Of Tomorrow's What-We-Had (Today)

Happy Birthday, Leap Year 'babies'!!

The other morning dawn drew back night's shutters with a spectacular, balmy 'hello'...

...but there was something sort of ominous in its unseasonably warm temperatures 

and billowy thunderheads.

And small wonder! A thunder-hailstorm was brewing!!

Yesterday we woke to still-mild temps but by

the afternoon the mercury plummeted and frigid gales meant business!

And so, winter is back...

but not for long!

But whatever the weather, let's celebrate Today because

it will never be again!

Time offers no rerun

Today's burgeoning sphere

Of 'nothing new under the sun'

Is temporary, dear

 

Whatever today grants

Where dawn kicks up its heels

Is but a one-time song-and-dance 

That twilight always seals/steals 

Then rejoice and be glad

Whatever fills today

Will be tomorrow's 'what-we-had'

Before it slipped away

© Janet Martin

So far 'what -I-had' consists of sweet morning with grandsonny...

(it never gets old; bird-watching or watching tots watch birds😘)

...and lunch with daughter, providing the perfect excuse for a sumptuous salad!

I dubbed it Leap-Day Celebration Salad!

Leap Day Celebration Salad

3 cups oven-roasted or air-fried butternut squash cubes 

tossed with olive oil salt and pepper, and pinch of parsley flakes 

Rinse one cup quinoa

Strain in sieve.

Bring to boil in 2 cups water.

Reduce heat enough to keep it simmering.

Cook uncovered till water is gone

then turn off and cover for 5-7 min.

Fluff with fork.

Add a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper

a few cloves of fresh-pressed garlic.

cool quinoa and squash 

then place desired amounts on a bed of

your choice of greens.

Top with 1/2 pomegranate seeds,

(thinly sliced/diced apple or pear can be sub.)

1/3 cup feta cheese

1 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

I small red onion finely chopped and 

mixed with 2 stalks celery finely chopped

Toss and serve with a dressing of

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. veg oil

2 tbsp. honey or maple syrup

11/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

(or 1 tsp. white vinegar and 1 balsamic)

bit of crushed dried parsley (optional) 

Sometimes We Miss The Scars...

Jesus said to him, 

“If[c] you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:23-24

This poem began the other day, when, after listening

to 'her' frustrations, sorrows and challenges,

 all I could think of to say was,

'I will pray for you'.

As I pondered that promise I was a shamed to have wished

I could offer something more profound!

SO much to pray for, always!! 

So much to author awed worship and so much to kindle humble pleas

for God's leading, comfort, wisdom and provision,

 spiritually, emotionally and physically!

We pray for those who are striving to be faithful followers of Jesus,

for those who have wandered astray,

for those who have never put their faith in Christ

(and the finished work of Calvary.)

We pray for the poor, the downcast,

for those who mourn, 

for those in war-torn countries,

for the shut-in, and the shut out.

We pray for teachers and preachers,

students and school bus drivers.

We pray for strength for the day and rest at night.

For young, exhausted parents

and for those who long to be parents and are not...

We pray for the elderly, the lonely,

the sick and the prisoner...

The tempted and the fallen,

etc.

Sometimes we question His 'answers' 

(or what feels like His silence)

and sometimes the reason we question Him is because

we miss the scars on His hands 

(and who/what put them there)

How often we find ourselves echoing those words of old; 

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

What God Hath Promised (God Hath Not Promised Skies Always Blue)

Sometimes we miss the scars on hands we place our cares into

When kindness grasps at strands, and utters ‘I will pray for you’

But, this is no ‘when-all-else-fails, last-resort song-and-dance

No, this is to God, who prevails in spite of circumstance

His are the hands that wore the nails that bore deliverance

This is no consolation prize we offer casually

No secondary compromise of pious empathy

When we say ‘I will pray for you’ what sacred words we speak

When we pause to consider who hears the favors we seek

Whose ways are trustworthy and true; Whose strength uplifts the weak/meek

When we say ‘I will pray for you’ we relinquish control

And touch Him, like the woman who knew He could make her whole

The One who loves us so, who gave His Son, once and for all

To pay sin’s debt we owed, to break the curse wrought at The Fall

When we say I will pray for you’ it is on Him we call

Sometimes we miss the scars on hands outstretched to help us through

When desperation grasps at strands, with ‘I will pray for you’

But as we enter faith’s hushed courts, when creature cares beset

And trust the hands no hurtle thwarts and no ‘Unknown’ can fret

Then suddenly we see the scars that sometimes we forget

© Janet Martin

Heb.4:14-16

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,

 Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.

  15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, 

but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.

  16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, 

so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

My Faith Looks Up To Thee

For Your Name's Sake (some sonnets)

You drape the dell with scarves of silver tulle...

You carve the curving course of brook-song hue...

...the earth is full Of the glorious handiwork of You

You drape the dell with scarves of silver tulle

You carve the curving course of brook-song hue

That shimmers out to sea; the earth is full

Of the glorious handiwork of You

You fill and whet the seed that leaps to life

Fruit and flower reply; ah, who are we

That we should doubt Your ways while earth runs rife

With Your mercy, glory and majesty

You stir within the human heart a sense

Of holiness and power undeterred

A Culmination, awesome and immense

That eye has not yet seen nor ear yet heard

Oh Lord, let no path I pursue or take

Be for a lesser cause than Your name’s sake

***

Ps.23:3

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

***

You wake and rouse the earth from winter’s clutch

With ways we love and have come to expect

With daffodils and robin trills and such

With plumes and blooms sun-kisses resurrect

You tune four-season’s steadfast carousels

Sun, moon and stars their ordained circuits stay

And never stray; not one planet rebels

Your perfect law and order they obey

Nothing and no one can usurp Your will

Ancient oracles have not slipped your ken

Heaven and earth will not pass away till

Each jot and tittle is fulfilled. Amen

Behold! where autumn’s auburn petals fell

Springtime’s unfailing hallelujahs swell

***

Ps.24:1

The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof;

***

The earth is Yours, and its fulness thereof

The greedy forget this and want for more

Than Your goodness, mercy, kindness and love

Offering wealth that pales this world’s brief store 

Your righteousness and truth are of great price

The wise covet its fortune earnestly

Striving to be a living sacrifice

Lest worship be a show of vanity

You rend the dark; cut mercy’s legions loose

You bend heavens and earth with evidence

Of You; thus, we are all without excuse

When it comes to devotion’s recompense

Dear Lord, whatever life may bring our way

Help us endeavor to trust and obey

***

Ps.103:8

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

***

Compassionate and slow to anger, You

Withhold judgment, but not forever, oh

Someday total accounting will come due

Pity the one who heard You and said 'no'  

You, who held nothing back but gave Yourself

Because salvation has no other name

Pity the one who prizes prideful pelf

Above the love that robs death/hell of its claim

Time's four-season circuit spins round and round

Some sense its sacred toll, some scoff and sneer

But someday Time's Veneer will run aground 

And all earth's tribes will mourn with holy fear

Then, hope and grace and faith will be no more

When who we chose to serve settles the score 

© Janet Martin

***

Matt.24:30

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 

and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, 

and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven 

with power and great glory.

***

Behold! where autumn’s auburn petals fell...

Springtime’s unfailing hallelujahs swell

For Today's Roses (still taking shape)

Some days life is a lovely maze of roses and butterflies.

And some days are more like thorn pricks and bee stings.

No matter what kind of day we are having,

only we are responsible for how we reply...

(Yes! This sunny stretch is turning my thoughts gardenward😀💖)

Wishing you a rose-giddy weekend!

Dawn unfolds like a butterfly alighting on earth’s supine pose

Once more courage and faith ally, to try the bud that holds the rose

Where, dust of trust pulses with dreams and wholesome opportunity

Where, though circumstance sets the scene, reply is up to you and me

Where we are always young enough to do the good we ought, to pray

To take and make the most of love before life’s flower falls away

And speak the kind and gentle word and live to give rather than get

And keep our focus undeterred, on Due Season not rendered yet

Then, not grow weary in the good we ought to do, ere reaping starts

And, when love is misunderstood, to answer with forgiving hearts

Then we will never lack for joy, but always find fresh ways to gape

At buds beginning to deploy today’s roses still taking shape

© Janet Martin

Gal.6:9

And let us not grow weary while doing good,

 for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Yesterday was pleasant on the southside deck...

Today temps have plummeted to more seasonal settings

I Love to Loiter at a Brook

It's hard not to be a bit delirious with delight

when February is more like end of April!

So I took advantage of every opportunity this week to 'play' outside!

On Tuesday the brook was still breaking free!

Today, after a few melt-days it rolls and chuckles without any snow to slow it down!

Be Still and know that I am God

Ps. 46:10

I love to loiter by a brook, to listen to its timeless tune

To taste life’s purest pleasure without wishing for the stars and moon

To note, with tender satisfaction that which progress cannot press

To find within its sanguine song a kind of child-like happiness

To chuckle as its chubby chortle cheers hearts without sound advice

A lithesome lilt of silver sparkles and deep darker tones suffice

I love to linger in the counsel chambers of willow and birch

Or, perch upon a makeshift pew in nature’s treetop frescoed church

And there to hear the voice of God uninterrupted by my plea

As awe silences reasoned-why with nature’s gentle empathy

With whispers from the wizened pine, with warble from the little bird

To remind me Whose will prevails and whose purpose is undeterred

I love to set aside my sack of sorrows on brook-banks, to sit

And ponder He who holds tomorrow and knows every bit of it

To listen, then to catch this joy; 'be still and know that I am God'

Ah, nothing is impossible with He who rules sky, sea and sod 

And nothing quite compares to sitting at His feet beside a brook

To be content with wonder-plunder, I don't find if I don't look 

I love to loiter by a brook, to court its buoyant countenance

To reconcile the recompense of youth with Truth’s resilience

To want for nothing as I listen to its unfatiguing tunes

To count among my most treasured mementoes those fond afternoons

When I would leave behind the grindstone filled with constant care and chore

When I would loiter by a brook and find what I was looking for

© Janet Martin

I love to linger in the counsel chambers of willow and birch

Or, perch upon a makeshift pew...

 in nature’s treetop frescoed church...

Sunrise Symphony

The past few mornings we are being treated

 to being greeted by

much appreciated welkin symphonies

after a long stretch of gloomy daybreaks!

An introduction starts to play from welkin symphonies...

An introduction starts to play from welkin symphonies

It fills the threshold of Today with thrilling harmonies

As melodies of blush and gold unfold the hailing sphere

While we, with rapt’rous gaze behold night’s shadows disappear

We lift our eyes above the stage of trouble’s wage unfurled

To feast upon the music page God hoists above the world

To bow on morning’s grandstand with stutter-uttered ‘oh my’

And join the worship anthems no lyrics can satisfy

Hope celebrates its anchor as pink hallelujahs peal

Joy’s chipped cup runneth over with mercy’s refurbished zeal

Faith transcends fear’s foreboding as welkin symphonies spill

To drown dread’s dismal goading with thunders of ‘peace, be still’

Exaltation’s hymn overflows before our lifted gaze

The introduction crescendos and sets our sights ablaze

Earth and sky’s voices coalesce, they cannot be ignored

In the Beauty of Holiness we worship you, oh LORD

© Janet Martin

Exaltation’s hymn overflows before our lifted gaze

The introduction crescendos and sets our sights/hearts ablaze...

Psalm 96:9

Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!

Tremble before Him, all the earth.

I Set My Hope on Jesus

 

 

An Evolving Evaluation (of Evidence)

Today's poem began with a 'blush hush/rush' soon filled with workday noise!

 Happy workday, everyone! 

(and my heart/prayers go out to all who wish they could work and can't)

I hope today's poem grants a splash of joy and good cheer!

This poem kind of evolved with the dissolving of daybreak...

from texts from Young Mother...

...from rumble of industry

 

from not knowing where to begin

to count the ways of Evidence of Him...

all on a backdrop of Mercy's evidence renewed...

Dawn’s blush hush/rush fills with workday noise

Nature’s showcase unveils fresh joys

That none can claim with boastful pride

Where colors of the countryside

Like ever-changing works of art

Amaze the mind and thrill the heart

Evoking a hymn, like a prayer

In praise to One beyond compare

Whose ways we cannot comprehend

Whose faithfulness will never end

Whose Word is trustworthy and true

Whose promises naught can undo

Where, as dawn slips on workday hues/shoes

As industry resumes its dues

And motherhood its sacred charge

As dawn unmoors its teeming barge

How humbly wonderful to know

Whose goodness none can overthrow

Whose hope is sure, whose hand will guide

From break of day to eventide

Where nature’s showcase spills God’s heart

In unparalleled works of art

Where earth and sky declare His name

Inviting/compelling us to do the same

A wealth of wonder waits. Ahoy

Nature’s showcase erupts with joy

We hardly know where to begin

To count the frames, we see God in

Creation’s cradles stream and brim

With countless evidence of Him

Making more pitiful the clod

Who clings to denials of God

Making meeker all who believe

Because of the grace we receive

Making gladder the humbler prayer

To He who knows each creature care

© Janet Martin

Romans 1:20

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—

his eternal power and divine nature—

have been clearly seen, 

being understood from what has been made, 

so that people are without excuse.

Whose hope is sure, whose hand will guide

From break of day to eventide...