Farewell's Shadowlands

Oh, the undeterred momentum of moments no one can faze

It sparkles through our bearing to a world of yesterdays

It vexes rhyme-dazed poets and Duty's proprietors

As it hastens new morning through noon and dusk's gaping doors

Where, in the wake of choices that we make in its brief chase/grace

Remains the part that never stays yet no one can erase...

The above ditty was suddenly inspired from part of a 

conversation with Hubby this morning, who called

in the beginning/middle of the poem below,

begun after starting the fire, morning devotions

between putting supper in the crockpot,

filling empty bird feeders,

answering messages, texts and emails,

and other sundry domestic dues,

 while trying not to panic as

 I gaped at the clock that boldly declared

that the topic I began writing about

(daybreak's hello) in the waking hues of today

has long since ceased to be...

already part of farewell's shadowland!

but, in the afore mentioned conversation 

Hubby asked me if I ever think of everything

I could accomplish if I didn't write.

I guess none of us can see the hidden 'scale' within,

 where we weigh (hopefully) the eternal value of how we fill

fleeting moments!

Oh, how often I am torn between lyrical cadence

and domestic prudence 😔😅

...because what we do is so brief

yet so eternal!

Dawn, like an unplumbed well of ink

Unstoppers gold-gray, blue and pink

The tranquil tides of night soft-wane

Unveiling berths of mirth and pain

Beneath the tolling of a bell

Unfurling shadows of farewell

The halo of hello is brief

Harbinger of pleasure and grief

Like ripples of a pebble tossed

Dawn disappears; its advent lost

In hues and dues that rose then fell

To fuel shadows of farewell

How subtle spills life’s epitaph

A world where echoes weep and laugh

Composed from the momentous surge

Where daybreak and hello soon merge

Like melted mist, intangible

With long, deep shadows of farewell

Present, where past and future meet

Beckons reckonings, bittersweet

How careful-prayerful we should weigh

Think-ink, that fuels do-and-say

Soft spilling from our lips and hands

To dwell in farewell's shadowlands  

© Janet Martin

Ps. 121

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to [a]be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your [b]keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall [c]preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

8 The Lord shall preserve[d] your going out and your coming in

From this time forth, and even forevermore.

A Beautiful Life-Jim Reeves

To Get or to Receive...and a few other Thursday Thoughts

Happy, hope-full Thursday!

Hope-full no matter what!!

because of 

Whose Name we can call upon;

Jesus!

Acts 3:19-20

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out,

 that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—

even Jesus.

***

What a peace each morning, to rest in the Giver's Hands 

whatever the day unfolds!

And when we ask of Him whatever He wills, 

then all we have we have received!!

When we neglect to ask, then all we have 

is simply what we get, 

minus the joy of the awareness of having received.

When we receive something

the receiving of it inspires thankfulness/praise

to the Giver!

***

If we ask, we receive

Otherwise we just ‘get’

The end result that ‘reach’ achieves

May seem the same, and yet

Though seizing of ‘the prize’

May share a common end

The ‘given’ and the ‘gotten’ guise

Are worlds apart, my friend

One works with wantful thought

One begins on its knees

Then, how we gained The Same Thing sought

Only the Giver sees

© Janet Martin

Have Thine Own Way, Lord

***

it is hard to store treasure

in heaven, 

while laying up treasure 

on earth

the measure to whom much 

is given

without heaven's store

bears no worth...

What will life be 

but a squandered

wonderful gift

groaned-grinned?

If, all we have gained

when plundered

is nothing but chaff

 on the wind

***

I'd Rather Have Jesus

***

rationalism,

spiritualism,

sensationalism,

oh my!

Lord, pray these never 

overpower the sway

of three little words

'here am I'

***

If all I had was what I give

Oh, would it be enough

To satisfy my mouth with bread

And my longing with love?

***

And this last one inspired by my husband 

who is a truckdriver and just left the scene of a fatal accident

moments ago

(a car crushed by a gravel truck)🙏😥💔

Our life is like a flower

That someday God will fell

...and of that day and hour

not one of us can tell

***

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 Live For Thee, Oh God

When we dissect the moments of a day, 

do we find a life lived for Self or God?

This was a sobering challenge to me recently.

Oh God, let my love be more

than an acknowledgment of Your existence,

whilst harbouring a heart of prideful resistance

Have Thine Own Way, Lord-Jim Reeves

To live for Thee, oh God

Affects all that we do

It keens the heart to do our part

To serve and honour You

To live for Thee, oh Lord

Is more than pious nod

To testify with mouthed reply

The existence of God

To truly live for Thee

Means self must be denied

Love’s price is always sacrifice

All else is selfish pride

To live for Thee, oh God

Nobody can ignore

For we all prove who we most love

By who we’re living for

…then when death comes to claim

Soul’s cloak back to the sod

Heaven or hell will surely tell

Life lived for Self or God

For who we love we serve

Life, not lips testify

If we believe, and thus conceive

The fruit of love's reply

© Janet Martin

Matt.6:24

“No one can serve two masters. 

Either you will hate the one and love the other, 

or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 

You cannot serve both God and money.

Joshua 24:14-15

Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. 

Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped 

beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 

15But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, 

then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, 

whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, 

or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. 

But as for me and my household, 

we will serve the Lord.”

Gal.1:10

Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? 

 am I striving to please men? 

If I were still trying to please men, 

I would not be a servant of Christ

I posted the above post before church...

then, lo and behold, our scripture passage for 

this morning's message was;

1 Thess. 4

Living to please God...

verse 1: As for other matters, brothers and sisters, 

we instructed you how to live in order to please God, 

as in fact you are living. 

Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus 

to do this more and more.

Trustworthy and True

Most of us in this area are inconvenienced rather than suffering...
With limited supplies at the grocery stores

and with social distancing due to COVID-19

...but grand-sonny after a week at home has had ENOUGH 

of no seeing his friends at Sunday School or other 

church programs, no play-dates. 

Even the library is closed.

Twice yesterday he referred to the 'the wost day evoh!' 

Cheer up Grand-sonny!

We are all learning to appreciate more with less!

And what sometimes seems like 'the wost' is often teaching us The Best.

Big hugs and prayers to all the moms and dads

navigating these uncertain times!

Treasure the gift of extra together-time that we often wish for

in those too-busy days

(p.s. Grand-sonny's 'wost day' remark provoked after they dropped a baby-swing off
on one of his best friends porches but they couldn't stay)

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Rev. 21:5

It's a new week. 

For whatever lies ahead that we know not, this we do;

Romans 8:28
And we know that God works all things together 

for the good of those who love Him, 

who are called according to His purpose.

Dusk's bare bones...

are mantled in white this morning...

To find the courage for the fight

To fit us for the charge

Bids us believe in more than sight

The battle is the Lord’s

From surrender flows strength and pow’r

Such as we never knew

He ushers to the darkest hour

Words trustworthy and true

To find comfort in suffering

We first must yield our will

Beneath the shelter of His wing

He whispers ‘peace, be still’

For there the howling enemy

Cannot invade the heart

And there faith sets the captive free

And shields us from fear’s dart

For they who kill the body, love

Cannot destroy the Soul

And only death will fully prove

The glory of the goal

Thus, we find courage for the fight

Thus, hope will not grow dim

As we believe in more than sight

As we believe in Him

As we believe in Him we seize

Words trustworthy and true

Where only His voice can appease

Fear for what man will do

© Janet Martin

In Case This Is It!

 In case today is our final farewell...

how are we/did we do?

Suddenly splitting wood (and cleaning around the woodstove)

and starting a fire seems like a sacred chore😉

I just re-evaluated my good-byes this morning...

 (I've done better but I've also done worse)

to # 1, "Drive safe. I'll be praying for you! 

(he's back in school for part 2 of an apprentice-ship program)

to #2...highschool-girl. A prayer together and 'have a good day'

to #3 hubby/breadwinner a quick kiss see ya' and 'have a good week'!

(among other conversations too 30-year marriage-like to bother you with the details-wink-lol!)

This poem was inspired by something in one of those door-way conversations...

In case this is the last time

We jump out of bed

Butter bread

Pour coffee, 

or bow our head to pray

Or pick a tie

Or wave good-bye

Or watch the rosy sky 

wake up the day

In case this is the last time

They see our face

Feel our embrace

Hear our voice, 

did we scowl or laugh?

Did we take love’s chance

While time still grants

Its song and dance 

to make life a beautiful autograph

In case this is it

No more stubbing toe, o-h-h-h!

Or second cuppa joe,

Or splitting wood, 

Or dream or plan

Did we do our best

So richly blessed

To make the most

With what we have while we still can

© Janet Martin

Oh! you wanted to know what that doorway conversation was?!😊😉

Well, it was something like

"I almost have more than I can carry!" says he

to which I replied mischievously on purpose, 'more than you can carry!!! SO richly blessed!'

Though I knew he meant before he said 'a good wife would put on her boots and help her man'

(even if I thought it appeared he was managing just fine!)

(even if I just took them off after loading up the garbage and he didn't say anything😐)
(even if I think I'm entitled to a gi-r-r-l-growl now and then!)

even if...whatever the excuse!

... as he drove away I thought, h-m-m!

 if that was our last good-bye I would wish I had put my boots back on and 'helped' him

"In Marriage; it is the little things that are the big things."

When we got the above quote in a wedding card I didn't 'get' it like I do now!

Calls for a re-run of this song!