February Flashback and Farewell

 Of boot-hat-mitten weariness...

Of frigid, drifted sweeps/deeps of snow...

Of shovel-muscles, honed and buff...

Of cozy book-nooks...

Of scrabble games always in play...

Of sills filled with convoys of toys...(but little boy did NOT like the word share)😅

Of warm, south-facing window-spas...

Worlds tucked in white or blush and green...

Farewell, dear fellow-friend and foe

Of frigid, drifted sweeps/deeps of snow

Of days stretched longer into dusk

Of gales, surly-burly and brusque

Of cozy book-nooks by the fire

Of gardens only dreams acquire

Of boot-hat-mitten weariness

Of kitten-soft sun-cheeriness

Of shovel-muscles, honed and buff

Of swirly, sparkly feather-fluff

Of hot-choc-marshmallow mustache

Of gramma-horse toboggan-dash

Of scrabble games always in play

Of sledding hills of numbered day

Of lone reed like a pencil-sketch

Of wishes for a milder stretch

Of warm, south-facing window-spas

Of outdoor task-lists still on pause

Of sills filled with convoys of toys

Of thrills of beauty’s spartan poise

Of senses smitten, torn between

Worlds tucked in white or blush and green

Of icicles starting to slip

Of maple-sap’s darling first drip

Of straining for first signs of spring

Of bittersweet relinquishing

Of learning not to haste the way

Of seasons, but to taste today

Before the hour dons the knell

That bends the bower with farewell

© Janet Martin

A few more Feb. flashbacks...

Carrot Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Today's Holy Ground

When The Greatest Commandment is disregarded

then everything else that follows falls out of place.

(Matt.22:36-40

 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart 

and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

 This is the first and greatest commandment. 

 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”)

Mercy unveils its token

Across the land and sea

A new morning has broken

Holy, holy, holy

Psalm 23:3

He restores my soul; 

He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

The love that pardons sinners

Where truth and grace abound

Wakens pardoned believers

To today’s holy ground

The hope wrought through redemption

As trouble’s billows break

Sweetens, with awed perception

Each holy breath we take

He, who for our transgression

Bore hate’s hostility

Teaches, through His subjection

Holy humility

Mercy unveils its token

Across the land and sea

A new morning has broken

Holy, holy, holy

No other God can conquer

And bid the darkness flee

Nor satisfy want’s hunger

With holy fealty

The strength of rebels falters

When fixed on this world’s mess

Nothing supplants or altars

God’s holy righteousness

This love, above all scandals

That no brute can confound

Bids us take off pride’s sandals

On today's holy ground

By grace we are forgiven

And so unworthy of

Earth’s small foretaste of Heaven

God’s holy, holy love

Oh, come let us adore Him

Let humble praise resound

God sees who bows before Him  

On today's holy ground

© Janet Martin

Here's My Heart, Lord

This poem was inspired in part by our message yesterday!

How Marvelous, How Wonderful

Opinion Pole

 

Without God’s Word I think the soul

Would be a big opinion pole

No law of love to temper ire

Or tame the wild flames of desire

No example of Self denied

To rebuke mortal’s stubborn pride

No image of love’s nail-scarred grace

To set us in our humble place

No wisdom, better far than gold

No vast depth of riches untold

No sin to earnestly confess

No higher call than happiness

No Christ-keen conscience thus to heed

No faith that God supplies our need

No trustworthy compass to guide

No Presence to comfort or chide

Without God’s Word the deathless soul

Is a sad, lost opinion pole

© Janet Martin

Romans 11:33

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 

How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

Far More ...

I sighed with delight at His sunrise...

I wept with delight at His Word

My, I thought as I gazed in ecstasy at the break of day,

what could be more beautiful than this?!

Then, I opened His Word and He showed me...

Ephesians 2:19-22

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers,

 but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 

20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 

with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 

21 In him the whole building is joined together 

and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 

22 And in him you too are being built together 

to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Far more than Mercy we bear witness to as heavens pale

And star-galaxies disappear, as morning rends night’s veil

Far more than naked eye observes of wonders to behold

Of earth and its fulness thereof ‘neath daybreak’s blush and gold

While we grapple with outer fringes of love’s boundless store

Forbid we miss what hinges This to fathoms of far more

Far more than the order of seasons and all they bestow

Of bud to bloom and leaf that lilts then falls like autumn snow

Of winter’s bit ‘o bluster before flowers frill the fence

Or bit o’ boast we muster because of His kind diligence

While what we see sparks poetry and stirs us to the core

Forbid we miss the Holy Kiss of ever so much more

Far more than food and drink or ink to fill the sky with prose

Far more than speech can clarify to those who just suppose

Far more than fellowship where numbered days have staked their claim

Where moments slip like falling stars and nothing stays the same

While we learn to adjust as time and change rush undeterred

Forbid we miss the Best There Is from God to man; His Word

Far more to mentor perfect peace than this world can achieve

Far more to help sweet hope increase when doubt tries to deceive

A wellspring beyond measure to feed heart and soul and mind

A vault of priceless treasure only they who seek will find

While from the cradle to the grave where many gods compete

Forbid we miss The Best There Is as faith and Father meet

Forbid we miss the Genesis to Revelation boon

Forbid we miss the sacred bliss as man and God commune

Where new day spills and beauty thrills the hunger of our gaze

Forbid we miss the wonder from His Word of ancient days

While we are here with opportunity to search His Book

Forbid we miss His promises because we didn’t look

The One whose ways we cannot comprehend loves you and me

A Comforter and Friend, His Word, the Truth that sets us free

His Spirit ministers to all who trust and taste and see

His Voice transcends Time’s thrall through divine edict and decree

While Goodness through the ages brims from pages to the soul

Forbid we never find the fount where faith can be made whole

© Janet Martin

Psalm 37:4-5

Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Divine Dynamics

Luke 3:8

Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. 

Psalm 100:4-5

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;

give thanks to Him and bless His name.

5For the LORD is good,

and His loving devotion endures forever;

His faithfulness continues to all generations.

God Will Take Care of You

Wide, the world abounds with wonders

Generations rise and fall

Truth abides amidst pride’s blunders

The Lord God is over all

Broad, the aftermath of action

Where ripple-effect of deed

Affects future generations

With benevolence or greed

Deep, the roots of humble penance

Ground the soundness of the tree

As fruits worthy of repentance

Prove faith’s authenticity

Loud, the cries where evil rages

Desperation pleads for peace

Look, a Book of holy pages

Tells the Way to true release

Firm, faith’s rock-solid foundation

Anchors hope’s oft storm-tossed sails

God, the author of salvation

Never falters, never fails

Hallelujah, God is greater

His freedom no chain can bind

Nothing can thwart the Creator

Nor the plan that He designed

Vainly evil plots its vengeance

For nothing can overthrow

With battalion or belligerence

He from Whom all blessings flow

Hateful, the retaliations

Of those who despise His call

Faithful to all generations

The Lord God is over all

© Janet Martin

Worth Every Prayer

Troubling headlines this morning

rouse cries to God for His protection and direction

for innocent victims of war!

Psalm 90:14

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

1 Cor.10:31

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,

 do it all for the glory of God.

Job 19:25

I know that my redeemer lives,

and that in the end he will stand on the earth.

While we pray for peace we also know what Jesus said,

Matt.24:4-8

Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you.

 5For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. 

These things must happen, but the end is still to come.

 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 

There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 

8All these are the beginning of birth pains.

 

Behold Our God

The soul’s prosperity no war can overthrow

God’s Word, a lamp unto our feet will never lose its glow

The goal we press toward beyond time’s troubled care

When at last we behold our Lord, will be worth every prayer

In God’s decree not man's, we ought to fix our trust

How fleeting is the mist that spans the gap twixt dust-to-dust

The peace that this world gives is volatile indeed

To know that our Redeemer lives provides the hope we need

Life’s little leap of faith vexes dreamer’s designs

Where circumstance is like a lathe that chisels and refines

Desires of the heart and treasures that we crave

Where mortal means cannot impart that which succeeds the grave

While tears and bloodshed flow, we groan beneath its lot

But evil cannot overthrow what Calvary has wrought

Then, though burdens abound, still we will not despair

For, just to see our Savior crowned will be worth every prayer

The Truth cannot be swayed; the sorrows of travail

Fulfill words Time cannot dissuade; prophecy will not fail

The goal we press toward, when faith its fruit will bear

And we behold our glorious Lord, will be worth every prayer

He hears the heartfelt plea of those who trust in Him

No cold and distant God is He whose mercies never dim

Whose faithful Word bestows comfort to creature care

Whose love transcends earth's curtain close and makes worth every prayer

© Janet Martin

Psalm 90:14

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Thankfully, Thoroughly Equipped...

Greater Is He

Instead of cursing and condemning each other we should pray!

Esp. for the leaders of every country in the world!

It's so easy to become distracted by what we see

of fruits of deeds done in darkness

Psalm 8 begins and ends with this glorious

phrase of praise...

Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Believers are called to be the salt of the earth 

and the light of the world...

Matt.5:14-16

You are the light of the world. 

A town/city built on a hill cannot be hidden. 

15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. 

Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others,

 that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

The believer is equipped

(because greater is He that is in me/ us

than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4)

for whatever we face,

through our Lord's Majestic Name!

May our lives be an offering of praise!

Our glorious God grants everything we need ...

2 Tim.3:16-17

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,

and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,

for [c]instruction in righteousness,

17that the man of God may be complete,

thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Praise He who equips us thoroughly!

Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me...City Alight

Goodness, though evil prospers

Kindness to counter sneers

Pity for profane scoffers

And malicious compeers

Mercy, in spite of meanness

Love for the enemy

Oh, may this be the witness

Of Christ in you and me

A meek and gentle spirit

Strength greater than man’s might

Armor of holy merit

That fits us for the fight

So, when we face our giants

All that the world will see

Is grace to crush defiance

With Christ’s humility

A hope-transformed perspective

The power to endure

A far greater objective

Than this world can secure

In each new morning breaking

A heart amazed and awed

Because of the breathtaking

Majestic name of God

A purpose, pure and pleasing

To heed love’s highest call

Redemption’s charge releasing

The captive from the fall

The faith by which none perish

The hymn to worship He

Whose testament we cherish

The power of Christ in me

A patient perseverance

Until earth yields its claim

And we see without hindrance

Our Lord’s majestic name

When faith concludes its story

With perfect clarity

As we behold/extol the glory

Of Christ eternally

© Janet Martin

Of Unrelenting Death

 

The bloom none can restore after its petals fade and fall...

It sweetens our senses to fleet moments as they meld

And stirs us to remember what we far too oft let slip

It reawakens us to notice love; a world beheld

With kinder eyes when Unrelenting Death makes known its grip

It readjusts the grasp on what we clasp and count most dear

It causes us to reevaluate goals we purse

How beautiful common responsibilities appear

When Unrelenting Death once more impacts us with its due

It leaves us gently smitten with life’s sheer vitality

The Other Side still hidden drawing nearer with each breath

It strikes the sacred chord that tunes us to eternity

For there is no relinquishment from Unrelenting Death

It solemnizes wish-lists with people rather than things

Love cannot be fulfilled without best words like ‘us’ and ‘we’

It keens us to the imminence of what the unknown brings

Where someday Unrelenting Death will come for you and me

It urges us to think beyond time’s splurge of dust-to-dust

Where the undying soul indwells shells of mortality

It bids us bow our heads and reaffirm the sacred trust

In He who anchors hope beyond Death’s unrelenting sea

The bloom none can restore after its petals fade and fall

Ah Death, thy unrelenting score rends ties 'neath touch unfurled  

But never love; life's fond and fairest flower of them all

Unveils a glimpse of Eden before sin entered the world  

© Janet Martin

Genesis 2:17
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; 

for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die."

Genesis 3:6
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes,

 and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, 

she took the fruit and ate it. 

She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

James 1:15

Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; 

and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Is that Footsteps That I Hear? Redeemed Quartet

Very Precious, Second-to-None Gift...

Happy Family Day!

Today's Family Day was spent with

cherished church-family

as a dear brother was laid to rest...

He was a son, a brother, a husband and a dad.

The tender tributes by his family

 surely roused in the hearts of everyone present

a kinder and humbler commitment to love one another,

to help one another

and cherish our families 

while we can!

Let's make every day Family Day💝💞💕

How suddenly (what may at first glance seem quite commonplace)

the ordinary becomes sacred!

The gift of family is life’s imperfect, Perfect Best

Epitome of love fulfilled and sorely put to test

How blessed we are with words like ‘husband’ and ‘wife’, ‘mom’ and ‘dad’

When life is Brother-sister-gramps-and-gram, aunt-uncle glad

For in the end all that remains of all we now embrace

Are memory-mementos of a bygone time and place

How humbly then, as today brims with opportunity

We ought to love each other like a great big family

When life’s sweet circle breaks as death collects its ordained due

It makes us more aware of little words like ‘me-and-you’

And stirs a deeper thankfulness, even while love’s tears fall

For the kind gift of family, life’s dearest gift of all

Life is too short to waste in bickering and blow-for-blow

Today is for forgiving because none of us can know

Who will be next to leave behind the rest of us to weep

Over precious mementos that the heart alone can keep

So, by God’s grace, while we are still on this side of the grave

Let's vow to live and love as if today is all we have

Where, nothing remains commonplace as we begin to see

The precious, second-to-none gift of love of family

© Janet Martin

John 13:34 ESV 

A new commandment I give to you, 

that you love one another:

 just as I have loved you, 

you also are to love one another.

Till Arbors Drip With Petal Plumes...

So many, in spite of a blizzard

do not have the luxury of being 'snowed in'.

Although a lot of snowplows are temporarily parked 

I did see one go past our house a little while ago...

rephrase-

I heard it. It was so white I couldn't see it!!

Thank-you to all the winter-heroes!

...and here? 

Well, it looks like a day of unrushed ink, 

coffee pot refills

a little oven lovin'...

birdie-watching

fire tending

and counting our blessings!

(don't you just love the word 'unrushed'💝)

When arbors drip with petal-plumes

When flowers frill earth’s living rooms

And gardens bob with breeze-kissed blooms

And bird trill fills the dawn

When landscapes white and silver-blue

Dazzle with diamonds made of dew

And green in every sheen and hue

We’ll know winter is gone

When woodlands shed their hoary locks

And robins strut in yellow socks

And brooks curl around glossy rocks

And dandelions beam

When hearths are dark and cold and bare

When days are bright and warm and fair

And we feel younger than we were

In winter’s summer-dream

Then we will look back and recall

The sweet-spent pieces of it all

The way intricate shadows fall

From The Painter’s brush

How chubby juncos thrill us so

How chickadees flit to and fro

The hieroglyphics carved in snow

Plush, pillow-billowed hush

Cheeks glowing with wind-kissed remains

The lure of fluffy fields and lanes

White-stucco woods and windowpanes

Snow-angels on the lawn

A slower-savored cup of tea

With old poets for company

And as far as the eye can see

Time tucked in featherdown

Landscape scenes framed in frosted matte

Snowman, suave in a black top hat

Bird-feeder drama tit-for-tat

Nature’s pure innocence

Beneath our feet the creak of cold

Above us, vaults of snowflake-gold

And all around the boundless mold

Of ageless resplendence

The creek asleep beneath a quilt

Of sequins, stars and glitter-gilt

The way the wind chases the silk

Of a lost bridal veil

The spartan art of barren tree

Naked, yet cloaked in modesty

The way the Artist helps us see

Each beautiful detail

…a paradise of unrushed ink

Where poets dare to sit and think

Perched on an intangible brink

Of Poem not get penned

Rousing rush of adrenaline

*When blizzards snow us snugly in

With our beloved kith and kin

And ink and paper friend

Let’s try to not want what is not

Where time grants treasures soon forgot

Beneath tick-tock’s tittle and jot

Each little day is drawn

Till arbors drip with petal-plumes

Till flowers frill earth’s living rooms

And gardens bob with breeze-kissed blooms

Because winter is gone

© Janet Martin

*Jim is just leaving the yard and hoping to make it home safely

then that line in the poem will be complete

🙏💖

(He just pulled in!)

Psalm 147:15-18

He sends his command to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

16He spreads the snow like wool

and scatters the frost like ashes.

17He hurls down his hail like pebbles.

Who can withstand his icy blast?

18He sends his word and melts them;

he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.

💓

As If...

As if somehow you owed us more

Than you've already given

Some dare to curse and shake a fist

At God of earth and heav'n

As if somehow we did not have

Our utmost need supplied;

Redemption from the curse of sin

Through pardon You provide

As if this world should reconcile

Our logic, some deny

Because of Love misunderstood

You, God of earth and sky

As if we didn't owe to You

All heart, soul, strength and mind

Some spend a lifetime looking for

Something they cannot find

© Janet Martin

John 3:16-18

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and onlye Son, 

that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, 

but to save the world through Him. 

18Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, 

but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,

 because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Never, For One Wayward Wink...

A special treat for you and me today!

Sunrise photo with a different skyline!

Jim (truckdriver-husband) sent this photo

 from somewhere in the very chill hills of

very Northern Ontario

(no phone reception when I tried to call and find out where)

(update: Schreiber, Ont.)

'Surely the morning gold and pink

Is the hem of His gown'

 Because I have yet to walk the mile

of those who mourn the loss of a parent, sibling,

son, daughter, spouse, etc. I cannot pen

the places that those losses must lead Love through

and I do not pretend to know what they know

but I can imagine, 

and hurt

and pray

and weep with those who weep

and plead to God 

to

bless those who mourn (Matt.5:4)

💔

What comfort to know

that never for a single, wayward wink

does The Lord, our Shepherd 

shift His gaze from His beloved Sheep...

🙏

Between miles yet to live and love

And miles that we have trod

Pray, where we are we find enough

In the kind love of God

Through wildernesses of today

Of mortal want and woe

Our Sovereign God still leads the way

Love's manna falls like snow

Enough, always enough, to feed

The cries of you and I

Exactly when, how much we need

His mercy will supply

The Pillar of His Promises

Will never shift or fade

But leads in paths of righteousness

In this day He has made

Toward the Promised Land we face

And run life’s race with joy

And lean on Him and trust His grace

That nothing can destroy

For, never for one wayward wink

Does He forsake His own

Surely the morning gold and pink

Is the hem of His gown

Surely goodness and mercy shall

Follow us all our days

Until forever we will dwell

In the house of His praise

© Janet Martin

 Familiar and forever precious...

Psalm 23 KJV

 The Lord is my shepherd; 

I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

 he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul:

 he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

 I will fear no evil: 

for thou art with me; 

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

 thou anointest my head with oil; 

my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: 

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Take My Hand and Lead Me

Translation below...

Translation of lyrics...

So take my hands

So nimm denn meine Hände

and lead me

Und führe mich

Until my happy end

Bis an mein selig Ende

And forever.

Und ewiglich.

I don't like to go alone

Ich mag allein nicht gehen,

Not a step;

Nicht einen Schritt;

where you will go and stand

Wo du wirst gehn und stehen,

Then take me with you.

Da nimm mich mit.

wrapped in our mercy

In dein Erbarmen hülle

my weak heart

Mein schwaches Herz

And do it completely still

Und mach es gänzlich stille

In joy and pain;

In Freud und Schmerz;

Let rest at your feet

Laß ruhn zu deinen Füßen

your poor child;

Dein armes Kind;

It wants to close its eyes

Es will die Augen schließen

And believe blindly.

Und glauben blind.

Even if I don't feel anything

Wenn ich auch gleich nichts fühle

of your power

Von deiner Macht,

You lead me to my goal

Du führst mich doch zum Ziele,

Even through the night.

Auch durch die Nacht.

So take my hands

So nimm denn meine Hände

and lead me

Und führe mich

Until my happy end

Bis an mein selig Ende

And forever.

Und ewiglich.