Ode to June

Life's busyness just doesn't allow for all the June poems that beg to be written...

but one final ode to June as its farewell tugs on heartstrings,

in spite of July joy waiting at dawn

June is a flower-friendly lease...

...a strawberry lover's paradise

...a freedom-elated school-boy

June is the tempo of bare feet

June is the laughter of a child...

June is the perfect centerpiece

In the living-room of a year...

June joins the ranks where ages rest

A quick collage of memories

Like pansies, between pages pressed

Like madrigals of peonies

While gardens reach toward the sky

While mornings roll toward July

While all the while we my-oh-my

At how time flies with ease

Like a plot decked with petals strewn

Like a teapot, tipped, poured and drained

June spills and fills each afternoon

With gold and green and blue unchained

While days and dreams mingle and merge

While shadow-breakers ebb and surge

Across shorelines of sun-glossed verge

Of what yet waits to be

June stuns the soul with poetry

Strawberry-lovers’ paradise

June is a leaf-lush canopy

A backdrop splashed with butterflies

June is part ballad and part waltz

Blip of cartwheels and somersaults

June is a woman without faults

Save one; Her swift demise

June is the tempo of bare feet

June is the laughter of a child

June is a love song, bittersweet

As clocks and hollyhocks run wild

A bubble on a breeze, ahoy

A freedom-elated school-boy

Lithe, and leaping from joy to joy

All reason reconciled

June is a flower-friendly lease

Of pure contentment now and here

June is the perfect centerpiece

In the living-room of a year

June is dusk’s long-lingering flight

June is daybreak while it is night

June is the bull’s eye of delight

And farewell’s fondest tear

© Janet Martin

Fare Thee Well, Love

Thankfulness and Praise

1 Pet.1:17-19

And if you call on the Father,

who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, 

conduct yourselves throughout the time of your [e]stay here in fear;

 knowing that you were not redeemed with [f]corruptible things, like silver or gold, 

from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,

 but with the precious blood of Christ,...

Imagine if every Sunday morning the minister would,

with trembling hands open a letter of encouragement

such as Peter wrote to remind the early church,

the first Christians facing opposition and persecution,

of the believer's living hope, so they/we would

'rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you

 at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 'v.13

Oh joy, we have that letter not only for Sunday morning but every single day!

v.20-21

He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, 

but was [g]manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, 

who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, 

so that your faith and hope are in God.

Then as we think on these things 

may our lives overflow with humble thankfulness and praise!

When Joseph was thrown into prison after Potiphar's lie

he did not seek to vindicate himself but trusted God and served Him, even in prison!

'because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.'

Gen.39:23

Lord, help us strive to live our days in such a humble, trusting way...

As this morning's much needed rain is a plant's 'living hope'

so is God's Word/truth to the one who puts their trust in Him!

Lord, help us strive to live our days

With hearts of thankfulness and praise

Remind us of faith’s recompense

A heavenly inheritance

Lord, make the motive of life’s call

To glorify You above all

Lord, in the dark thick of the fight

Help us to be a shining light

Lord, let the kindness of Your grace

Equip, encourage and embrace

Let holy conduct testify

Of the hope on which we rely

Lord, lest some deadly vice creep in

Convict us of each subtle sin

Lord, then as we discern Your ways

Fill us thankfulness and praise

Amaze us with the end that tolls

With the salvation of our souls

Bought, not with world-wealth sacrificed

But with the precious blood of Christ

Lord, keep us from spite's ready snare

Stir in us Gethsemane's prayer

Then, help us strive to live our days

With hearts of thankfulness and praise

Forever and Always,

Amen

© Janet Martin

Matt.5:16

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

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

Father, what we know not

Teach us

What we have not

Give us

What we are not

Make us,

For Your Son's sake,

amen

(excerpt from message below)

Another excerpt: sometimes a bad thing happens for a good reason!

(Listen around and after the 30 min. mark for very vital, somber, relevant caution!)

The Need for Prayer

Do you love your pastor/s?

Do you pray for them so their

preaching may be the gathered result of our prayers?!!

Does a Sunday morning sermon bring fruit of 'their labour' or 'our labour'

as fellow-labourers for our Lord!?

Beauty Pageant

 Wishing you a wow-run-wild kind of day!

This time of years is a salad-lover's paradise!!

snaring buds as I snip off faded peonies...

Beauty burgeons, brims and billows

Glints and glimmers, sweeps and sighs

Beauty spills hills; plumped green pillows

Perched against cerulean skies

Beauty is sweet bliss unshaken

Beauty startles, stirs and awes

Beauty is the kiss that wakens

Worship’s wild, off-guard applause

Beauty bursts bud-vaults with flowers

Wonder loosens longing’s noose

Beauty decks and drips from arbors

Periwinkle and chartreuse

Beauty sprawls in shadow-steeples

Mapping out the march of time

Beauty falls in faded petals

From the frond that held its prime

Beauty ignores human nature

Often blind to God at large

Beauty does not force the creature

To enjoy the show, no charge

Beauty flutters, flits and flickers

Filling hearts with my-oh-my

Beauty warbles, wafts and whispers

Bitty bird and butterfly

Beauty bids bards brave the battle

That the font does not disclose

Beauty helps hope cope with trouble

The thorn tempered by the rose

Beauty murmurs and meanders

Like a brook snared by a pen

As the poet tames to paper

Beauty to relive again

© Janet Martin

I was reminded of this verse below because counting all that God does and creates 

cannot be contained in all the books and poems ever written!

John 21:25

Jesus did many other things as well. 

If every one of them were written down,

 I suppose that even the whole world would not have room 

for the books that would be written.

Everlasting Treasure

Psalm 143:8

Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning;

for in thee do I trust:

cause me to know the way wherein I should walk;

for I lift up my soul unto thee.

Psalm 144:15

Happy is that people, that is in such a case: 

yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

Jim and I went on a rural Ontario drive yesterday...

We got caught in the middle of a bit of a different kind of traffic-jam!

after Sunday afternoon instruction classes for baptism were over...

This is the time of year when ditches become wild flower gardens

As enjoyable as the drive was, like all outings

its pleasure is momentary...

Earth simply cannot offer anything everlasting...

except God's Word!

Here is a treasure worth seeking!

This is no fruitless endeavor

This is no fool’s gold we seek

When we search the Holy Scriptures

We will find strength for the weak

We will find the road to glory

We will find hope for the soul

We will find love’s sweetest story

For the faith that makes us whole

We will find God’s kind forgiveness

Righteousness, wisdom and joy

Counsel, comfort, Friend and fortress

That no power can destroy

We will find the Rock of Ages

Guidance, armour for the fight

When we search these sacred pages

Full of grace and truth and light

When we search the Holy Scriptures

When upon God’s Word we feed

We will find unfathomed riches

To supply our every need

Here is peace past understanding

Earth’s anchor to Heaven’s throne

Here is assurance unending

Refuge and Chief Cornerstone

When we ask we will be given

When we seek, there we will find

When we knock our God will open

The door of heart, soul and mind

…this is no fruitless endeavor

Here God hears us when we call

Here is everlasting treasure

Without measure, free to all

© Janet Martin

Isa.55:6

Seek the LORD while he may be found;

 call on him while he is near.

Isaiah 26:9

My soul longs for You in the night; 

indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. 

For when Your judgments come upon the earth, 

the people of the world learn righteousness.

Isaiah 45:19

I have not spoken in secret, from a place in a land of darkness.

 I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, 'Seek Me in a wasteland.'

 I, the LORD, speak the truth; I say what is right.

Isaiah 45:22

Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; 

for I am God, and there is no other.

Summer

Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; 

to me those have always been the two most beautiful words

 in the English language.”

― Henry James

Breakfast in the garden...

Campfire griddle-cakes...

Never pleading pardon

For extended breaks...

Fields flaunt floral fringes...

Flower begets flower...

Lily-lanterns gleam...

Smacking lips devour

Strawberries and cream...

Breakfast in the garden

Campfire griddle-cakes

Never pleading pardon

For extended breaks

Beauty is not wasted

Kitchen duty waits

So much to be tasted

On blue-sky heaped plates

Sun and shadow dapples

Green leaf canopy

Sheer contentment grapples

With time’s fleeting spree

Flower begets flower

Lily-lanterns gleam

Smacking lips devour

Strawberries and cream

Lyrics spill in laughter

Sprinkler diamonds splash

Bare feet pitter-patter

Popsicle mustache

Swallows skim dusk backdrops

Bloom lures butterflies

*Puppy chews on flip-flops

Owner scolds and sighs

Fields flaunt floral fringes

Gilt-embroidered glove

Touch of heaven tinges

Earth’s fullness thereof

Dusty, dewy essence 

Stokes soft breeze caress 

Sun-steeped effervescence 

Evokes happiness

Picnic basket pleasure

Outdoor living-rooms

Every day a treasure

Where sweet summer blooms

© Janet Martin

*'Rats' I said to myself in bed last night

after everyone had gone home and campfire was tidied up.

I hope someone saw my flip-flops and brought them inside

(I kicked them off to run a race with grand-kiddos)

Someone didn't and neighbor farm-pup did 😠

My bad for not just getting up and making sure!

The consequence of laziness...

Swallows skim dusk backdrops...

When We Find The Key To Favor

Yesterday's 'favor' was juicy and sweet!

Not all fruit for our labor seems quite as visible and flavorful as fresh strawberries

but is every bit as sweet if we find the key to God's favor...

Then, what an indescribable treat, to savor joy!

Not in vain is noble effort

Though no ovations resound

Not for nothing is the labor

Though no compliments abound

What a diadem of honor

Crowns what appears commonplace

What pure purpose bids us onward

Though no eager crowds give chase

Though the push and pull of duty

Seems a thankless exercise

What a boon of hidden beauty

Tunes the struggle to the Prize

...when we find the key to favor

When from the moment we wake

Our joy is but to labor

For the name of our Lord’s sake

...when to labor is the favor

When love is its own reward

When work is worship, we savor

Joy, through Jesus Christ our Lord

© Janet Martin

Psalm 5:11-12

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;

Let them ever shout for joy, because You [f]defend them;

Let those also who love Your name

Be joyful in You.

For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;

With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Prov.8:35

For whoever finds me finds life,

And obtains favor from the LORD;

Col.3:23

And whatever you do, do it heartily,

as to the Lord and not to men,

Luke 11:27-28

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out

, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”

He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

God's Fingerprints

Now I see His (God's) fingerprints all over this experience. '

wrote my friend as she looks back on 3 years 

filled with tumultuous tests of searching for God's will 

and waiting on His timing...

It made me think of all of us in the middle of

a finished frame...

Some waiting/hoping to find their one true love

Some who have found and married their one true love

and are weathering the challenges/disappointments

that marriage is bound to bring

and some whose marriages are broken

Couples who would love to be parents but that dream is withheld,

Parents whose wisdom, energy and patience are stretched to the max

by 'dreams' not withheld...

Many of us find ourselves in some kind of 'frame' of waiting.

What good cheer to visualize God's fingerprints

putting what looks to us like broken or forgotten pieces, in perfect place

if we trust, seek and wait on Him...

Have Thine Own Way, Lord

Sometimes in the middle

Of a broken heart

We can't grasp the goodness 

In God's works of art

In dark disappointment

Of dreams not come true

We can't see the glory

Waiting to shine through

Sometimes in the middle

Of 'Remember When?'

God is gently drawing

Wonder's awed 'amen'

Sometimes colors baffle

Sometimes pages crease

Living in the middle

Of the masterpiece

Sometimes God's kind whisper

Transfigures pied glints

Unveiling a picture

Of His fingerprints

Janet Martin

Waiting on God's Timing part 1

Waiting on God's Timing, Part 2

To Know Makes All the Difference (for the Unknown)

Who knows what Come-what-may waits to unfold today...

(well!! one unknown unfolded already;

 An unexpected day off due to two sick tots)

Here are a few fond frames of yesterday

Side note on photo below: while we 'swang' we sang every song we could think of...

including what might be the longest version of Old MacDonald's Farm ever known 😂

The Knowing keeps dark deeps of Come-What-May in tender check

Morning unmoors the bark of Day with renewed call and beck

Where none can see what waits to be, but He who spreads the skies

Where no sudden calamity His will can compromise

(or, where no sudden calamities can take Him by surprise)

His promises are like a bulwark where dread’s fathoms roll

To know God keeps his every Word comforts the fainting soul

Nothing can separate us from His love that will not fail

He will never forsake us though the glove of faith grows frail

To know He, Whom we have believed is faithful to the end

And though so often we have grieved Him, still, He is our Friend

To know when we confess our sin He forgives and forgets

To know His Spirit dwells within to help us face veiled ‘yets’

To know 'surely His goodness and His mercy follows me'

Grants courage when the darkness of Unknown rolls like a sea

To know His gentle Presence crowns the vale of death’s release

To know He cups both ups and downs bestows hope, joy and peace

© Janet Martin

Romans 15:13

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, 

that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I Know Whom I Have Believed

  

Pondering Paupers (of Spiritual blessing)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ”

(Eph. 1:3).

When we ignore His divine power, who gives us everything we need to

live a godly life it is no small wonder we stumble...

  3as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,

 through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

2 Peter 2:3

If we do not stand tall in times of peace

defending our faith,

how will we stand strong in times of persecution?!

For if they do these things in the green wood,
what will be done in the dry?”
Luke 23:31

If we, professing believers, do not with utter care weigh each action,

whether it is a stepping stone or a stumbling block to spiritual blessing

what is Godliness?

The new creation ought not resemble the old

in desires, in habits and in fruit.

When it does it, pray we take it before our holy, righteous, loving heavenly Father,

confess our sins and He is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9)

Pray we covet the spiritual blessing that only devotion to God's commands can bring.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

old things have passed away;

behold, all things have become new.

2 Cor. 5:17

Imagine if we coveted spiritual blessing like we do the material?

Everything We Need

To be robbed of spiritual blessing

Is life’s greatest loss of all

To cower and never be hated

For the sake of standing tall

...so, lest sin subtly entangles

And hinders us in the race

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus

And boldly defend His grace

Lest we forfeit sacred riches

Lest we hinder pleading prayers

Lest we trod the name of Jesus

Beneath our feet unawares

Lest we cause another to stumble

Lest we choose depravity

And then, robbed of spiritual blessing

Become a fruitless tree

 © Janet Martin  

Eph.1:18

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened

 in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, 

the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,

Phoenix of Redemption

Do you ever marvel, (considering our track-record)

at the mercy that draws Redemption's phoenix of morning

from the dust and ash of Yesterday...

I began this poem yesterday morning before the sweetest 

summer solstice drew me into its eager embrace

and even though it was the longest day of the year, poof!

even though we lingered, while Gaze clung to day's glorious, fading fringes,

 Night fell

Some summer-solstice 'Shadows'/inspirations for this poem...

(my daughter is tending some chickens this week while their owners are away💖)

After the night the shadow hall of dawn unfurls anew

A runway for the beck and call of love and work to do

Into the arc of thinning dark the songbird’s greeting trills

To cheer us on as we embark upon mercy’s refills

After the night the color-world of dawn-to-dusk unfolds

Like laughter, morning is unfurled in blues, blush, greens and golds

Tranquility of slumber sheds its plush cloak; duty hails

To draw a world of sleepyheads toward beckoning trails

After the night like bright-eyed tots, time smiles, fretting forgot

The loveliness of re-Beginning exiles morbid thought

The wing that lowered over half the earth, speckled with stars

Is lifted, Mercy clucks; birth’s brood runs rampant o’er death’s bars

After the night the lust for life rekindles wilted joy

Trust is a well-rested housewife, and hope a whistling boy

How darling is the duty that waits to employ the hand

How virginal the beauty as daybreak unveils the land

Before fallible feet dash into meads where passions plead

Let’s fold our hands and bow our heads and pray the Lord to lead

Let's marvel where the phoenix of Redemption beams so bright

Let's praise the God of grace and love for Day, after the night

© Janet Martin

Grand-daughter wearing a dress I sewed for her mommy many years ago😊

Phil.4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. 

I will say it again: 

Rejoice! 

5Let your gentleness be evident to all. 

The Lord is near. 

6Do not be anxious about anything, 

but in every situation, by prayer and petition, 

with thanksgiving, 

present your requests to God. 

7And the peace of God, 

which transcends all understanding,

 will guard your hearts and your minds 

in Christ Jesus.

Spring Adieu and Summer Hello

Spring wanders from the beaten path

Feet follow, where its aftermath

Is snared in campion bouquets...

Of almost Eden’s verdant sheaf

Of breezes tumbling leaf to leaf...

Of early-morn and late-dusk clock

Of arbors flanked by hollyhock...

Spring wanders from the beaten path

Feet follow, where its aftermath

Is snared in campion bouquets

In daisy chains and rose sachets

Where mint and chamomile are caught

Like artwork in a glass tea-pot

Where buttercups and fleabane stroll

Along the lane, up grassy knoll

To play ‘mongst Canterbury bells

‘neath bottomless blue-sky inkwells

And time is like a poem-book

A rhyme in every nook and crook

Of almost Eden’s verdant sheaf

Of breezes tumbling leaf to leaf

Of early-morn and late-dusk clock

Of arbors flanked by hollyhock

While laughter, like a butterfly

Bobs bloom to bloom with lilt and sigh

While gardens and picnics beguile

While summer-lovers smile and smile

© Janet Martin

a bit of feather-color at the feeders today

(Not quite as clear because I take the pictures through a screen)