A Birthday Poem for The More 'Seasoned' Stage of Surprises!

Happy 62nd Birthday, Jim 

God bless you, guide you and protect you 

as you roll and chug/plug down and up life's highway!

(literally and metaphorically)

 My dear, the years keep hasting by

Where once upon green youth

We thought we had a lot of time

To learn life's changeless truth

And once upon far younger Thought

We dared Time's sleight of hand

By thinking somehow it would not

Heed Father Time's command 

And in spite of what 'Old Folk' said

About how years unfold

With gathered speed, we tossed our heads

And winked, youth-and dream-bold 

But now, with much more 'seasoned' stance

And sass and strut subdued 

We take each new day that God grants

With humbler gratitude

...where, as spent sun-up and sun-down 

Weathers youth's girl or boy

Pray we find in time's wizened crown

Sweet surprises of joy

Trading the fast-fading façade

Of face and form, my dear

For truer, purer love/awe for God

With every passing year

Counting, not loss, but gain, dear friend

And blessings beyond score

So that we cannot find the end

Of things we're thankful for 

Love always, from your wife

Janet Martin 

A blast from the past!!

Time-Don Williams

Yesterday's Sunday morning message passage

is the perfect prayer for today and every day of the year!

Phil.1:9-11

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more

 in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best 

and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 

filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—

to the glory and praise of God.

From Here to Him

Whether we live a day or a hundred years

(like my friend's grandma who lives in Switzerland

and  traveled to Brazil recently!!)

our final breath dissolves Time in eternity!

What was, whether a day or a hundred years, 

then, forever turned to what is!!

Oh, pray somewhere along The Way from Here to Him 

we prepare to meet God who loves us so much

He paid the debt/fare we owed to purchase

The Way to be saved from

the consequence and penalty of sin! John 3:16

And we are all sinners in need of a Saviour!

Josh Turner ~ I Serve a Savior

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, 

He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

John 14:6

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.

 No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. 

The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

The Way of the Cross Leads Home - Hymn with Lyrics

 

Life's way varied in its topography brings everyone, ultimately,

back to the Giver of life...

no matter who, where, how old or young we are

when we leave this world

by one way or another, from the four corners of the earth,

we all come from Here to Him!

Oh, that we would 'know' Him before

we meet Him face to face!

How brutal often, seems the way that draws us dearer and nearer to Him!

By passageways through vale and mount that forge, from faith's leap, hope renewed

And stirs in souls, a hallowed fount of deeper, purer gratitude

By struggles on a way called 'straight/Strait', as self-will and surrender spar

As love weathers lessons of 'wait', while we learn who we really are

By secret prayers in private rooms where God alone can enter in

To cup confession's tear-stained bloom, to forgive and cleanse us from sin

By way of Ebenezer's stone, where worship erects monuments

Of praise; 'Thus far the Lord has shown His help, and His deliverance

By the way of the cross, we find, past Golgotha and Calvary

Faith's birthplace where once we were blind, but by the grace of God, we see

By the way to Damascus, where, bent on some mission, boldly braved

For worldly laud, God met us there, and by his mercy we were saved 

By the way of faith undeterred, by the way of love's battles grim

By the way of His faithful Word, God gathers us, from Here to Him 

Janet Martin

1 Sa.7:12

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, 

and called its name [a]Ebenezer, saying,

 “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing (lyrics & chord) Chris Rice

Perspective Pause...

If, in all that we do, we view the One who grants the life we live

Then we will find love's purpose kind, and give the best we have to give

What joy to know he loves us so and helps us do the best we can

With thankful heart, to do our part to love Him first then fellowman

This is the day the Lord has made, like an alter beneath our feet

What will the price of sacrifice reveal as we, love's charges meet?

Will we be weighed with joy dismayed, or will we rejoice and be glad

To know God's love will surely prove faithful through both life's good and bad

Janet Martin

 

Wonder-Thunder

God talks to us in every bloom

With matchless eloquence

In great and small, earth's garden-room

Heralds His evidence/excellence

Without a syllable or sound

He tells us of His might

In petal-designs that confound

Awed gaze with pure delight

He chooses hues beyond compare

And woos us to be still

And rest in Heaven's foothills where

Hints of His glory spill

Janet Martin

Psalm 111:2
Great are the works of the LORD; 

they are pondered by all who delight in them.

Psalm 104:24 BSB
How many are Your works, O LORD!

 In wisdom You have made them all; 

the earth is full of Your creatures.

Ps. 104-KJV: v.24& 31- 35

O LORD, how manifold are thy works! 

in wisdom hast thou made them all:

the earth is full of thy riches.

...31The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever:

 the LORD shall rejoice in his works.

32He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth:

 he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.

33I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: 

I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

34My meditation of him shall be sweet:

 I will be glad in the LORD.

35Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, 

and let the wicked be no more. 

Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. 

Praise ye the LORD.

The Consequence of Spring

On Friday we had our annual potato-planting with our grandchildren💚

My, the years do fly...

 2024

2025

2026

(This year youngest grandson gave up in disgust,

being literally left in the dust 😂💖)

Whether planting Soul-sod or Earth-sod

Spring is a brief and precious time of very sacred toil...

Spring is a brief and precious Time of very sacred toil

As we redeem its hasting chime with seeds set into soil

How swift sweet planting season skims to Bygone’s soldered keep

And once-upon-barren-plot brims with fruit, ready to reap

Spring is life’s bright and beautiful fresh opportunity

To seize the day with dutiful delight’s humility

And ask He who instills the seed with awesome opulence

To help us plant with earnest heed and careful diligence

Spring is life’s hopeful time of year; as to the broken sod

We scatter seeds and feel so near to the heartbeat of God

As the substance of fruit hoped for and harvest still unseen

Soon bares/bears Evidence by the score, where barren plots had been

…for we reap what we sow; the loom of Spring is brief indeed

The Substance of The Hoped For Bloom begins with planted seed

Its beauty (or the lack thereof) unveils the Consequence

Of Spring, and faith’s consciousness of Harvest and Providence

Janet Martin

2 Cor.9:6

Remember this: 

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,

and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Gal.6:7-10

Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked.

Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.

8The one who sows to please his flesh, 

from the flesh will reap destruction;

but the one who sows to please the Spirit, 

from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

9Let us not grow weary in well-doing,

for in due time we will reap a harvest

 if we do not give up.

10Therefore, as we have opportunity, 

let us do good to everyone, 

and especially to the family of faith.

The Greatest Wonder of the World

The longer we live

the surer we see

Truth never lies.

Psalm 40:4
Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, 

who has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.

John 17:17

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Isa.55:1

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; 

And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. 

Yes, come, buy wine and milk 

Without money and without price.

Come As You Are

A fountain springs eternal and tis not the fount of youth

It is the undefeated, un-depleted Fount of Truth

The truth that love will never fail and God is always good

And He is patient as we learn to love the way we should

The truth is, as long as we live there is something to learn

Each new day is a one-time gift, to which none can return

Who we love most we serve; action needs no words to explain

The tree grows stronger as it weathers the wind and the rain

The eyes and ears of children are quick, curious and keen

Absorbing what they see and hear with hearts tender and green

With mind astute, soon the first fruit of influence will tell

Pray, we weigh what we do and say and teach our children well

For the Truth IS; it cannot change to please vain folly's whim

We will reap what we sow; and every knee will bow to Him

God is not mocked; His glory is declared by heaven's throng

Where none can interrupt or mar their firmamental song

Truth is the bedrock of sound teaching and integrity

Its jurisdiction as far-reaching as eternity

It does not shift or alter in a world, compromise-bent

Its verdict does not falter in the face of argument

The truth speaks without words; wisdom’s immutable defense

It galvanizes courage; girds our words with confidence

It gleams, untarnished by the lies that lord but cannot faze

The Fount that pours from God, all-wise, to fill our souls with praise

His Word is truth; a Fount sourced from I AM, ageless and First

He beckons everybody come and satisfy their thirst

For knowledge from a Source unfurled for both the aged and youth

The Greatest Wonder of the world; it is the Fount of Truth

Janet Martin

Jude 25

To the only wise God our Saviour, 

be glory and majesty,

 dominion and power,

 both now and ever.

Amen.

Psalm 1

1Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he [b]meditates day and night.

3He shall be like a tree

Planted by the [c]rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

4The ungodly are not so,

But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

5Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing (lyrics & chord) Chris Rice

Call of Beauty

In answering love's call of 'duty'

we are given opportunity to

to turn it into a call of beauty!

Serving one another in love;

is there anything on earth more beautiful than this?!

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, 

I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, 

and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,

 and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,

 but have not love, I am nothing.

 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,

 and though I give my body [a]to be burned, 

but have not love, it profits me nothing.

 1 Cor.13:1-3

Jesus came, not to be served, but to serve

and give his life as a ransom for many! (Matt.20:28)

We have a perfect example of love from Him.

What a privilege, each new day

to heed life's call of Beauty!

Eccles.12:13

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God, and keep his commandments:

for this is the whole duty of man.

John 13:34-35

A new commandment I give you: Love one another. 

As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. 

35By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, 

if you love one another.”

Today's call of beauty will be spring cleaning with my sisters

at our mom and dad's house 💕🙏

I'm on for bringing the salad for lunch 😋

Each new day bears upon its pier of grace and love and light

Fresh opportunity to cheer each other on life's way

To be the hands and feet of He who taught us what is right

And bids the likes of you and me to trust Him and obey 

Each new day spreads a welkin wing of Refuge overhead

And ushers to love's suffering, God's kind mercy renewed

The riches of His promises will minister to dread

Arousing hymns of happiness in hearts of gratitude 

Each new day sweet and kindly grants Duty's/Beauty's replenished call

A shiny, like-a-new-bike-chance to try and try again

To serve God in all that we do, however great or small

To labour with love, meek and true and glad honour. Amen 

Each new day, like a trumpet hails; pray, how will we reply

To God, whose favor never fails as faith its need confides

Whose might equips us for the task; tis up to you and I 

To look to Him and humbly ask; He faithfully provides

Love's call of beauty sometimes appears common and mundane

Because it looks like duty lacking luster or appeal

But love turns duty's plain disguise to living's greatest gain

Transforming what would otherwise depend on how we feel 

Janet Martin

Seems we go from dusk to dawn in a wink....

As We, Want's Cases Plead

Lord, where we err

 in our thinking, 

teaching, serving, 

seeking, worshipping, 

reveal it unto us!

Lord, wherever

 and in whatever circumstance

 we find ourselves today, 

you care for us!

Lord, a deeper fear 

and thus love for thee, 

work in us

Thou, Holiest of holies 

and Best of the best

***

Romans 8:17
And if we are children, then we are heirs: 

heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—

if indeed we suffer with Him, 

so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Philippians 1:29
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ 

not only to believe in Him,

 but also to suffer for Him,

James 1:2-3
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, 

when you encounter trials of many kinds, 

because you know that the testing of your faith

 develops perseverance.

Acts 5:41

So they departed from the presence of the council, 

rejoicing that they were counted worthy

 to suffer shame for His name.

A bud is but the waiting room

of the unfolded Flower...

A prayer is like a bud; it's bloom 

awaits its perfect hour

Last week my neighbor-tots eagerly bent over buds

While I reminded them; 'no picking!'

Yesterday they 'visited' me while I was working.

suddenly shrieks of delight were heard!

The buds had turned into flowers!

Oft we want answered prayer

Without full-yielded hearts

In our logic, oft we err

Where trust its test imparts

Oft we want finest fruits

Without Love's pruning rod

 To tear away at sinful roots/shoots

That choke the Word of God 

Oft we defend the cure

Without probing the cause

Until motive is wholly pure

Without self-serving flaws/clause

Oft we want faith's reward

Without faith's suffering

As witnesses for Christ, out-poured

Like a drink-offering 

Lord, show us where we err

As we, Want's cases plead

Teach us to trust as you prepare

Faith's fallow ground, for seed  

Janet Martin

Philippians 2:17
But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering

 on the sacrifice and service of your faith, 

I am glad and rejoice with all of you.