Always on the Verge...

 Boi-oing-oing-oing! (sound of my heart returning to my chest)

"come on guys, come and get your kiss and hug from Janet"

yelled Youngest yesterday to her 2 siblings when they prepared to leave!

(she is off to school next week thus ending another child-care 'era')

It's been quite a farewell season...3 families, maybe 4!
(one family has been part of ours for over 8 years) done with daycare!

...no more 'Thursday-boys' except here and there for old time's sake!)

Thank God love is not dictated by the geography of miles/years...
These guys will always be 'my other boys'!

We all vow to keep in touch(where we all know balancing Busyness can be a full-time job!)

 but friendships have been forged 

and the tug of love will draw us together where the law of life pulls apart!

It seems that we are always on the onset of farewells

Always poised on fresh fringes of dusk’s dirge and tolling bells

Always almost at gateways to impenetrable Past

Always a hand-wave, hug and tear, near what can never last

It seems that we are always on the verge of letting go

Arms wrapped around a moment full of Mercy’s overflow

Where good and ill will never have its fill; learning’s aha

Always finds new ways to extol life’s oldest, changeless law

Sometimes we dress our tears in smiles; to cry we try to laugh

When Time insists upon a fresh-kissed Final Autograph

Where it seems we are always never ready for the seal

On that which none can keep on memories that none can steal

© Janet Martin

Mercy's Majesty

Mercy's Majesty rolled like a golden tide across the countryside this morning...

There is no common art where God holds the brush!

 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, 

because his compassions fail not. 

 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Lam.3:22-23

Dawn beams, akin to blushing bride

It streams across the countryside

And etches on dew-lavished lea

Sketches of Mercy’s majesty

The hour soon fills in its blanks

We pause and offer awe-struck thanks

For all that was, is and will be

Relies on Mercy’s majesty

Inhale, exhale, dawn’s diamond girth

Soon sheds Time’s elemental birth

Begetting what makes history

…off-spring of Mercy’s majesty

Darling, death wears many a form

The dust of days takes hearts by storm

Where we, on brinks of mystery

Depend on Mercy’s majesty

Mercy’s majesty will not fail

The Hand that holds and tips its grail

Never out-pours love’s boundless sea

…no shores for Mercy’s majesty

© Janet Martin

Exercise in Futility

 One of hubby's often used lines when explaining something is

'it's not that complicated!'...this phrase, I have found to be true in a lot of situations!

Yes, it's not that complicated. It's hard to trust a Stranger!

Oh, pray the Author of flowers is no stranger to us! 

Futile to plead for guidance Lord

But never read Your Word

Futile to find true hope and peace

In One never adored

Futile to look for confidence

Beyond earth’s dust-mist bar

Without awareness and belief

Dear Lord, in who you are

© Janet Martin

 Matthew 22:29 

Jesus answered and said to them, You do err, not knowing the scriptures, …

 Romans 10:17
Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

James 5:13
Is any one of you suffering? He should pray.

 Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

Rules of Relinquishment...and a few recipes!

Sermon to me-self😐 

Sometimes, even though being busy is a blessing, 

I miss some things that didn't happen this year...

(Somehow the end of August always feels like the end of summer)

...am very happy with all the 'summer' sealed in jars though!

This is Veggie Soup, Salsa(recipe below) 

and Marinara Sauce(new fav!)

Don’t hold too tight; put up a fight but only where it counts

The law and order of life’s rites of passage do not shift

Be humbly grateful for the mist that falls from Mercy’s founts

For every single day, to one and all is but a gift

Don’t mourn too long sweet summer’s song of days bound into sheaf

Or hunger for much younger feet and lips, to dance and sing

Don’t hate the pace of meeker grace, or face refined by grief

For kinder those near winter than those who’ve known only Spring

Don’t ache for what Time takes but rather praise God for its More

No matter whether rich or poor, Time treats each one the same

It never leaves us younger than we were the day before

And when our numbered days are spent we go from whence we came

Don't wallow in regret but set your eyes toward what waits

And where the clock ran out on dreams that never did come true

Don't cry, but try to cherish fully life's present estates

Because before we know it This will fall prey to time too

© Janet Martin

Salsa Recipe

20-24 cups peeled chopped tomatoes(scald tomatoes for easy peeling)

8 cups chopped green peppers(or green and red mixed)

6 cups chopped onion

1 jalapeño pepper (remove seeds for milder salsa)

1 garlic bulb

2 tbsp. salt

1-1/3 cups white vinegar

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (optional)

Chop tomatoes and green peppers by hand

Coarsely chop onions with food processor

Section and peel garlic cloves 

(quick way to peel them is to press clove hard with a glass and peeling falls away)

Chop garlic and jalapeño finely in food processor or slap-chopper

Mix all ingred.and bring to boil slowly to avoid burning.

Simmer for two hours or until thick.

(1-369ML can of tomato paste helps to thicken it more quickly)

Put in jars then into canner. Bring to boil and steam for 15 min.

Tug of Time...

The color of New Season starts where old shades fade and fray

The tug of time entangles hearts where threads dangle and sway

Its shuttle weaves, with day-to-day’s morning to eventide   

A tapestry of far-off leas where fond farewells reside

The final destiny of dancing feet draws nearer, oh

The tug of time is bittersweet; soft kiss and bitter blow

And no one is immune to winds that tune the green-leaf hymn

Where touch of noon to noon soon siphons summer from the limb

The ebb and flow of new today-dreams beckons and beguiles

The tug of time lassos its prey with love-lessons and smiles

Yet always on the fringe of Celebration's gifts galore

Is a searing Sensation that there must be Something More

Its funambulist teases us with joys that steal our breath

Where tug of time always eases us toward its latest death

It etches laugh-lines to the face, oft traced with tender tear

And keens us to a time and place beyond the Now and Here

The color of New Season starts where erstwhile colors end

The tug of time draws us toward More than four seasons, friend

Then, wise the one who holds out hands and lets Time’s strands fall free

For a clenched fist can’t cup the mist that weaves a memory

© Janet Martin

 Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Ps.90:12