Breath By Breath...

Seeing all the flowers on Sunday at Whistling Gardens

(all photos on this post taken there)

refreshed the enthusiasm of working in my own gardens...

(until I cut through the internet cable with my edger!)

Happily the efficient repair crew has it up and running again!

 Sharing a few more peony photos from Sunday...

***

Each day holds starkly sudden transports

From Time into eternity, for… none knows who

Behooving us to consider things we often don’t!

Each breath, each hour, each step, each grace

Drawing us toward One Universal Certainty.

The other day I read this quote;

‘We often say life is short. Enjoy it!

It would be better to say,

‘Eternity is long. Prepare for it!’

Breath by breath we draw toward

The moment when we meet the Lord

Dear one, tell me, who can afford

To ignore what is certain

Hour by hour we bide our time

Until life’s clock is drained of chime

And death reveals the mystic clime

Veiled by breath’s wafting curtain

Step by step, soul carves its flight

To endless day or endless night

Where none returns from thence, to cite

Its horrors or its wonders

Grace by grace, we face today

Dear one, fall on your knees and pray

For, in each breath eulogies play

And eternity thunders

© Janet Martin

2 Peter 1:12-15
Therefore I will always remind you of these things, 

even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. 

 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body, 

 because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, 

as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. ...

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...

 

Spiritual Reveille

Reveille: 1. : a signal to get up mornings.

 2. : a bugle call at about sunrise signaling the first military formation of the day.

Getting up every morning is not for the faint of heart, 

but being properly equipped is the key to success!

Luke 24:49

And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you.

But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

1 Corinthians 12:7

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit

is given for the common good.

Ephesians 6:10

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear,

but of power, love, and self-control.

Without God's Spirit within,

without His word hidden in our hearts

so we do not sin against Him, (Ps.119:11)

how often we would fall prey to sight

rather than walking/living by faith.

How often we would make choices

based on logic deduced from a human standpoint

rather than simply *obeying God

and trusting Him for the consequences.

God gifts us with abilities to use for His purposes and glory!

May that be our whole-sole-soul goal today!

Wishing you a day filled with joy only His Spirit can instill,

as we trust He who is able in all circumstances!

Without His Spirit it is impossible for us to do well 

in life's greatest callings, 

such as training up a child in the way they should go...

Come, all who love and fear the Lord, with holy hunger pray

To be a suit of working clothes His Spirit wears today

To be a vessel filled with Light no circumstance can dim

To be, in humble human form a glorious glimpse of Him

Come, all who seek and trust the Lord, believing in his Word

Pour out your heart in earnest prayer for all who have not heard

Who do not comprehend the Light that shines into the dark

Who, like in days of Noah, scorn the safety of faith’s Ark

Come, all who follow and obey the Lord; do not despair

But be the hands and feet of He who keeps us in His care

Put on His suit of armour, like a soldier who prepares

To head into a battlefield suffused with deadly snares

Come, all who love and fear the Lord, with worship’s yielded awe

For purposes infallible; for timing without flaw

For His glory and by his grace, with holy hunger pray

Then be the suit of working clothes His Spirit wears today

© Janet Martin

2 Tim.2:3

You therefore must endure[a] hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:3
Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit, 

are you now finishing in the flesh?

Ephesians 3:16

I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you 

with power through His Spirit in your inner being,

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Romans 8:9
You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit,

 if the Spirit of God lives in you. 

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, 

he does not belong to Christ.

You can't 'work out' disobediences to God.

It doesn't work!

-Charles Stanley from the message HERE 

Come, We That Love the Lord

To Life, So Rich With Lovely Things

There is an incalculable silver lining to sorrow!

It reawakens us to life's wealth of joys

overflowing from God's fount of blessing! 

Our personal 'wealth' may differ in the details

but the Hand that grants it is

The Same and Changeless!

Ps.65:8 

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;

where morning dawns, where evening fades,

you call forth songs of joy.

A friendly book, a cup of tea...

The glory of heavens run wild...

The beauty of mother and child...

Each gear that turns the working world...

(are you ever blown away by how vital every single 'gear'

of the working world is?!!)

This life is rich with lovely things

The fount from which fresh morning rings...

This life is rich with lovely things

The fount from which fresh morning rings

As earth emerges, soft and still

To perch upon my window sill

A friendly book, a cup of tea

The precious gift of you-and-me

The humble happiness we feel

For handstitched quilt, or homecooked meal

The balmy breeze that melts the snow

The warm handshake to say ‘hello’

The smile across a crowded room

The bud instilled with perfect bloom

A front porch splashed with spring sunshine

A color-kindled laundry line

The glory of heavens run wild

The beauty of mother and child

The lamb that leaps in verdant mead 

That hand that doth the kindly deed

The laws of nature, undeterred  

The power of a gentle word  

Each fear in faith’s banner unfurled

Each gear that turns the working world

Each upsy-daisy where we fell

Each brook that tunes the sylvan dell

The green of youth, the sage of age

The thrill that fills the empty page

With lure of lyrics, wild and free

(The poet’s sweet insanity)

…for time and ink are not enough

Where the inventory of love

Pray, stirs a constant, conscious laud

For blessings from our gracious God

For unchartered, uncharted ‘new’

For common wealth of Task to Do

For much to touch and taste and learn

From Time's momentous no-return

Forbid, lest care our visage dims

We stumble on a vault that brims

With wonderment, God's goodness brings

To life, so rich with lovely things

© Janet Martin

Psalm 65

Praise awaits[b] you, our God, in Zion;

to you our vows will be fulfilled.

2 You who answer prayer,

to you all people will come.

3 When we were overwhelmed by sins,

you forgave[c] our transgressions.

4 Blessed are those you choose

and bring near to live in your courts!

We are filled with the good things of your house,

of your holy temple.

5 You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,

God our Savior,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

and of the farthest seas,

6 who formed the mountains by your power,

having armed yourself with strength,

7 who stilled the roaring of the seas,

the roaring of their waves,

and the turmoil of the nations.

8 The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;

where morning dawns, where evening fades,

you call forth songs of joy.

9 You care for the land and water it;

you enrich it abundantly.

The streams of God are filled with water

to provide the people with grain,

for so you have ordained it.[d]

10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;

you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

11 You crown the year with your bounty,

and your carts overflow with abundance.

12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;

the hills are clothed with gladness.

13 The meadows are covered with flocks

and the valleys are mantled with grain;

they shout for joy and sing.

Fernando Ortega-Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing with lyrics

God Gives; We Take...

Yesterday's hold-and-letting-go 'lament/minuet'

inspired today's give and take contemplation...

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above,

 coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, 

who does not change like shifting shadows.

Acts 17:28

For in him we live and move and have our being.

’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

How often we are like this robin,

who took full advantage of a freshly-filled birdbath!

We soak and splash in the faithfully-replenished fountain of blessing.

Pray we thank the Giver for all we take! 

God gives; we take. All we receive precedes relinquishment

Each accomplishment we achieve the fruit of favours lent

Goodness and mercy’s wellspring spills; we drink, with gifted breath

Too oft mindless of He who fills the fount of life-to-death

God gives; we take. A treasure trove of generosity

Anoints our touch-and-taste with love’s accountability

Where all we have is what we take while He ordains the chance

And it is up to us to make the most of all He grants

God gives; we take; and if we suffer loss tis but the part

Of gain we often overlook until it breaks our heart

And bids us contemplate the sum of grace till we are awed

For all we have is given from the outstretched Hand of God

God gives today; we wake and take it, consciously or not

Ah pray, that what we make of it is the best we have got 

He gives; we take. Forbid we boast in anyone but He

Who loves us to the uttermost for all eternity 

© Janet Martin

John 19:10-11

So Pilate said to Him, “Do You refuse to speak to me?

Do You not know that I have authority to release You 

and authority to crucify You?”

11Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me

if it were not given to you from above.

Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of greater sin.”

Olives That Have Known No Pressure - Hymn 626

Olives that have known no pressure

No oil can bestow;

If the grapes escape the winepress,

Cheering wine can never flow;

Spikenard only through the crushing,

Fragrance can diffuse.

Shall I then, Lord, shrink from suff’ring

Which Thy love for me would choose?

Each blow I suffer

Is true gain to me.

In the place of what Thou takest

Thou dost give Thyself to me.

Do my heart-strings need Thy stretching,

Songs divine to prove?

Do I need for sweetest music

Cruel treatment of Thy love?

Lord, I fear no deprivation

If it draws to Thee;

I would yield in full surrender

All Thy heart of love to see.

I’m ashamed, my Lord, for seeking

Self to guard alway;

Though Thy love has done its stripping,

Yet I’ve been compelled this way.

Lord, according to Thy pleasure

Fully work on me;

Heeding not my human feelings,

Only do what pleases Thee.

If Thy mind and mine should differ,

Still pursue Thy way;

If Thy pleasure means my sorrow,

Still my heart shall answer, “Yea!”

’Tis my deep desire to please Thee,

Though I suffer loss;

E’en though Thy delight and glory

Mean that I endure the cross.

Oh, I’ll praise Thee, e’en if weeping

Mingle with my song.

Thine increasing sweetness calls forth

Grateful praises all day long.

Thou hast made Thyself more precious

Than all else to me:

Thou increase and I decrease, Lord—

This is now my only plea.