Happy 80th birthday, Mom

 

With the circle still unbroken,

(Mom and Dad and all ten children with our spouses,)

our 80th birthday celebration for dear Mother on Sunday

was precious indeed!

Numbers 6:24-26

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

25The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

26The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.

The laundry lines you filled would reach up to the moon and back

And we could build skyscrapers with dishes, washed, dried and stacked 

The meals, prepared with thoughtful, loving labor, by God’s grace

Would humble us immensely if gathered into one place

Thank-you mom, for your diligence in ‘training up a child’

While we outgrew dresses and shoes, while days-to-years ran wild

While we would laugh and work and play and learn to humbly pray

To our Father up in Heaven to guide us each day

You taught us how to find joy in earth’s beauty, grand and free

Though busy you were never blind to God-penned poetry

You showed us (not just told us) when there was a task to learn

You took the time to read or pause to watch the seasons turn

You never did complain (or if you did I don’t recall)

A helpmeet for your husband and a mother to us all

With love enough to go around with never one left out

Love was the priceless plenty we never had cause to doubt

What happy days of childhood from heedless innocence slipped

From ‘now I lay me down to sleep’ to prayers without a script

From ‘Goodnight, yes, I’ll leave the hall light on, at least for now

(Unless the talker talked too long and laugher laughed too loud!)

Dear mom, I want to thank you, for too often I forgot

And simply took for granted tasty meals, healthy and hot

And work-worn hands that did not eat the bread of idleness

But tended to duty’s demands with cheerful faithfulness

I’m thankful for God’s love that has allotted eighty years

‘The multitude of sins’ you covered with your prayers and tears

And for the treasured memories that sparkle in a trove

Where surely the greatest of these is our sweet mother’s love

I pray each day for God to bless and keep you in his care

That come what may you sense the power of His presence there

I thank Him for the gift of a mother who read His Word

And let us by example with devotion undeterred

Happy eightieth Birthday, may the year ahead be blessed

With God’s mercies and if He wills, with health and happiness

Happy eightieth birthday, as your numbered days decrease/increase

May they be overflowing with God’s love and joy and peace

© Janet Martin

Psalm 71:18

Now also when I am old and grayheaded,

O God, forsake me not;

until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation,

and thy power to every one that is to come.

Psalm 37:25-26

I once was young and now am old,

yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned

or their children begging for bread.

26They are ever generous and quick to lend,

and their children are a blessing.

Psalm 90:12

Teach us to number our days,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

How Often We Are Thieves...

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 

How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

Rom.11:33 NKJV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

who has blessed us in Christ 

with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms...

...In Him we have redemption through His blood, 

the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

8that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Eph.1:3,7-8 BSB

I would LOVE a whole sermon series on the

'depth of the riches' of spiritual blessing! 

(God bless the teacher/preacher of truth

by the power of the Holy Spirit 

able to verbalize thoughts I grasp at,

to stretch me beyond my personal and often inept

'wisdom and understanding' 

turned into words to encourage, exhort and edify)

Why should we obey?

What is the reward?

Do we dread the dire destiny of the fruitless tree?

and many more challenges and concerns

for myself and for all who have

'repented and were baptized'

as we are urged to,  then...(Eph.4:1-3)

'walk in a manner worthy of the calling you/we have received:

2with all humility and gentleness, with patience,

bearing with one another in love,

3and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit

through the bond of peace...

***

Last night Victoria offered to do the supper dishes

giving me the glorious opportunity to soak in 

Summer Dusk in the Garden...

truly a glimpse of heaven on earth!

In goes a seed and out of it grows God's amazing handiwork!!

August is a vault of beauty and blessing...

 

...but August's beauty and blessing

 pales in comparison to the blessings

Invisible, without envy/awe-inducing attractive appearance;

the 'spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms'

for the reverent and obedient

both now and forevermore!

 Oh, pray we do not rob ourselves of this wealth

by becoming consumed with lesser riches.

how often we are thieves, though unaware of what we steal

we rob ourselves of riches beyond price, for ‘nice’ appeal

forgetting, in the forfeiting of what God cannot bless

we rob the branch/tree of bearing the sweet fruit of righteousness

forgetting in the whetting of a carnal appetite

we cannot taste God’s goodness, if we do not find delight

in the law of the Lord, if the desires of our hearts

are worldly, rather than craving what God alone imparts...

as we dredge His Word for wealth this world cannot comprehend

bent on one sacred mission; to be faithful to the end

lest, when weighed in The Balance we are found wanting, oh pray

we recognize the treasure that will never fade away

and keep our eyes fixed on a Prize only true faith holds dear

giving more earnest heed to what transcends Time’s transient sphere

lest, in the quest for more we care less about how we live

and steal from ourselves the blessings only God can give

...and rob ourselves of priceless wealth that money cannot buy

beyond the minute pleasure of things pleasing touch-taste-eye 

how often we are thieves, dear God forgive us and renew

our minds to hunger for the depth of riches found in You

...lest we thirst for what is cursed rather than 'riches of grace'

lest, by the voice of choice we worship vices, vile and base

lest, though our lips confessed Your name, our actions disagree

'dogs returned to their vomit' nay! oh, may it never be

obedience is better than off'rings and sacrifice

how often we tend to shrink from faith's fundamental price 

how often love unbridled is lured by he who deceives 

only God's Word to gird, keeps us from turning into thieves

© Janet Martin

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

A Word to Poets (and People In General... )

Whoosh! and another week/month bites the dust!

Farewell April Showers and blizzards!

On a bright note, farm-dust is starting to fly in some areas!

Oh, isn't that wonderful?!!

Even if it smells like manure?!😅

Wishing one and all a weekend full of wonder!

Psalm 69:30
I will praise God's name in song and exalt Him with thanksgiving.

Sometimes what means the most in love and life’s strife and lament

Are simple things; a smile, a word of kind encouragement

A grumble never uttered, and an insult never said

Instead of discontent, a compliment, a prayer-bowed head

Sometimes what we need most where heartache’s bitter brunt must be

Where troubles test and dreams are vexed with stiff reality

Are not poetic platitudes or eloquent cliches

But just a hug to tug at heart-strings full of knots and frays

Sometimes what matters most to give is not nickel-and-dime

But the often apology-defended gift of time

Where what we need is not the creed of some best-seller book

But rather the less stressful counsel of a babbling brook

What waits to be will wait to be; enough with now and here

Where moments fall like stars or like the sparkle of a tear

Where you and I in love and life’s commitments of lament

Should strive to give what we all need; time and encouragement

Sometimes workaday weariness can wear our wonder thin

And holes into the soles of shoes somewhere beneath our skin

Sometimes life’s need and noise pleads us to fold want’s weathered wings

And count life’s wealth of simple joys until we feel like kings

Sometimes poetry snared in script is not equipped with ears 

Sometimes a rhyme takes too much time and ink and paper gears 

Sometimes what means the most is not something that prose defines  

But someone who is close enough to read between the lines

💔💞

© Janet Martin

Psalm 34:3

Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.

Abundance Masterpiece

Poem-a-day challenge day 7: For today's prompt, write an abundance poem

But do not weep, no one can keep

Night’s undoing at bay

Upon the east dawn spreads a feast

Abundant with Today...

A smile, a bird, a gentle word

Dear little girl or boy

A nature nook, a brimming brook

Rouses abundant joy

A cup of tea, a hug, a tree

Eager for spring’s seamstress

Wakens a woo that turns into

Abundant happiness

Dream-streets to roam, page for a poem

So many yet to write

Can tune the part that thrills the heart

With abundant delight

The Hand that brings to little things

The speechlessness of awe

Opens our eyes in meek surprise

To love’s abundant law

…where He bestows to thorns, a rose

To winter’s waning, spring

In flowers, frogs and puppy dogs

Abundant anthems ring

Like rolling seas, life spills with ease

Across dusk’s shadow-shore

Gold-gray, blush-blue all meld into

Abundant worlds of yore

But do not weep, no one can keep

Night’s undoing at bay

Upon the east dawn spreads a feast

Abundant with Today

Where faith lifts up hope’s battered cup

Where Mercies/wonders never cease

But fill time’s frame to earn the name;

Abundance Masterpiece

© Janet Martin

Psalm 86:5,15
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; 

and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee…

Lam.3:22-24

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[a]
    his mercies never come to an end;
 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

Life's Little Luxuries

Matt.11:28-29

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,

 and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;

 for I am meek and lowly in heart: 

and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

As our heavy-laden hearts pour out to God 

as we think of those suffering sorrows 

of war, sickness and death, 

suddenly our eyes are opened to innumerable luxuries...

This poem could quite easily quadruple in length!

(but due to six 'little luxuries' arriving any moment

this is it for now!)😉

God bless you as you thank Him for your

own version of life's little luxuries

Life’s little luxuries can be easy to overlook

Like fresh-brewed cups of coffee, dream-delights of a cook-book...

The everyday enchantment of God’s poetry run wild

(WOW! did it EVER run wild yesterday!!)

The heaven-ness of Happy, kissed with laughter of a child...

The pitter-pat of little feet becoming big too fast...

Complimentary masterpieces, sun and shadow cast...

Life’s little luxuries can be easy to overlook

Like fresh-brewed cups of coffee, dream-delights of a cook-book

The everyday enchantment of God’s poetry run wild

The heaven-ness of Happy, kissed with laughter of a child

The pitter-pat of little feet becoming big too fast

Complimentary masterpieces, sun-and-shadow cast

An afternoon when overhead March sunbeams melt the sky

Into impressions of a sea with cloud-ships drifting by

Life’s little luxuries abound in every shape and size

To sweeten Struggle’s common ground and take us by surprise

While we weather the ups and downs that it seems, needs must be

To hone the hurts and hopes of love into humility

To make us more aware of what today would like to teach

And wake our wandering wants to wonder-fountains within reach

And to pay earnest heed to what we discount, far too oft

Before the brunt of moments turns to mist where echoes waft

Life’s little luxuries cannot be recognized in haste

Slow down, slow down, the hour groans with so much joy to taste

Where He who helps us carry cares is ever undeterred

He hears our prayers and gives us rest as we lean on His Word

And then our eyes are opened to the beauties of the hour

That spills to Duty’s common cup a smile, a child, a flow’r

His love none can exceed; each morn His renewed mercies brim

He knows exactly what we need before we ask of Him

Life’s little luxuries like sufficient strength for the day

Like bird-song in the garden as the dark is drawn away

Like knowing, no matter what is or was or lies before

Nothing is too hard for the God we worship and adore

Like finding the gold lining, you, in overcoats of gray

Then letting the sheer happiness of Us drive gloom away

Makes what may at first glance appear like commonalities

A wellspring overflowing with life’s little luxuries

© Janet Martin

Below, the verse to which I cling, as

I lift (some years-long) requests to our God.

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh.

 Is there anything too hard for Me?

Jer.32:27

Like finding the gold lining, you, in overcoats of gray

Then letting the sheer happiness of Us drive gloom away...

(used with permission)

Aren't you Glad Too?

Yahoo! I just had another baby!

Kidding😂

but sometimes that's kinda what it feel like 

when another poem is born;

Oh, the joy after the labor and the delivery💖💖💖

And no matter what composes picture-shows of 'life we’ve had'

On dawn’s skyline beams Beginning of a new day, aren’t you glad?

Sometimes Jim (husband) teases me over the plethora of sunrise pictures shared here,

but in my defense, 

I never want to get so jaded that I am no longer awed by The Utterly Awesome!

(and Jim agrees)

Aren’t you glad today is never replayed from dusk’s low’ring door?

That each bud of bloom delivers beauty not beheld before

That the glorious hope of Heaven waits at death if we believe

Not the cradle to be given one more lifetime to achieve

Aren’t you glad we start as babies; not yet set in our ways

That God’s mercy new each morning never His goodness betrays

That His Word is everlasting, not keeping pace with the times

Not like shifting cast of shadows, but steadfast as mountain climes

Aren’t you glad that we are never too old to learn something new

That the seasons keep their order, spring-summer-fall-winter through

That sunrise and set are always out of reach of fingertips

Set before our gaze to author praise from amazed hearts and lips

Aren’t you glad for cuppa something steaming, books and cozy nooks

For chatter and laughter brimming from sparkling children and brooks

That as we are growing older God surprises us with joy

Impossible to discover as a younger girl or boy

Aren’t you glad for socks and mittens, kitten-puppy happiness

For delight when the response to our ‘please’ replies with ‘yes’

For tap-dancers made of raindrops, shoeless freedom of bare feet

For the fervor of the vision and thrill of mission complete

For a table set for dinner for two, or for company

For redemption for the sinner; aren’t you glad God sets us free

For the poetry of wonder making ordinary Grand

For the feeling of belonging when we traverse hand in hand

Aren’t you glad today is never replayed; yesterday unbound

Even best days wouldn’t be as sweet the second time around

And no matter what composes picture-shows of 'life we’ve had'

On dawn’s skyline beams Beginning of a New Day, aren’t you glad?

© Janet Martin

And below

a glorious Glad Song

Psalm 113

Hallelujah!

Give praise, O servants of the LORD;

praise the name of the LORD.

Blessed be the name of the LORD

both now and forevermore.

From where the sun rises to where it sets,

the name of the LORD is praised.

The LORD is exalted over all the nations,

His glory above the heavens.

Who is like the LORD our God,

the One enthroned on high?

He humbles Himself to behold

the heavens and the earth.

He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the dump

to seat them with nobles,

with the princes of His people.

He settles the barren woman in her home

as a joyful mother to her children.

Hallelujah!

Aren't you glad too,

That sunrise and set are always out of reach of fingertips

Set before our gaze to author praise from amazed hearts and lips

Notice how the sun no longer rises across the field

like it did a month ago?!

A sure sign that winter is trundling toward spring!

And last but not least,

did you know you are one of the rare people who pauses on this porch?

I would like to tell you thank-you!

I am so glad you do because as George MacDonald once penned...

A poet is a man (or woman) who is glad of something

and tries to make other people glad of it too!

George MacDonald~

New Year Happiness Anticipation

 Ageless hopes for a Happy New Year!

A kiss on Child’s soft, chubby cheek

Or on down-crown of golden curls

Daybreak, all gold and purple chic

And great big hugs from little girls

A brook, earth’s most enchanting crease

A book to feed word wanderlust

A nook in nature’s masterpiece

To worship God with love-awed trust

A winter’s morn, fluffy and white

A shock of corn, forlorn, forgot

Dusk’s friendly fireside delight

Hot soup to ladle from a pot

Crumbs after buttered toast is gone

The yawn and hum of the mundane

The short answer to a question 

Tiny tap dancers made of rain 

Ageless thrills of discovery

The carousel of season-tide

Spring's bud-untethered filigree

Excitement of Here-comes-the-bride

A way to get from here to there

A new Today untried, untrod

Blue heavens to capture our stare

And draw our gaze upward to God

Warm slippers, sweaters, blankets, smiles

Such simple pleasure-treasures, oh

Coffee, clean, folded laundry piles

Gardens asleep beneath the snow

God’s Word to cheer and teach and guide

Unaltered by the change time brings

Beauty's pastoral countryside

To make us feels as rich as kings

Unwalled woodland sabbaticals

A perch beneath trees lofty tress

The happiness that animals

Bring to a world of peopled-ness

The joy that birds and flowers birth

As we behold God’s creature care

The purity of guiltless mirth

The surety of answered prayer

The wealth of family and friends

The hope beyond love’s groans and sighs

Unbeaten path that dips and wends

Wonders to take us by surprise

Two tots for tea, a turquoise sea

The payoff view after the climb

Mist-grist of unpenned poetry

The felling fist of Father Time

And for earth’s very careworn road

Faith’s very Heaven-glorious goal

Because Christ paid the debt we owed

And saved The Very Deathless soul

© Janet Martin

Longing For What Seems Lost (a Covid-Weary Canadian's Nostalgic Lament)

I had no idea just how precious the ordinary was

before everything changed!

How beautiful the cleated feet of players, baseball-proud

How wonderful are words like, ‘could I have a refill, please?’

How lovely to be buffeted by elbows in a crowd

Ah, what a neon masterpiece, flashing ‘no vacancies’

How perfect is the planter, pruner, picker’s glistening brow

How handsome are the calloused, blistered hands of honest toil

How holy is the ground we trample and the heads we bow

As mourners merge around a grave where death collects its spoil

How utterly breath-taking is a church-house with packed pews

How hearty the handshaking, back-slaps, hug-comradery

How sacred is the gathering where worship pours its dues

How gorgeous is a dinner table set for company

How priceless is the freedom to come and go as we please

How pretty are your eyes, nose, mouth, wrinkles and double-chin

How nice, the music some call noise, that comes with families

Because we’re running late and someone’s patience has grown thin

Oh, lucky you in the parade behind stop-go school bus

(It never crossed our minds, how precious was the commonplace)

To think that in those dear old days we used to fume and fuss

Before we grew accustomed to people with half-a-face

How precious are the plans for proms, performances, menus

A wedding guest list open for 'all welcome to attend'

A kitchen full of giggling girls, reasons to buy new shoes

A dinner-reservation for a birthday for a friend

No deafening applause now, for goals scored in overtime

How hesitant the glance across the six-foot ‘safety-zone’

How stiff the shoppers move to keep their steps between the line

How foreign feels the world where fear has made its presence known

How beautiful, the bustle of a busy workaday

How wonderful are words that come from smiles seen and not guessed

How lovely to be to planning a much-needed getaway

How good to be reminded to count the ways we are blessed

© Janet Martin

Blessed Are We...When

Morning Prayer;

Dear Lord create in us

a holy, awesome dissatisfaction

when we settle for less

Anoint hope's howling hunger

with heaven's hidden attraction

through Your righteousness

Amen

Psalm 32:1

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, 

Whose sin is covered.

Jer.17:7

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, 

And whose hope is the LORD.

Psalm 112:1

Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, 

Who delights greatly in His commandments.

Psalm 1:1

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, 

Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

James 1:12

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved,

 he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Psalm 33:12

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, 

The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

Matt. 5:1-12

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: 

and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, 

and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: 

for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

It's an eye-opener isn't it?!

The conditions hinged to God's promised blessings

so then,

Lord, when we pray for blessing

Make us humbly aware

Of sin that needs confessing

Thy blessing to prepare...

Three Barriers Between Us and God

The way of life is riddled with both triumph and defeat 

The hope to which we cling is like a lifeline, bittersweet 

Our darlings of desire and God’s will often conflict 

Because we want His blessing without what hinges to it 

The altar that pleases our Lord is not fashioned of stone 

But is the heart that offers up its cup of skin and bone 

In gratitude to He whose mercy paid sin’s awful debt 

And sacrificed His Son to be the scapegoat in our stead 

He suffered all we ever will, of poverty and pain 

But with his eyes fixed on the Prize He suffered, not in vain 

Because obedience beholds more than the sacrifice 

Love suffers long and it is kind and sees beyond the price 

Some blessings are not hard to see, they burst and beam and brim 

Some come, disguised as ‘why’ to test who will still honour Him 

Lord, remind us, when we ask for your Providence to bless 

That we have firstly sought Your kingdom and Your righteousness 

© Janet Martin 

He who did not spare His own Son, 

but delivered Him up for us all, 

how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Romans 8:32

More Love To Thee-Fernando Ortega

Gift Over Gift or Ode to Loveliness

 Look! Loveliness is like a Rembrandt of Reason Renewed!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, 

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, 

who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

And if all else fails...Earl Grey Tea😋

Look! Loveliness is lilting in lyrics of sound and sight 

It spills in sweet surprises, stirring sighs of sheer delight 

Where ‘we’, the best word in the world, are altogether bound 

By high and low, wonder and woe bestowing common ground 

Look! Loveliness is lavishing the way from here to there 

(Without the love that authors it we wouldn’t have a prayer) 

But God, so rich in mercy knew that we would need a lift 

From time to time, so ushered to life’s climb/clime, gift over gift 

Look! Loveliness is lending what soon farewell will enfold 

Where brokenness would break us without beauty to behold 

Where hope and heartache tug and war and weather tethered strings 

And we are never very far from what tomorrow brings 

Look! Loveliness is leaving so much to be thankful for 

In spite of all we lack or wish we could take back, the door 

Is always open leading to where we have never trod 

Ah, look! The Hand that holds it open is the hand of God 

Look! Loveliness is like a Rembrandt of Reason Renewed 

It rouses from the rubble, humble hymns of gratitude 

And beckons us to better what we can, no more, no less 

Then entrust all the rest to He who grants each loveliness 

© Janet Martin 

Wishing you lots of loveliness in your corner of creation!

Ode to Goodness

"Thank Goodness for the unfailing things."

commented a friend on the previous post...

Amen!

Here is an Ode to Goodness

Where not so long ago I lost my heart

on a snow-canvas of blue shadow-art

one mysterious little critter left a trail of

heart-shaped tracks in the snow, as far as the eye could go...

I used the advantages of ink to 

open this poem with a buttercup meadow😊

Doesn't just saying the word 'buttercup' make the day feel brighter?!

Buttercups spilling like sparkles of sun 

Over a meadow of flora, fresh-spun 

Where not so long ago I lost my heart 

On a snow-canvas of blue-shadow art 

Creation cannot deny He who spills 

Four season splendour to hollows and hills 

Jack-frosted window-pane, plush, blushing morn 

Dreams running rampant in gardens reborn 

Time is a flutter, a gilt butterfly 

Winter-spring-summer-and-autumn, oh my 

Over and over, earth’s flower is wrought 

By what the Father of nature has taught 

Light shatters darkness at break of Today 

Nothing can keep what God promised, at bay 

We gape as if we have never beheld 

Amethyst mist with molten oceans meld 

Goodness and Mercy will never betray 

Hearts that have humbled their will to His way 

The surface showcases blush-blue-gold-green 

While faith embraces The Sacred Unseen 

Larks lift their lyrics without second-guess 

Hark! Can you hear it? Perfect happiness 

Winter's hearth flickers with quickening cheer 

Of warmth and welcome to all who draw near 

Leave to the atheist, spec, blind and rude 

Futile debates of love misunderstood 

Better to marvel where beauty confirms 

Goodness to we, little better than worms 

Snow-flowers shower the bower with stars 

Gazillion sequins bedeck brumal bars 

Where Old Man Winter will yield to the charm 

Of a fair, golden-haired lass on his arm 

Rivers will gurgle and giggle, set free 

Out through the wide-open veldt to the sea 

Farmers will whistle and mothers will sing 

Throwing back shutters to welcome in spring 

Robins will warble and buds will unfold 

Pink-petal miracles, green, purple, gold 

Woodlands will brandish fresh notes from each limb 

As nature heralds the Bard of the hymn 

Seeds will astonish as we watch them grow 

Specks small and brownish God’s power will show 

Unfathomed increase, our hunger to feed 

Divine Providence contained in a seed 

No one can thwart what the Lord sets in place 

Evil will never be greater than grace 

Seasons will never be left to ‘perhaps’ 

*Hear how the hill sings and how the tree claps 

Lilies will never forget how to bloom 

Consider He who arranges the loom 

That weaves the fabric that so clothes the field 

That breathes the wonder whereby hearts are healed 

That woos the worship from we, always caught 

Between what has been and what yet is not 

That keeps us, still in the thick of the fight 

Cradled in colours of mercy and light 

Where soon the afternoon climbs the last knoll 

Like tilted steeples the blue shadows toll 

Where freeways twinkle with dot-to-dot cars 

Where dusk is waiting to draw down the stars 

Where we are never forsaken by He 

Who trails but fringes of His Majesty, 

Who lowered glory through sky after sky 

Of unplumbed galaxies to you and I 

Praise to the Giver of wonder and mirth 

Praise to the Maker of heaven and earth 

Praise to the riches no miser can hoard 

From God’s abundance of goodness outpoured 

Praise to the Artist of supreme design 

Praise to the way awe and joy intertwine 

Praise to the Author of beauty unflawed 

Praise to the goodness and mercy of God 

© Janet Martin 

Isa.55:12

*You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; 

the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,

 and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.