounded with longing’s lament
In a world full of ‘wait’

The silence more pronounced
In woodland’s leafless tolls
Or where death steps in unannounced
In a world full of souls

The ‘nope’ of dreamer’s/pray-er's rue
The ‘dead seed’ in the sod
The hope that nothing can undo
In a world full of God

© Janet Martin


Very truly I tell you, 
unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, 
it remains only a single seed. 
But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
 John 12:24


Friday, January 27, 2023

Learning to Cherish



Do you also tend to feel a sense of frustration/astonishment 
as you read in Exodus, how God freed the children of Israel from
their bondage and oppression in Egypt in ways that they beheld His mighty power,
Then how, though they had a visual reminder of His presence 
in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, (Ex.13:21)


How, though God parted the Red Sea so they passed through on dry ground, 
before the waters swallowed up the Egyptian army pursuing them.
and yet, how quickly their praise turned to murmuring
 when they were hungry and thirsty,
when present unpleasantness drew their attention and worship
 from He who had proven faithful over and over...
Oh!!! suddenly this sounds very familiar! 
forgive me, Lord!!

Moses' reprimand to the children of Israel is the same for you and me...
Because if we believe we too have been freed 
from bondage and oppression in the wilderness of Sin!


(I jotted half of this poem yesterday from a totally different train of thought
before finishing it this morning after today's scripture reading from Exodus!)

We take it as it comes; Blossoms and butterflies
Wishes that don’t come true and some that do to our surprise
We cannot seize what was or leap beyond today
So, we cherish what is because there is no other way

We take it as it is; of new not yet turned old
Of old that once was younger and of gray that once was gold
We cannot stay the hands that mark the march of time
So, we cherish duty’s demands and beauty’s season-chime

We take it as it goes; the high road and the low
Where only God, who grants it knows what life waits to bestow
To teach us how to trust and love Him all our days
To cherish His goodness to us and live a life of praise

To He who does not faint or weary of our cry
May we withhold thankless complaint and vanity of 'why' 
But cherish that which flows from Mercy's patient nod/rod
What comes, what is, what goes unfurls the soul's return to God


© Janet Martin

...in the morning we shall see the glory of the Lord!
Ex.16:7

Isa. 40:28
Have you not known? 
Have you not heard?
 The everlasting God, the LORD, 
The Creator of the ends of the earth, 
Neither faints nor is weary. 
His understanding is unsearchable.




Monday, August 8, 2022

We Pray For Traveling Mercies, Lord

1 John 5:14
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Last week we received a prayer-request from a family,
for traveling mercies as they departed to answer God's call to a far-off land.
They have now posted a picture of their safe arrival!
We rejoice and continue to pray for them as they adjust to a new country,
and for all of us, who are striving to heed God's calling, 
we pray for 'traveling mercies' 
until we reach our destiny, to be forever with the Lord!






For salvation to be our song no matter what we face


We pant for traveling mercies Lord; that you would quench our thirst
From Truth’s eternal Rock, through ages never overthrown




In Thy Name we pray,
Amen

© Janet Martin



Sharing this song again because it uses a favorite scripture of mine
I need to repeat over and over! 🙏💗👑



Monday, April 11, 2022

Road to Glory...


"God made me good at golf and
I want to glorify him with this gift"




“God is in control and the Lord is leading me, 
and if today is my time, then it’s my time, 
and if I shot 82 today, somehow I was going to use it for His glory."

a few favorite moments...(proud wife)

...and caddy


savoring the sweetness of the moment 
and the support of many fans and family


In the writer's digest poem-a-day challenge
Yesterday's Prompt was write a taste poem
This poem could be entitled 
The Power of Perseverance or
The Sweet Taste of Success

This poem could be about a private, personal challenge or
The fight to faith's finish-line!
So I settled on the title 
Road to Glory

Because the glorious sweetness of success's trophy always casts a shadow;
the bitter cup of dreams dashed (for now)
Cameron Smith acknowledges appreciative applause from fans
after a disappointing finish...

This poem was written with him in mind as well
as well as all of us who
have tasted, in varying degrees, 
the bitter draught of disappointment!


The pleasing flavours/favours of success
Somehow become more sweet
When hope’s hurdles to happiness
Have been honed by defeat

Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose
Life’s course of ups and downs
Refines endurance with its dues
Of crosses before crowns

The hard knocks of ‘not yet’ beget
If we do not give up
After the challenge has been met
The sweetest victor’s cup

Defeat is not the finished fight
But just a stepping-stone
To test the mettle of the might
Of more than skin and bone

Sometimes what at first glance may seem
Like failure and regret
Is but the beauty of a dream
Not quite accomplished yet

Then keep the faith; this is the rite
Before we realize
Where what once seemed a bitter fight
Was sweetening the Prize

© Janet Martin


Shout out to Corey Connors (a former local)
 from proud Canadian fans!

Eric Liddell, when being reprimanded by his sister 
for neglecting his responsibilities before God 
as he devoted his focus toward competitive running, responded,
 “I believe that God made me for a purpose. 
But He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure .”

In whatever form it takes
May we all 'run' to feel God's pleasure!
So someday we may exclaim triumphantly

2 Tim.4:7-8
I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course, 
I have kept the faith:
 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day:
 and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.



Monday, November 8, 2021

Autumnal Eventide Aria



Twice (yesterday and today) this post wanted to be a morning poem
but by the time it was complete it is an autumn eventide poem/aria...
Enjoy! and forgive the 'stumbles'... 

Time’s trodden track of centuries bestows beneath our feet
Unbroken sod, uncharted seas, where man and morning meet...

Time’s trodden track of centuries bestows beneath our feet
Unbroken sod, uncharted seas, where man and morning meet
Life’s best and worst is blessed and cursed with universal need
Where pilgrims of hunger and thirst once more, by grace, proceed

Earth dons a burnished afterglow as woodland lamplight dims
As leaves, like freshly-fallen snow, lie silent ‘neath stark limbs
As day starts to unravel breath by breath its lathe unfurls
Thoroughfares left to travel, riddled with potholes and pearls

Life’s murmur of existence shimmers like a sun-tossed leaf
No measure of resistance can thwart Time’s four-season Chief
Where this day that the Lord has made, none can take credit for
Or blush beneath the accolades as dawn swings back its door

How reckless to suppose this speck of Being that we brave
Is nothing but a feckless trek from cradle to the grave
How reassuring to be held in love that knows no bounds
As centuries and seasons meld His changeless Word resounds

Time’s trodden track of centuries hinges to now and here
Where, like the banner of a breeze our footfalls disappear
Into autumnal eventide; a wafted wisp that weaves
Impressions of a countryside asleep beneath the leaves

© Janet Martin

Life’s murmur of existence shimmers like a sun-tossed leaf...

Into autumnal eventide; a wafted wisp that weaves
Impressions of a countryside asleep beneath the leaves...












Tuesday, November 2, 2021

More Than An Outer-body Workout...


It's not the color of the page we are handed
but the colors we put on the page that matters most!



Yesterday morning captivating heavens enraptured our gaze...



This morning snow-kissed furrows startle us beneath bleak grays



Beneath the loads we shoulder we grow older tick by tock
Where stepping stones and stumbling blocks mete choice and consequence
Where quest of best intention is but jest in idle talk
Like leaves strewn on the sidewalk without much significance

Beneath daybreak’s deployment spills time’s elemental fleet
A most momentous matter of moment-matter's Grand Prize
Clock-jewels fuel duels between triumph and defeat
The heavy heel of hunger warring with want’s starry eyes

The merchant and the miser, the businessman and the bard
Will never quite see eye to eye while vying nose to nose
 For one weighs wealth with dollars, the other marvels where yard
And skies run wild with wonder. Well, we need both, I suppose

What cruelty we author when spite does not miss its mark
What masters of disaster we oft are in love’s fine art
But ah, student and Teacher meet where morning melts the dark
Creator and the creature never very far apart

Beneath the loads we shoulder we grow stronger as we age
Though first glance might presume the weathered plume is turning weak
Where limbs show wear and tear and youth’s green turns to silvered sage
The strength of gentled spirits far outshines the sleek physique

Beneath the loads we shoulder we grow older, yes we do
But pray, that in the course of steppingstones and stumbling blocks
Beneath the loads we shoulder we grow wise and kinder too
And pause to note the loveliness of leaves strewn on sidewalks


© Janet Martin

Psalm 104:24
O LORD, how manifold are thy works! 
in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.


By the time this post was complete the sun transformed the view...😊


Kind of like a parable because
The Son transforms bleak lives too!!


Friday, October 22, 2021

For What His Grace Allots...(and update on my niece)


Life is beautiful (even in the broken)
Is it not the broken that enhances the beauty?!
(see end of post for update on my niece)
Life is not perfect.
Love is far from perfect
we are broken people each in our own personal situations of
'try, try again' to make the best with what we have.
Life's road is full of ruts
It can be easy to get stuck in one without realizing it;
attitudes, habits, etc.
But with each morning comes God's mercies renewed
and fresh grace and opportunity to do the best with what we have.
Futile to look to the neighbors garden wishing for their lot/plot...

(the above is the part I wrote this morning 
before Duty took over and turned it into an evening post)

this little tot is simply peering through the fence to enjoy the view!
So I decided to join her and just enjoy it too💖


futile to peer over the fence to pine for greener lot/plot
and overlook due diligence wishing for what is not
nor is there any common sense on looking back too long
today becomes the recompense tomorrow hinges on

what does it profit you or I to wallow in dismay
what matters now is how we tie up loose ends of Today
before it is too late to make the most of what will be
The Past when twilight bars the gates where today used to be 

the same sun sets and rises on a world of fellowmen 
the whetting stone of life's surprises vexes our ken
where some will bless and some will curse and some will just stand by
for better or for worse each circumstance waits our reply 

sometimes a little stumble jolts us to reality
and helps to keep us humble in the opportunity
where, pray we honor Providence with what His grace allots
rather than peer over the fence and pine for greener plots

Janet Martin

1 Pet. 4:10-11

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, 
as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 
 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. 
If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides,
 so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. 
To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. 
Amen.

Update on my niece who suffered
multiple injuries in an accident almost 2 weeks ago...
The doctors are amazed at her progress!
Yesterday she was released from Sick Kids
and granted permission to go home for a few days 
before starting rehab next week!
She still tires very easily.
She turns 15 tomorrow!
We are so happy for her to be able to celebrate this
milestone at home with her family!
No visitors allowed (due to Covid-risks)
and prayers for continued healing appreciated! 

We are very thankful for the healing
God's grace has allotted so far!




Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Life's Learning Curves


Imagine if we had visual signs to warn us 
when we are about to make a bad turn
on the road of  life...



I'd like to think they would make us at least think twice, right?


Dawn always looks so lovely and innocent...

Who knows what waits to rush its gates
and meld into The Road of Life...


No matter who we are, as we travel on the road of life
we are bound to meet them; learning curves.
Sometimes we are kindly spared catastrophe.
Sometimes we are not.
but there is a silver lining if we learn from these curves;
if we become a little slower to leap (to conclusions)
A little more willing to wait (for answers)
A little more like an owl...wiser😔

A wise old owl sat in an oak,
The more he heard, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?

Author: Unknown

I didn't see a wise old owl in an oak yesterday
but I did get a few nice pictures of what I learned today are 
Double-crested Cormorants




Sometimes life’s learning curves can overtake us by surprise
Where oft we underestimate the hurts that make us wise
For better or for worse, want’s hunger is riddled with traps
Where consequence lasts so much longer than good judgement’s lapse

Sometimes life’s learning curves seem to take a quick, cruel twist
But we, by God’s mercies accrue more catastrophes missed
Yet, when the recompense that follows choice is stark and swift
What looks like loss at first allows us to gain wisdom’s gift

Sometimes we owe life’s learning curves a little more respect
Where what we think we know deserves a meeker intellect
God’s goodness bound to overthrow that which hinders His peace
Because the grace whereby we go is earnest in its lease

Sometimes life’s learning curves are blessings in bitter disguise
Because, sometimes scenery blurs discernment’s keener eyes
Then, sometimes Someone tips the cart by foolish impulse led
To turn ‘It’ (us) purer in the heart and wiser in the head

© Janet Martin


If any of you lack wisdom, 
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, 
and upbraideth not; 
and it shall be given him.

The fear of the LORD 
is the beginning of knowledge:
but fools despise 
wisdom and instruction.





Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Taking the Follow, Not The Lead


Christian's song after Faith was persecuted...
Excerpt from the book The Pilgrim's Progress  

Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 23:2-3

He makes me to lie down in [b]green pastures;
He leads me beside the [c]still waters.
3He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

Psalm 61:2
From the end of the earth I will cry to You, 
When my heart is overwhelmed; 
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Matt.6:13
And lead us not into temptation
but delivers us from evil,

***

Who we follow affects everything we do 
and everywhere we go!

***

A leader cannot force the follower.
The follower chooses his or her leader.

***

Dear Lord, a prayer to Thee for we
who seek to follow Thee

Keep us unmoved by reason that seeks to invade meek trust 
Help us, in each new season to surrender to Thy lead 
Remind us, we are mortal and the logic of our dust 
In its most shining hour is most fallible indeed 

Hone love’s steadfast ambition to follow and not to stray 
Shield us from finite vision rather than Your promises 
Lead us in paths of righteousness; let no temptation sway 
Lest we forget your sacrifice, enticed by worldliness 

There is a way that seems right to a man but leads to death 
Oh, let us never trust in it; but in Thy Word instead 
The spirit is so willing but the flesh, ah, but the flesh 
Is easily seduced when by our carnal nature led 

The way is straight and narrow that leads to eternal life 
Let not faith’s footsteps falter or be fooled by what we see 
For though where You lead may seem hard and troubled with much strife 
Tis but the wink ere death is swallowed up in victory 

© Janet Martin

The World is full of ways to go and wiles to follow
There in only One Way to life eternal...
Jesus said to him, 
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. 
No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6 









Prov.4:26
Ponder the path of your feet, 
And let all your ways be established.

Dr. Charles Stanley