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Monday, June 13, 2022

Let's Live Today In Such A Way (as if we could die of a heart attack)


Jim didn't know his out-of-the-blue-question last night
(after we had ceased chatting for a little while and I was snoozing
 between pages of the book The Gauntlet
would spark today's poem.
He suddenly asked 'what if tomorrow is the day when people say
 'did you hear?!! Jim died of a heart attack today!'
Maybe you're laughing a little but...
It's not an impossibility for any one of us 
and perhaps a prudent/valid question to contemplate before
' the dust returns to the ground it came from, 
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.'

Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped
and the golden bowl is crushed,
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring
and the wheel is broken at the well,
7before the dust returns to the ground from which it came
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Why does it matter so much?!
Because the soul is deathless with only one of two destinations
depending on the preparation we have made!
Salvation-heaven
Rejection-hell

I can't even remember if or what I answered 
but Jim's last words last night set the tone for my first thoughts this morning!
And inspired today's poem🙏💗

Take time to thoroughly appreciate life's simple, temporary joys
but first, address soul-sacred Eternity


(Grandson checking out gramma's birthday espresso)

Second-cousins sharing a swing...
(Photo used with permission💖💖💖)

My sister's grand-daughter pulled a goofy face just as I clicked😂


To live today in such a way, that it could be our last
Transforms our sighs and what we prize where morning hoists its mast
For none can tell how near farewell draws its finality
As we embark toward that mark, we know but cannot see

To live today as if we may not have another, wakes
A sacred sense of recompense in every breath one takes
And stirs us to a humbler view of time’s momentous fount
moments become the holy sum of which we give account

To live today as if to say ‘thank-you’ to God, who grants
Its gift of grace, each lovely face we kiss, each ‘second chance’
Will help us weave the steps we leave behind into a prayer
For those still in the thick and thin of love and living’s care

To live today in such a way will beckon us to be
More mindful of the thinning glove that cups eternity
How sweet the flask that metes the task for loved ones near and dear
How fleet the feet that rush to greet the mists of yesteryear

Where sorrows surge and morrows merge with splurge of seasons spent
This is the toll that weans the Soul from mortal filament
Pray, let’s be kind and keep in mind what lies beyond yon past
And live today in such way, that it could be our last
And live today as if to say ‘I love you, you, and You’
And live today as if we may meet God when it is through

© Janet Martin

I remember wise words spoken by my dad years ago...
"live in such a way that if God told you today or tomorrow you will die,
you would carry on exactly as you would otherwise have.
Live life always ready to meet God!


Eccles.3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Also He has put eternity in their hearts,
except that no one can find out the work
that God does from beginning to end.


Heb.9:27-28
Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
28so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many;
and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin,
but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.


She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus,
because He will save His people from their sins."


Acts 4:12
Salvation is found in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind
by which we must be saved.”


Acts 16:30-34
Then he brought them out and asked,
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved,
you and your household.”
32Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord
to him and to everyone in his house.
33At that hour of the night, the jailer took them
and washed their wounds.
And without delay, he and all his household were baptized
. 34Then he brought them into his home and set a meal before them.
So he and all his household rejoiced
that they had come to believe in God.




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I hope you enjoyed your pause on this porch and thank-you for your visit!