Saturday, August 8, 2026

From a Garden-Lover's Point of View

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,--
One is nearer God's heart in a garden 
Than anywhere else on earth.

From God's Garden by
Dorothy Frances Gurney








Gen.3:8
And they heard the sound of the Lord God 
walking in the garden in the cool of the day...


Time began in a garden; little wonder then that we
Feel closer to God's heartbeat in nature's tranquility

To witness the unfolding of a seed, to bud, to flow'r
Grants the sacred Beholding of God's majesty and pow'r 

What privilege to labour where the world's noise is subdued
By He whose lavish Favour fills our hearts with gratitude 

...and kindles genial ardour for the holy ground of soil
Beneath cloud-tumbled arbour we worship with sweat and toil

We find friendship in flowers and soft serenade of breeze
As we linger in bowers with birds, butterflies and bees 

Content with wonder driven from a plot of awesome worth
Gleaning glimpses of Heaven from the gardens of the earth

Where, though this is no Eden; (Adam's curse is ours to bear)
God still walks in the garden; oh, what joy to meet Him there 

Better than lust for leisure or the futile quest for Things
Is the unparalleled pleasure only a garden brings 

Janet Martin

of seed...


to bud...



...to flow'r! 






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Friday, August 7, 2026

August Soul-Steep

Job 9:10
He does great things past finding out, 
Yes, wonders without number.

Today's poem began as I spent a
slow-paced day with dad, while mom
enjoyed a visit with her sisters!

I was feeling a bit restless at one point as we sat on their front porch
until I concentrated on doing what I sometimes wish I could do more of...
Steep my soul in an August-afternoon, 
taking note of all its luscious details!
like skies so blue and fields so gold
it almost hurts one's eyes to look at them!! 

August's bowers akin to rooms with sapphire canopies...


paradise for bees...


Of aromas of pickling spice and dill and vinegar 
Panoramas of chop and slice as we preserve summer...  


As morn by morn summer's milestones are met, like a parade 
Of joy soft-torn twixt grins and groans as flowers flare and fade...


And wheat falls prey to harvest blade while we humbly rejoice
In each new day the Lord hath made to give our gladness voice ...


We steep our souls in sultriness of August's afternoon
A flushed breeze rolls through leafy tress and stokes a sleepy tune
The cricket-minstrel starts to tweet a bittersweet prelude
From stubble tinsel 'neath our feet staccato cheeps exude
And from tree-rows along the fence cicada-monotone
Jars the shadows, tuneless cadence of rusted saxophone

From yesterdays beneath our skin we sense a turning leaf 
The subtle ways endings begin to dare delight with grief 
As morn by morn summer's milestones are met, like a parade 
Of joy soft-torn twixt grins and groans as flowers flare and fade
And wheat falls prey to harvest blade while we humbly rejoice
In each new day the Lord hath made to give our gladness voice 

The holy ground of happiness is full of thorns and rocks
Still August joys confound; and bless gardens with hollyhocks  
And sunflowers and zinnia-blooms; a paradise for bees
August's bowers akin to rooms with sapphire canopies
Where wonder-storms are oft unfurled in unquenched poetry
Where thunderstorms refresh the world and drench its dusty lea

We cannot get our fill of this; the bliss of August days 
Where toil and sweat is worth the kiss of Nostalgic replays
Of aromas of pickling spice and dill and vinegar 
Panoramas of chop and slice as we preserve summer  
And thank God for dear August's pleasure of garden and field
To take time to be awed by treasure-troves of fruitful yield 

Ditches burgeon with Queen Ann's Lace and black-eyed Susan-blaze
Beauty surges in petal-grace that captures our gaze
At every turn; a color-blur of purples, pinks, gold, blue
Gilding an urn we call Summer; ere earth collects its due
Of spent applause; as each day rolls like waves that disappear  
And so we pause and steep our souls in August's atmosphere

Janet Martin 

Still August joys confound; and bless gardens with hollyhocks ...




And sunflowers and zinnia-blooms; 






Ditches burgeon with Queen Ann's Lace and black-eyed Susan-blaze...







Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Heaven's Grand Event

Ps.5:3
In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice;
at daybreak I lay my plea before You
and wait in expectation.


Darkness dwindles; daybreak kindles toil and trouble’s transient wick
Silence thunders with fresh wonders waiting to cut to the quick


Season-beauty graces duty with God’s grandeur to behold
Skyline blushes; mercy rushes like a river, rose and gold


Worship savours unearned favours from a fount where blessings pour
Hope and heartache humbly partake of love’s Bread of Life once more


Unplumbed essence of God’s Presence cheers us through days good or bad
Overflowing The Unknowing with enough to make us glad


Glad to labour, love our neighbour, with a heart of gratitude
For God’s tender, steadfast splendour; Goodness and Mercy renewed


Gone forever, yester’s-nevermore of moments spilled and spent
Darkness dwindles, daybreak kindles Today; Heaven’s Grand Event


What an offer! From yon coffer run riches none can descry
Today given, down from Heaven where God waits for our reply 

Janet Martin

Ps.118:24
This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.




Tuesday, August 4, 2026

While We Wait...Quietly

God's Waiting Room is a Garden...


From Eden to Gethsemane/Calvary mankind awaited The Messiah (Saviour)
In Eden, perfection marred by sin. Sin, the author of death, trouble and sorrow.
In Gethsemane, utter surrender to the Father's will.
The Father's Will? 
Salvation/Redemption

Today's devotion struck a deep chord in my soul.
Our church family, while still mourning the loss of of our pastor this past winter
are seeking and waiting on the Lord to prepare and provide another.
The tension between seeking and waiting is not a light matter!
Prayers are deeply appreciated on the behalf of our church staff and leaders,
whose 'violin/cello strings' are being sorely stretched!



Waiting introduces suitors 
That test soldiers of the cross
While goodness and mercy tutors
Faith's students with seeming loss  

Waiting without being anxious
Is not for the faint of heart
Beneath God's perfecting purpose
Oft our own ways groan and smart 

To wait quietly, while hoping
Jars with natural desire
To trust without interloping 
 Tries the wise, as if by fire

God's Waiting Room is a garden
Eden and Gethsemane
First the curse and then the pardon
Waiting unveils Calvary 

Then be of good courage, fellow-
Partaker of suffering 
While we wait God's tunes faith's cello
And repairs each broken string

While we wait, hark! God is speaking
To the likes of me and you
While we wait He too is seeking
Worshippers whose love is true 

Janet Martin




Monday, August 3, 2026

The Secret to Joy through an Infallible Power-Source

Today, a little heart-to-heart...

Today's post is inspired in part by our summer sermon-series

in part by today's devotion from Springs in the Valley 
(or aka Streams in the Desert Vol.3)


and in part by a heart-to-heart visit with a dear friend yesterday,
as we encouraged each other to 'keep on'.

Phil.1:21
For to me, to live is Christ...

Acts 17:28
...for in Him we live and move and have our being, 
as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

1 Pet.1:8
...whom having not seen you love. 
Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, 
you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,






What melds the simple and sublime
Our hurts with hope and peace
What transcends the titles of Time
And bids its tensions cease
And cheers our hearts when things go wrong
And doubt and despair taunt

It is to love without restraint
To forgive and forget
With courage naught can dim
Than any foe we face

What frees us from indebted strain
Of ‘have I done enough?’
Whether aged or youth
In each sorrow we undergo
What restores joy again
With power none can overthrow

Janet Martin

Saturday, August 1, 2026

God's Opportunity

Tip 'o the hat to cement truck drivers and cementers.
That is some seriously hard work!!


Some of my brothers and nephews are carpenters so they are a huge blessing
as we build a granny-flat onto my parent's home
for them to hopefully move into by the end of the year!
Lots of hard work is happening but I think cementing must be one of the hardest.
First, the hard work to install heavy cribbing,
then, after the hard work of cementing,
the hard work of tearing it away.
This week I learned what a rebar is and its purpose!
So many metaphors to apply to life;
how what seems like the 'hard work' is actually the preparation 
for the 'pouring' of the foundation!
How there is so much more to the foundation and footing than meets the eye!
Every day we are each God's opportunity 
to work through and in us with the abilities and gifts He has given!
Let's not miss them, because there is no other me or you to do
what he has deigned for each of us to do!
The rebars in our own life-foundations are not visible to others,
nor theirs to us, reminding us there is so much more 
than meets the eye in all of our 'temples'.

It's almost more than my dad (almost 85 and a former carpenter)
can do to simply watch...




What we see never grants enough
to justify disregarding what we cannot see!
(like spiritual rebars, or the lack of them)
God is faithful;
faithful when we are tempted
to fear
to doubt
to despair.

1 Cor.10:12-13
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; 
but God is faithful, 
who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, 
but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, 
that you may be able to [d]bear it.

We are God's opportunity;
Through people just like you and me
He ministers His faithfulness
So we may live to love and bless

...and though no person can fulfill
The part only His Spirit will
He helps us love the way we should
And through this love works all for good

We are God's workmanship; His grace
Equips us for all that we face
So we may daily shed abroad
The light, hope, joy and love of God

Janet Martin  


Friday, July 31, 2026

Marriage Blessing



Two weeks ago today Jim and I witnessed
 our second daughter and, now son-in-law's marriage in a
private and beautiful ceremony!

(shared with permission)
photo credit; James Hunter


Congratulations!!
and God bless you as you begin life
as husband and wife!

I shared this blessing with them before the ceremony...

This day, unlike any till now
Transforms life with love's marriage vows
Where, what was two at today's start
Is turned to one till death doth part

This day, going forward begins
A journey love is bound to win
As words like 'I' and 'my' and 'me'
Are turned to 'our', 'us' and 'we'

This day of hope and joy and love
Is recorded in Heaven above
A Mystery, second to none
As what was two is turned to one

This day we pray that God will bless
Your life with love's kind happiness
As, come what may of worst or best
Together, love will stand each test

Love, Mom (aka, Janet Martin)



Matthew 19:6
So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 
Therefore what God has joined together, 
let man not separate.”

Thursday, July 30, 2026

July Love-song

Usually in July, I let readers know when I will be off for
my annual summer break. 
This year the 'break' started a bit earlier than I was prepared for,
and has lasted a bit longer than usual, 
and I will fill in some of the reasons for this in future posts, (hopefully/maybe!)
Life is so full of change-of-plans these days,
but I couldn't let July leave without at least one
July ballad/love song!! 

Eph.5:20
...always giving thanks to God the Father for everything,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Genuine gratitude is more than an occasional word we offer;
 it’s the posture of our lives.
 Gratitude turns us to God over and over again,
 always giving thanks in celebration.


It's not very difficult to be thankful in July!
Earth bursts with God's pleasure/providence!





Sing me a song of sweet July
Of blue and white peony sky...


Of wheat fields fringed with Queen Ann's lace...


Sing me a song of summer joys
Of carefree, barefoot girls and boys
As through fleet, sweet childhood they run...





Sing me of lilies full of sun...


Sing me a song of sweet July
Of blue and white peony sky
Of wheat fields fringed with Queen Ann's lace
And highways frilled with wild-bloom grace

Sing me a song of summer joys
Of carefree, barefoot girls and boys
As through fleet, sweet childhood they run.
Sing me of lilies full of sun

...of bronze shores where white waves unfold
Of landscape vistas, green and gold
Of petal-orchestras that spill
Flower-concertos, thrill on thrill

Sing me a sweeping serenade
Of backyards, dark with leafy shade
Where we lay down trade's humble tools
To cool ourselves in shadow-pools

Sing me of summer's gentle pace
Of daybreak's Parental embrace
Of gardens of both soul and soil
Bursting with fruit of faithful toil

Sing me of birds and butterflies
Of supper-bliss, fresh cherry pies
Of sticking noses in a flow'r
Face to face with Glory and Pow'r

Sing me a song of sheer delight
Of senses drenched in sound, scent, sight
Of  expectation, bittersweet
As hellos and farewells compete 

Sing me a song of cricket choirs
Of hummingbirds at Hosta-spires
Of misty morn and dusty dusk
Of fields of corn and shadow-husk

Play me a July melody
Of lavender and chicory 
Of pink milkweed, with monarch brooch  
Of hues hailing August's approach 
  
 Ah, sing me a July love song
Before it succumbs to 'so-long'
Sing me a turquoise ebb and flow
Of holding close while letting go

Janet Martin 

Sing me a turquoise ebb and flow
Of holding close while letting go...




...of bronze shores where white waves unfold


Of landscape vistas, green and gold...


Of petal-orchestras that spill
Flower-concertos, thrill on thrill...






Of supper-bliss, fresh cherry pies...



Sing me a sweeping serenade
Of backyards, dark with leafy shade
Where we lay down trade's humble tools
To cool ourselves in shadow-pools...


Of pink milkweed, with monarch brooch...