'Cradle' Song

Happy December!

The first few lines of this poem were written yesterday morning...

The cradle of accomplishments still waiting to be won

Gleams like a golden ornament ignited by the sun...

...after Sunday's snowfall transformed earth to a winter wonderland! 

..before a friend (bearing flowers💖) came for tea,

...fennel, mint and marigold tea😋

After she left I decided to go out for an afternoon tromp through the snow

Then, this morning another bit was captured

as another new day beamed in unblemished glory...

before heading out

to an oil and tire change appointment (for the car😆)

The original rush of inspiration has rather subsided; 

hopefully the last two stanzas written this afternoon 

 befit morn, noon and night!

Now I'm off to tackling a few chores to add to

today's 'cradle of accomplishments'...

such as cubing butternut squash to roast for supper 

to serve with Shepherd's Pie!

The cradle of accomplishments still waiting to be won

Gleams like a golden ornament ignited by the sun

A shiny spangle dangling from Bygone's chain of events

Unblemished opportunity preceding consequence

Where what we do with what morn grants in retrospect becomes

A subtle step by step sketched testament of moment-sums

An unconscious acknowledgment for God's mercy renewed

A sacred breath-by-breath  extolment of love's gratitude

The prelude to tomorrow's Yet is cloaked in mystery

The testing plots of sorrow set in joy's epiphany

Then, pray the Lord, where dawn is bent with today's fresh pursuit

Its cradle of accomplishment will brim with finest fruit 

So much it seems we'll never know but oh, we know enough

God's vigil is sufficient grace and everlasting love

We know in every circumstance He is greater, then shout 

Hope is our deliverance from chains of dread and doubt   

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, He keeps His promises  

The reason for His yes or no is not for us to guess 

Then, though our prayers are but a groan and faith a mustard seed

His will, though it may vex our own is perfect for the need 

Janet Martin

Psalm 100:2
Serve the LORD with gladness; 

come into His presence with joyful songs.

(Temporary) To-do List/Must

The gray, sunless stretch of weather continues!!

sometimes it seems to threaten to seep into our spirits😏😐

Do you ever wake up feeling defeated before you begin

a new day, a new week, as struggles and battles seem to hit 'repeat'?!!

Call on God, call on a friend, 

call on a mother, spouse, sibling

but whatever we do, let's not try to do it alone!

Father Along

Do you ever wish for a life without care?!!

(I confess, sometimes I do! But,

a life without cares would make us 

pretty careless and self-reliant, wouldn't it?!

On the other hand, sometimes we can create cares

 by being careless and self-reliant!

Here is the balance challenge:

To not become complacent,

 yet, to not become discouraged

as we shoulder the yoke of faithfulness!

 The only way to accomplish this requires

constant refueling in God's company/His Word!

(To keep our eyes on faith's prize is impossible

if we love the world...more)

1 John 2:15-17 (BSB)

Do not love the world or anything in the world.

 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh,

 the desires of the eyes, 

and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world

. 17The world is passing away, along with its desires;

 but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

Happy Monday!

Let's make the most of to-do lists 

not simply with what we have wherever we are,

but with Who we have wherever we are,

 (if we have believed in He who is able!)

💓🙏

this hard-to-do to-do list kind of unfolded as I contemplated

what to write about, as I weighed wishes and wants with what is, etc.

Some successes, no matter how hard-fought 

seem to evade, maybe because we're not ready for it yet!

...to loathe the pride that lurks inside accolades of success

To hunger for still waters and green pastures of His Word

While feasting on a five-star meal of hope with thankfulness 

And to pray without ceasing, leaning wholly on the Lord

To love our neighbor as ourself without selfish reserve

To be more kind and patient where we all have much to learn

Where only by God’s favor we have more than we deserve

A glorious inheritance that we could never earn

To fight against desires that wage war against the soul

To count spiritual blessings and to covet more and more

Its measure, life’s true treasure beyond time’s transient toll

When at last, we will see what now we are yet striving for

To make Heaven our goal, so that we labor not in vain

To remember, the garment of the soul will soon decay

And what once seemed so far off and arduous to attain

Will be an everlasting crown that never fades away

© Janet Martin

1 Cor.9:24-27 (NIV)

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,

 but only one gets the prize? 

Run in such a way as to get the prize.

 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. 

They do it to get a crown that will not last, 

but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

 26Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly;

 I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.

 27No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave 

so that after I have preached to others,

 I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Knowing Death is Definite

Due to an act of X-treme Stupity I'm 'smitten with sittin' today

because of a sore foot.

(in case you are wondering why another poem is written😏)

Inspired, in part by today's post by Ann Voskamp

"For nothing is nothing, darling 

No matter how small it seems"

 

This photos were sent to me yesterday after they left

taken by 'mom' unbeknownst to me😄

(Photo credit: B. H. mom of tots)

Knowing Death is definite- 

ly pending, ending time and grace 

Does it make us want to make some- 

-thing of all we touch and trace 

For nothing is nothing, darling 

No matter how small it seems 

And no one knows how much living 

Is left on the loom of dreams 

Does it makes us want to savour 

The full flavor of Today 

Labour with love’s renewed fervor 

Before one is called away 

Does it make the bitter better 

Knowing that 'this too shall pass' 

Knowing death is definite 

-ly Somewhere in life’s hour-glass 

Does it bid us garnish turmoil 

With the goodness of a smile 

And get soft and sweetly smitten 

By this ver’ precarious While 

Does it make us don warm mittens 

And make angels in the snow 

Before our names are written 

In some tear-rimmed afterglow 

Knowing Death is Definite 

-ly pending, ending all of us 

How in the world are we getting 

Ready for our exodus 

Does it draw us (in what sometimes 

Feels like small significance) 

Into the Moment-ous music

Of a Very Sacred Dance 

© Janet Martin

“100 per cent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased. ”

― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

The Sweetest Flavour in the World

This post is a sequel to the previous post😀

Before...

After

Before...

After

(note; woodpiles appear much larger in real life than on a photo!!)😄

Before...

After...

Before...

After...

I like the taste of maple syrup on most anything 

And honey on plain yogurt is a meal fit for a king 

But no matter what I might name I think we all consent 

Few things taste sweeter than the flavour of accomplishment 

On the grand scale of achievements our triumphs may seem small 

No Nobel Peace Prize winner or Olympic gold medal 

But it is not the size that makes accomplishment so sweet 

Rather, whether we persevered till the task was complete 

Oh, isn’t it delightful, when at last we reach the end 

Of something built, cleaned, picked, packed, piled is there aught sweeter, friend? 

Than the exhilaration after dedication spent 

To savour the fine flavour of sweet, sweet accomplishment 

© Janet Martin

And the Sweetest Accomplishment of all?

even Sweeter than 'after covid?!!'

This; What a Day that Will Be

2 Tim.4:7-8

 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, 

which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—

and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.