Did It!

 Even a child is known by his doings, 

whether his work be pure, 

and whether it be right.

Prov.20:11 KJV

 Whether its designing skylines...

 or...

 ...tending to our little tittle of earth

...let's make our 'did it' worth its while!

Each sidewalk swept

Each building built

Each record kept

Each furrow tilled

Each plan well-laid

Before its birth

Each child well-trained

To see life’s worth

Each edict writ

Or volume read

Or meal prepared

Or kind word said  

Each art refined

Each song composed

Each Thing designed

Each wrong exposed

Each polished glass

Each curtain hung

Each window washed

Or floor-mop wrung

Each woodpile heaped

Each garden gleaned

Each harvest reaped

Each surface cleaned

Each order sent,

Delivered, claimed

Each dowel bent

Each planet named

Each question asked

And answered too

Each greatest, smallest

Say or do

Did not just happen

On its own

But came about

Because someone

…did it

© Janet Martin

One of today's moments...
 Conversation at lunch

Janet: Remember to use your manners. Do you know what manners are?
Little Luke shakes his head 'no'
Janet; Manners are the things we do that makes us polite. Do you know what 'polite' is?
Little Luke shakes his head, 'no'
Janet: Polite means not being rude. Do you know what 'rude' is?
Little Luke shakes his head 'no'
Janet; well, it sort of means, um, eat nice;-)

Little Luke likes to know what words mean.
Janet has been challenged to the max to describe the most common words in their simplest language!!

Below, wise counsel for our 'doing'.

On Life and Conduct
Proverbs 20  (NASB)

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
            And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

      The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion;
            He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

      Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man,
            But any fool will quarrel.

      The sluggard does not plow after the autumn,
            So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

      A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water,
            But a man of understanding draws it out.

      Many a man proclaims his own loyalty,
            But who can find a trustworthy man?

      A righteous man who walks in his integrity—
            How blessed are his sons after him.

      A king who sits on the throne of justice
            Disperses all evil with his eyes.

      Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart,
            I am pure from my sin”?

      Differing weights and differing measures,
            Both of them are abominable to the LORD.

      It is by his deeds that a lad distinguishes himself
            If his conduct is pure and right.

      The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
            The LORD has made both of them.

      Do not love sleep, or you will become poor;
            Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.

      “Bad, bad,” says the buyer,
            But when he goes his way, then he boasts.

      There is gold, and an abundance of jewels;
            But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.

      Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;
            And for foreigners, hold him in pledge.

      Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man,
            But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

      Prepare plans by consultation,
            And make war by wise guidance.

      He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets,
            Therefore do not associate with a gossip.

      He who curses his father or his mother,
            His lamp will go out in time of darkness.

      An inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning
            Will not be blessed in the end.

      Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
            Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.

      Differing weights are an abomination to the LORD,
            And a false scale is not good.

      Man’s steps are ordained by the LORD,
            How then can man understand his way?

      It is a trap for a man to say rashly, “It is holy!”
            And after the vows to make inquiry.

      A wise king winnows the wicked,
            And drives the threshing wheel over them.

      The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD,
            Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

      Loyalty and truth preserve the king,
            And he upholds his throne by righteousness.

      The glory of young men is their strength,
            And the honor of old men is their gray hair.

      Stripes that wound scour away evil,
            And strokes reach the innermost parts.

Of Faith and Sky

The lathe that shapes from Time, Today

Grants faith-footholds of pink-gold-gray

The sky, Hope’s my-oh-my unfolds

God knows each unknown that it holds

The stir that fells the night expands

A yellow bell tolls from God’s hands

And hangs upon dawn’s yawning air

A ladder to His throne, called prayer

The magnitude of days gone by

Cannot dim mercy’s faithful eye

But hews from rock and plain a place

Where we can name His Name in praise

The glory of the Lord is love

The earth and its fullness thereof

Belongs to Him who from on high

Masters the lathe of faith and sky

© Janet Martin

 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

2 Thess. 3:3

...if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

 

2 Tim.2:13

For Mr. February

 February days ebbed and flowed between sun-rain-snow

His coat is ragged burlap and his cap is thatch, gray-gold

He lumbers over hinterland and hill; a vagabond

From pockets feather-flowers fall and blue shadows unfold

Where brusque against dusk’s pastel west the fir tree waves its wand

He never shows his face, and he seems older than his days

A lonely sort of fellow, no fanfare to hail his storm

He scuffles by where summer-dreamers sigh for turquoise bays

While stark against infringing dark the pine tree flaunts its form 

He musters brooding blusters, quick-tempered, misunderstood 

He broadens daylight's dome and gleans a hip-hooray or two

Then scatters silver mirrors and flatters the frosted wood 

His sky stays pinker longer when the day is almost through

‘Dear forlorn Mr. February, wherefore wilt thou go

And who waitest to meet thee as thou fadest from the land?’

Methinks I hear a tear but it is tossed and lost in snow

Where cold against the eventide the frigid poplars stand

© Janet Martin

Blessed Assurance

Sometimes the ebb and flow of come and go and low and high

Where nothing is quite like it used to be in days gone by

Can make us long for joy and song where wars of wrong and right

Make pitfalls out of fortune and stumbling blocks out of sight

Until we flee to He whose law and love are undeterred

Securing us with calmness to the anchor of His word

Sometimes the sapphire awning of mid-morning in July

Is not enough and even love can drain our laughter dry

When second miles are long and hard and smiles dissolve in tears

And worldly explanations blab but cannot assuage fears

Until with hunger groaning for more than babble absurd

He quiets us with wonder in the fullness of His word

Sometimes the cruelty of tongue can steal ones breath away

With such an utter sadness that we don’t know what to say

The brokenness of humankind would lead to gross despair

Without hope’s ageless promises greater than loss or care

As we, with earnest yearning find the grace that leaves us stirred

And overcome with gladness at the pureness of His word

Sometimes the heart breaks, smarts and aches and takes more than hug-kiss

To heal the sorrows of the soul that touch of skin can miss

For we will always need more than the pomp and pride of boast

To fill the howling void that gapes within our uttermost

Where nothing will appease with peace until our will is spurred

To seek soul-saving comfort in the sureness of His word

© Janet Martin

 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

John 17:17