Dear Lucy, Then Heaven...

Dear Lucy, today marks nine months since

you were suddenly called Home...

May all of us who miss you so

honour your memory by loving well

those still within our reach!💓🙏

Lucy loved flowers...esp. peonies!

In her eulogy one of her children remembered her calling to them

to come and stuff their face in a peony 

'because you have not lived till you've stuffed your face in a peony!!'

So Lucy, this peony-season each face-stuffing is in tender memory of you...💝💔

 Won't you too, take time to stuff your face in a peony?!

and when you do, thank God for your loved ones, 

pray for those mourning the loss of a loved one

and consider, if God should call you as suddenly as He called Lucy

nine months ago, if you are prepared to meet Him

because you have received the gift of salvation 

when you believed in Him! 

This is one of the first verses our parents taught us to memorize

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

***

When Death, the Scythe that ceases Time, gathers a loved one beyond reach

Then Heaven, once hope's distance clime becomes longing's uttermost roar

Where, though we stagger 'neath the weight of lessons love must ever teach

We turn our eyes toward a Gate that gleams far fairer than before

When Death delivers Farewell's rift and stuns the grasp of mortal ken

Then Heaven, once salvation's gift becomes sorrow's song, over-joyed

And though our tears may flow, we know God's keeps His promises. Amen

He cheers us with strains of 'hello' wafting across yon, gaping void

When Death reminds we who remain how small-swift-sacred is life's lease 

When earthly loss is Heaven's gain then Heaven suddenly draws near

Compelling us with humbler hearts to look upon the Prince of Peace

Until faith turned to sight imparts the face of God and loved ones dear 

When Death, the Scythe that ceases time fells dust-to-dust's brief vestibule 

Then Heaven, once hope's distant clime draws grief to gaze beyond the grave

On He who gathers back the soul, who made Heaven's hope/Home possible 

Conquering death and hell for all who call on Him, Mighty To Save 

~Janet Martin

The Sweet By and By

While My Body Grins and Groans (I want to take nothing for granted)

Recently I have heard more than one person say they don't want to take anything for granted!

I echo this sentiment in today's reflection of birthday celebration weekend.

Ps.90:12

So teach us to number our days, 

That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Thank-you God, for

 Fridge-foragers...

Father and son discussions (on the merits of certain hockey players etc.) 😅

Impromptu Sat. afternoon surprise coffee break... thank-you Emily and fam!

(Missed a pic of the delicious raspberry lemon scones, still oven-warm!)

Precious birthday-celebration dinner-guests...

 (my parents)

and Victoria...

 Dear Husband, May I never take you for granted

(too often, sadly, I do!)

esp. your hat-tossing habits 😐😏 which haven't changed

 since mentioned HERE on last year's anniversary poem...

Special sister time...

even more special in a peony garden !

Whistling Gardens near Brantford, ON

(below, a few of fifty+ pics of peonies)

Sister smelling the 'roses' while her hubby

scouts out ice-cream shops on homeward route 😊😂💖

I want to take nothing for granted in life's little Learn and Teach

Where soon each gifted day is planted in a garden out of reach

I want to wonder at God's grandeur; be mesmerized by His grace,

To be fine-tuned to tender splendour till nothing seems common place

Collecting through life's gains and losses, a much gladder gratitude   

Braving love's charge of shouldered crosses by trusting Mercy Renewed 

Contented in the Steadfast Knowing, come what may God never fails

His love is constantly bestowing winds to test and steer faith's sails

I want to take nothing for granted, where blooms briefly beam and nod 

But to be more humbly enchanted by the handiwork of God 

He, who attends both joy and sorrow maintains nature's threaded loom 

I want to live today without tomorrow's borrowed dread and doom 

I want to manifest His Presence in the peace of Letting Go

Where true happiness is, in essence, this; trusting His yes and no

Confident that the One who began a good work will see it through  

The Author of salvation's plan is faithful, trustworthy and true 

I want to take nothing for granted in life's leap from Him to Him 

Soon morning's newborn ray is slanted westward; soon Today grows dim

While epitaphs that time composes sets gasps in permanent ink

Like a storm of thorns and roses scattered, blood-red and blush-pink 

As breath-by-breath's brimming succession spills life's sacred, fleeting Toll

Wreathed by dust-to-dust's grim profession of death's claim of all but Soul 

So, before my hulled husk is planted in a garden of grave-stones

I want to take nothing for granted while my body grins and groans 

I do not want to take for granted the sheer wonder of it all

Or become dumbly disenchanted just because the petals fall

Or love's smile-and-tear weathered tether snaps; the ties that bind undone

By the Hand that brought us together; nothing new under the sun

Rousing us, Self-heady-prone dreamers to face raw reality

Time's transient flash of  vapour/paper streamers unhinges eternity 

So, while life's precious plot is planted with memories that love makes 

I do not want to take for granted that which God both gives... and takes 

© Janet Martin

I do not want to take for granted the sheer wonder of it all

Or become dumbly disenchanted just because the petals fall...

Thank-you God, for another birthday...

Thank-you for sisters/family and friends

 who showered me with beautiful birthday wishes

and flowers...

I came home yesterday, a bit peony-high

to find a new variety of peony (Dark Eyes) a deep burgundy-red

 at my door, from my friend's garden!

thank-you Kim 💖

I was also sweetly blessed by a begonia-planter 

in memory of the begonias Lucy gave all of us sisters last year,

from my sister Marlene 💗💔

Some flowers in the hue of the flowers Lucy gave us sisters last year

(because the peachy-coloured begonias were sold out)

From my sister Carolyn...we 'watered' them with a few mingled, tender tears;

Love's universal language

I'll admit it was an extra-teary birthday.

I miss Lucy with profound tenderness in times like these

so I took out the book she gave me in place of a card last year...

 

Dear Lucy...Traces

Yesterday I received a pretty card in the mail

from a dear lady Lucy loved, and who loved Lucy

and we met after her death though I felt like I knew her a little

already through Lucy. 

Thank-you M💕

 I have a number of  new

'Lucy-friends' special in ways I could never have imagined;

Priceless traces of a beautiful life!

Job 7:9-10

9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
    so one who goes down to the grave does not return.
10 He will never come to his house again;
    his place will know him no more.

The above verses impress me like never before,

esp. when I drop in at Lucy's place.

Her girls and husband valiantly

perform the domestic duties of home

and things are still neat and tidy

but their place will never again know Lucy's presence

save in tender traces everywhere.

While I was there the other day watching her grandsons while

Granddaughter went to the dentist I puttered about

 sweeping corners where the wind had blown in some debris,

watering planters etc.

'why are you doing this? queried her oldest grandson 

as I swept in front of an ornamental door...

 and I replied

'I'm sweeping the dirt away, just in case Grammy is watching' 

and we waved up, up

to the big yellow and blue sky

 and shouted 'hi'

and he laughed 

and I cried. 

'and' continued her Grandson turning back to the door,

'what is this door even for?!!'

Then I laughed out loud!

How like many males in my life he sounded;

What is the point of a door that doesn't open and leads nowhere 😂😂😂

(It turned out it inspired play-restaurant as he served me

every favourite food I could think of!)

I miss laughing with Lucy till we cried

over things impossible to explain afterward.

I miss sharing prayer-cares, recipes, gardening joys and tips,

a quick 'cuppa' or hearing her rattle off a poem or a quote 

because her memory was amazing!

Her place is filled with traces of loving care

and many have spilled over to my place too.

Last year she brought me a few plants.

Honeysuckle   

and Dipladenia...

 

Beautiful traces of her love for growing things.

This poem was also inspired in  part by something shared

on my friend's FB memory yesterday ...

(the kind of writing Lucy loved and lived)

“There is a beauty in the fragility of life,

a sweetness to be savored in its fleeting moments of joy.

For it is in the rawness of our experiences,

both the joyful and the sorrowful,

that we truly come alive.

We are not meant to shield ourselves from the pain of life,

but to embrace it fully, to let it shape us, to teach us,

to make us more human.

So do not be afraid to love,

to open your heart to the world,

even if it means risking heartbreak.

For the sweetness of love far outweighs the bitterness of loss.

And when the inevitable pain comes,

find solace in the beauty of the world around you,

in the simple pleasures of life,

in the memories of love and laughter.

For even in the midst of sorrow,

there is still beauty to be found.”

—Louise Erdrich

'For the sweetness of love far outweighs the bitterness of loss. '

Yes.

So on we go, cherishing and considering the bittersweet worth of traces

either forever left behind or being forever left behind!

So worth the joy of love

So worth the air we trace

That teems with tender flickers of

A bygone time and face

So worth the letting go

With tears farewell imparts

To trace the sweetness of hello

That echoes in our hearts

So worth the picture book

That wafts upon the breeze

Where oft we pause to trace the crook

Of precious memories

So worth each tender trace

Love scattered in life’s wake

While we discover ‘all is grace’

While our broken hearts ache

So worth the parting kiss

As Time's 'never enough' 

Begins to teach us sorrow is

So worth the joy of love

...so worth the tears that flow

And God gathers in jars

To trace the night with their halo 

(I think we call them stars) 

© Janet Martin

Ps.56:8

You number my wanderings; 

Put my tears into Your bottle; 

Are they not in Your book?

Redemption's Groaning Gate Flings Wide...

 My sister Lucy's granddaughter picked these wildflowers for me the other day...

I don't think she noticed the tears I choked back as I was honoured

by her innocent eagerness.

The mug seemed the perfect vase for my utter joy and sorrow!

Below is a collection of verses to treasure as they comfort and cheer the soul

and remind us of what matters most!

Psalm 25:14

The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

Psalm 84:11

For the LORD God is a sun and a shield;

 the LORD gives grace and glory;

 He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

Psalm 115:13

He will bless those who fear the LORD—small and great alike.

Psalm 5:12

For surely You, O LORD, bless the righteous; 

You surround them with the shield of Your favor.

Ps.69:15

But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.

Ps.119:153-160

153 Consider mine affliction, and deliver me:

 for I do not forget thy law.

154 Plead my cause, and deliver me: 

quicken me according to thy word.

155 Salvation is far from the wicked: 

for they seek not thy statutes.

156 Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord:

 quicken me according to thy judgments.

157 Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; 

yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.

158 I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; 

because they kept not thy word.

159 Consider how I love thy precepts:

 quicken me, O Lord, according to thy lovingkindness.

160 Thy word is true from the beginning: 

and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

 

Redemption's groaning gate flings wide and a new day is born...

A multitude of mercies smiles upon a world sin-worn... 

Redemption's groaning gate flings wide and a new day is born

A multitude of mercies smiles upon a world sin-worn 

The Author of Salvation who appoints what none can trace

Once more anoints creation with un-stoppered love and grace

Regret, remorse, repentance spar within the human heart 

God's holiness and man's pride are a humble prayer apart 

Oh Lord, rebuke my erring will, waiting to cause offence 

So the purposes You fulfill/instill may have preeminence 

The truth of your salvation comforts all who fear You, LORD 

Imbue deep dedication to the counsel of Your Word

Lest, for the lack of earnest heed I look away and drift

Forgetting who supplies my need with truths that do not shift 

Delight thrills all who love Your law with thoughts too rare to speak

My spirit thirsts for constant awe, but oh, my flesh is weak

Prone to descend the slippery slope of half-truth to appease

The carnal foe to Living Hope with 'come soul, take thine ease '

Each edict of your Word is true, where faith sees but in part  

Lord, help me learn it through and through and hide it in my heart 

So that I do not grieve you, Saviour, but with yielded will

Reverence the Shield of Your favour as Your mercies spill

Janet Martin  

 

 

Preludes to Amen... or, Today

Happy, Happy green, gold and blossom-pink

month of May!

This cheery. warbling songster enticed me from my cozy slumber to greet the day and May!

Have you ever longed to rush the ways

 of wisdom or nature;

to become wise overnight

instead of weathering/suffering growth

like a tree or a child?

In order for a flower

to mature into full bloom

it cannot skip one step of the development

and unfolding;

so too with faith and wisdom

***

Last fall my cousin  gave me some money as a gift to buy

a keepsake plant in memory of Lucy.

I chose a few 'special' peonies.

(in memory of my peony/flower-loving sister)

I wish I could hurry them into

big, beautiful bushes of full bloom,

but I cannot.

\

we cannot hasten growing things..

a tree,

a child,

the wisdom

that experience brings

better to live with patience then

rather 

than push

or try to rush

God's gracious hand

*Amen~

© Janet Martin

God does not give us surplus strength

we can store up for tomorrow,

nor knowledge that usurps faith,

nor detours, shortcuts or bypasses

to His commands in his Word

in an attempt to hurry the gain of His blessing...

...and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

Deut.33:25

 

*My, how very special and sacred then, is Today

because by each 'amen' lifetimes are born! 

Sometimes, in the heat of hello 

and farewell's beck and call

Of morn-to-eve-tides ebb and flow 

in seamless rise and fall

Where sun and shadow ups and downs 

Like friends and strangers meet

And bittersweet, its artwork crowns

Both triumph and defeat

...sometimes we tend to overlook

or undermine the way

These fill the pages of life's book

Entitled thus, Today

And, how each Good we wish would be

is worth the work/wait, though hard

 As faith believes, but does not see

As love learns no holds barred 

So, better, than to analyze

details of dust-to-dust

 Or air the grievances of 'why's

better turned into trust

Pray, we press on with humbler heed

to what we do and say

Because the fruit of scattered seed

begins again, Today 

What universal, noble cause

anoints each morn-to-morn

Hark! mercy breaks dawn's seal of gauze

As new Today is borne/born

From God to man and back again

filled with responses, where 

Pray, preludes to today's 'amen'

are filled with thankful prayer 

© Janet Martin

Rom.13:8-14

8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, 

for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 

9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,”

 “You shall not murder,” 

“You shall not steal,” 

[b]“You shall not bear false witness,”

 “You shall not covet,” 

and if there is any other commandment, 

are all summed up in this saying, namely, 

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor;

 therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

11 And do this, knowing the time, 

that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; 

for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. 

Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, 

and let us put on the armor of light. 13 

Let us walk [c]properly, as in the day, 

not in revelry and drunkenness, 

not in lewdness and lust, 

not in strife and envy. 

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, 

and make no provision for the flesh, 

to fulfill its lusts.