January Farewell Lyric

 A few final, farewell January mementos before February takes center stage

We had 3 sunrises in January; on the 4th, 21st & 22nd...

Though you are infamous because of temps that chill us to the bone

And gales that wail and howl and make us humbly glad for home-sweet-home

And though the farmer does not miss your tricks of frozen pipes and taps

You still spill much to love; your bliss of Jack Frost art, your pristine wraps

Your cooler pace than when we chase spring-summer-autumn’s urgent task

Your gratis shadow-show poured flawlessly on snow, from yonder flask

Your still-life ebb and flow of tundra; white and blue capped sense of seas

Your subdued quietude of muffled, snow-truffled brook-song and trees

Your feathered patron-jam at feeders filled with ceaseless flickering

Your yellow flash as sparrow-hawk crashes carefree bird-bickering

Your pure delight as white-on-white leaves speechless troubadours agape

Your happiness, that we confess is as simple as tea and cake

Your first-month-of-a-new-year-status, soon stripped of its pedestal

By a momentous apparatus that drains every season-full

Drains the outdoor rinks of pink-cheeked youngsters with star-sparkly eyes

Drains the eaves of ‘cicle-brickle, drains the bite from squall-rent skies

Drains winter’s hour of its power to hold gold and green at bay

Drains the bud to leafless lintel, drains bluster’s lackluster gray

Dear January, if we could I doubt that we would hit ‘repeat’

Yet in your wake you leave an ache for lyrics lost beneath Time's feet 

© Janet Martin

Your still-life ebb and flow of tundra; white and blue capped sense of seas

Jack Frost garage floor art!!

Of Payoffs In Waiting (or Something About a Gaping Grave)

Yesterday my dad's oldest brother (and Wayne's father) was laid to rest.

He is an uncle fondly remembered by his nieces and nephews

 for his good-natured, uncomplaining and optimistic outlook

 though his life had many hardships!

We cousins are in a stage where funerals have become our meeting place

and with these gatherings comes the solemn reminder

our childhood playmates are not children anymore,

all of us under the influence of Time's unflinching touch 

and we are reminded of this truth;

that death can come to the young

but it will come to the old

and the realization is dawning that our generation

 is on the heels of the one we are, 

one by one, laying to rest!

A ripe old age turns to mist

 in death's twinkling of an eye!

So then, as we turn again 

to shoulder our yokes of scarred delight

pray we do not lose sight 

of the only payoff that counts

when, for all 'momentary mountains/afflictions, 

the eternal payoff is unveiled!

2 Cor.4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart.

 Though our outer self is wasting away, 

yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.

 17For our light and momentary affliction is producing 

for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.

 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. 

For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Just beyond what we can see ...

(No matter how bitter/sweet)

lies Payoff's Eternity...

Below, a bit of 'sweet'.

This dog can be sassy and silly one minute

and sound asleep at my feet the next!!😂

Though the payoff of push and shove

Through ups and downs of life and love

May appear, to the sphere of sight

Like a showcase of scarred delight

While grappling with the yoke of truth

By fresh parades of fading youth

And though the payoff may seem small

For prayers that rise and tears that fall

Where today holds no guarantees

That Circumstance will aim to please

The Hierarchy of Hope and Dream

We nurture with fondest esteem

…and though the payoff drags its feet

Where hold and letting go compete

Something about a gaping grave

When mourners meet, its scene to brave

Reminds us with sobriety

Of a payoff we cannot see

The payoff for man’s hope and hurt

Is not a fresh-turned mound of dirt

Is not a final farewell tear

Is not the boon of now and here

Oh no! Death is the turn of key

Where push and shove/life and love’s payoff will be

So then, before it is too late

Pray we would reevaluate

The quests and payments we applaud

And rest our confidence in God

Who will, for all eternity

Unveil what the payoff will be

© Janet Martin

We sang two of my favourite hymns yesterday

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

and Abide With Me

Guarding Against Ungratefulness

Hebrews 13:15 

 Therefore by Him let us continually 

offer the sacrifice of praise to God,

 that is, the fruit of our lips,

 [a]giving thanks to His name.

I am so thankful to a friend who called me yesterday

to make sure I didn't miss the stunning rainbow!

I would have too, because I was * busy making lunch for 

my daughter and grandchildren. (a no-school day celebration)

The children's exclamations of delight filled the air as we gazed.

The rainbow was followed by a few hours of brilliant sunshine

 to cheer our sun-starved spirits!

"it's easy to be grateful in moments like this" I contemplated.

"Why is it so easy to slip into ungratefulness when things aren't so much to our liking?!"

Ungratefulness is like a heavy foot upon the soul

It blinds us to a showcase where God’s works of wonder toll...

***

Ungratefulness can make us miss blessings that God designed

To keep us humbly glad when we were otherwise inclined

Ungratefulness is like a heavy foot upon the soul

It blinds us to a showcase where God’s works of wonder toll

And causes discontentment because we forget the One

Who ought to awe us constantly with all that He has done

Ungratefulness produces bitter fruit, its song and dance

A fickle happiness tickled by pleasing circumstance

Destined to shift and try delight with less appealing bent

Ungratefulness forgets the gift as soon as it is spent

And scowls and vents and kicks against the pricks of trying test

As if we were deserving of only The Very Best

Ungratefulness is often apt to fix on the façade

It tramples on a flower while shaking a fist at God

It cusses and complains, where hymns of thanksgiving should be

It robs us of the joy that God prepared for you and me

And warps, with wishful thinking, the wellspring that He designed

To keep us humbly glad when we were otherwise inclined

© Janet Martin

Give Thanks

Another easy-gratefulness moment!

I missed taking a photo a few minutes earlier when Eager Helper tripped on the stairs

as he was bringing leftover Christmas cookies up from the downstairs freezer,

and the box dropped sending ziplocked bags of cookies for a tumble!

After being comforted, smiles returned!

Sometimes that's when gratefulness is even sweeter, right?!

After disappointment's tears are dried!

Because life is bound to bring devastating disappointment!

One pic of what turned into 

Classic Minestrone Soup! Yummy!

Perseverance Perspective...

First perseverance, 

then the prize!

Sometimes we forget 

and want the Prize now!

Lead Me to Calvary

James 1:2-8

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] 

whenever you face trials of many kinds, 

3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 

4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature 

and complete, not lacking anything.

 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,

 who gives generously to all without finding fault, 

and it will be given to you.

 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, 

because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea,

 blown and tossed by the wind.

 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

The testing of our faith produces perseverance!

I used to subconsciously equate the word 'testing' with physical trials

such as sickness, death, natural disasters etc.

but in the phrase 'trials of many kinds' one I had not considered

until perhaps the past few years,

and one that has many once confessed believers denying their faith,

is the fact that because our minds cannot explain or reconcile

God's thoughts and ways and commands

 (whether in the Old Testament or

 in this age of love and holiness misunderstood)

disillusionment/confusion/anger forsakes faith

rather than letting the test produce perseverance.

Heb.6:11

And without faith it is impossible to please God, 

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists

 and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

God doesn't meet us on our terms.

We meet Him on His, laid out ever-so-changelessly

and perfectly in His Word,

Let's pray for a more humble faith, 

Eph.1:15-20

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus 

and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, 

remembering you in my prayers.

 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation,

 so that you may know him better. 

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, 

19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. 

That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted

 when he raised Christ from the dead 

and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,

The first temptation and sin was a desire to be as wise as God!

That sin seems still to test the faith of many!

Lord, help us hate the sinfulness of sin (in so many subtle forms).

Lord, help us to look on You,  soberly and thankfully remembering

 what You suffered on our behalf to save us from sin's penalty!

Forgive us if we should forget!

Forgive us, Lord, when we forget

And wise in our own eyes debate

Thy love and righteousness and fret

At the prerequisites of faith;

'the substance of hope, unashamed

the evidence of Things Unseen'

Believing all You have proclaimed

And trusting You to intervene

Where often love misunderstood

Could kindle a fault-finding rue 

Remind us You work for the good

Of all who put their trust in You

Remind us of the patriarchs

Who died without having received

The Promise, yet with humble hearts

Being assured, they still believed

Forgive us Lord, when we neglect

To see the sinfulness of sin

And thus, unconsciously reject

Thy loving, still, small Voice within

Forgive us when we minimize

The bloodstained cross of Calvary

And far to often fail to prize

The price You paid to set us free 

Forgive us when we, with proud thought

Contest Your higher thoughts and ways

And dare to grumble at our lot

Rather than lifting hymns of praise

And should faith tremble in the gale

Of tests and troubles that must be

Remind us, this is but the veil

Faith's Last Gasp rends, then we will see

(*the riches of the glorious inheritance)

© Janet Martin

The Potter's Hand

Candlelight Contemplation...

 Matt.5:14-16

“You are the light of the world.

 A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 

15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, 

and it gives light to all who are in the house. 

 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works 

and glorify your Father in heaven.

Letting love's light shine is easier said than done, isn't it?!

For just perhaps, when we think we're not faring too badly

along comes a sudden human-nature storm/retaliation

to remind us how mean and feeble we can be without

The True Light to light our little 'candles'

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God, 

the Word was God.

2He was with God in the beginning.

3Through Him all things were made, 

and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 

5The Light shines in the darkness, 

and the darkness has not overcomea it.

Candlelight is such a gentle picture of love;

the way its glow warms and cheers the dark!

To keep a candle burning properly proper care must be given,

(such as trimming wicks etc.)

An example for us to examine our candle 

before we carry into Today!

To keep alive the light of love it must be fueled by the Source

We, on our own are not enough to fit love for its tender task

So, when we sense love’s flicker dwindle in the face of mean discourse

God will be faithful to rekindle love’s kind candle if we ask

Because we are so prone to bicker when we do not quite agree

The ready tongue is sometimes quicker than love’s reigned-in bark or bite

So, when the rumpus of a ruckus tries love’s sweeter sympathy

If we but ask Him, God will help us to steady love’s candlelight

Love is not rude-jealous or greedy, love is gentle-patient-kind

It is not loud, proud or self-seeking, love does not envy or boast

So then, to keep love’s candle burning and to be less self-inclined

Means a consistent, conscious turning to love’s Faithful Uttermost

© Janet Martin

Carry Your Candle

Sense of Sacredness aka Today!

If a family dinner get-together with my parents

and all ten of us kids and our spouses, all present,

and a slideshow of over 700 photos playing throughout the day

of us, our children and grandchildren, great-grandchildren

does not evoke a sense of sacredness to seemingly commonplace moments 

as they run through our fingers, I don't know what will!

That happened on Sunday.

This week, as ordinary as it appears, nothing is!

This morning as a new Today tumbled over earth's eastern edge,

not in any kind of colorful fanfare, but more like a wet, gray dog...

(or mourning doves)😂

I was again, struck by how this monotonous momentous collection of mornings

 eventually composes the song of Lifetime!

So I put a card in the mail for an old neighbor turning 90 this week,

I revived the fire, 

I continued working at organizing, cleaning and tidying the basement 

after stacking wood ..

...before two of my grandchildren came for a few hours...

(while big Brother gave the dentist a bit of a challenge. ahem😐.)

I washed the dishes after a lunch they half-ate

...all the while with a heaven-hinged sense of sacredness

in what at first glance definitely looks quite ordinary! 

It wafts from welkin wombs to where we live-laugh-love-weep-pray

To settle soft, where dusk entombs its season-sequenced play

It sparkles from a single source no needle can exact

An all-encompassing discourse that leaves no one intact

It tunes the timbre of a toll that rolls o’er land and sea

While drawing the cart of the soul back to eternity

Steeping the sacred commonplace with so much to hold dear

As paths no footsteps can retrace fall from the now and here

Like weightless notes from welkin wombs its moments waft and splay

To settle soft where dusk entombs the tempo of Today

Compelling us to take a closer look at what runs rife

Through fingers of composers of a song that we call Life

© Janet Martin

Ps.90:12

So teach us to number our days, 

That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

My family likes to sing whenever we have a chance!

To close out the singing part of Sunday we,

( as best as our memories could serve us)

sang the song below together and THAT was the

sentimental icing on the cake😭

We Have This Moment

 Here are part of the lyrics  by Bill and Gloria Gaither

I can't find a link with all the stanzas 

so not sure if a few were added later??

We have this moment to hold in our hands

And to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand

Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come

But we have this moment, today.

Hold tight to the sound of the music of living

Happy sounds from the laughter of children at play

Hold my hand as we walk through the sweet fragrant meadows

Making memories of what was today.

Tiny voice that I hear is my little girl calling

For daddy to hear just what she has to say

My little boy running there by the hillside

May never be quite like today.

Tender words gentle touch and a good cup of coffee

And someone who loves me and wants me to stay

Hold them dear while they’re near don’t wait for tomorrow

To look back and wish for today.

Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come

but we have this moment, today.

Oh! You were trying to see the recipe in the one photo above?!

This, (making it for supper but using ground beef!)

Mid-winter Memento

Inspired by today's true story...😊

 

I planned to tend to Task-demand

But then a sea of snowflakes fell

It drew me to the hill and dell

To revel in its wonderland

…where nature’s winter-wand unfurled

Masterpiece over masterpiece

Teasels with toques of frosted fleece

And whipped cream snow drifts, swirled and twirled

Each tree, a pencil sketch, I think

Stenciled and traced with white finesse

White whispers of white happiness

Rouse a reverent rush of ink

…as brook-nooks that no chill can snare

Compose somber half-ballads, oh

Its tempo, curtailed by the snow

Evokes a eulogy-like air

Where in the wood I stood, full-awed

Unfazed by Tasks I should attend

To marvel, where earth's pages bend

Beneath the poetry of God  

© Janet Martin