Daughters...

 Happy Birthday, Emily💓!

God bless you, dear daughter, as you begin raising one of your own

and discovering the joy for yourself...

There aren't enough pages to tell the whole of what daughters are but here's a peek!

This poem goes for all three of our beautiful daughters
but inspired today on the Birthday of our firstborn;
 the one who introduced me to a whole new world of wonder!
Can't wait to walk with you through your own journey of discovery💗

I can't BELIEVE it's 27 years since it began!

They’ll give you wrinkles laugh-lines

They’ll turn your head hoary

They’ll teach you lessons

You once thought you knew

They'll make years fly by

As love writes a story

Of bittersweet blessings
 Our mothers learned too 

They’ll make you weary

And make life worth living

They’ll make you prayerful

And careful and brave

They’ll make you teary

While stunned with thanksgiving

They'll make you grateful

To give all you have
 

They’ll make you feel older

And younger than ever

They'll try you then break you 

With laughter unfurled

So while you can, hold her

And hug her, dear mother

For daughters will make you

The best friends in the world

© Janet Martin

When Country Visits City...

 On Sunday we visited the city our middle daughter lives and works in....

She trades the rural panorama of meadow and stream

For glades of steel and concrete where sky-scraper spires gleam

And past her window hastes a never ending symphony

Of traffic noise that rushes like a river to the sea

And where a country night is tucked beneath star-studded deep

Her night dazzles with lights and sights and sounds that never sleep

No ribbit-ribbit lullaby, no wild forget-me-nots

Here towers almost touch the sky, here flowers bloom in pots  

Here mother looks a little lost and daughter leads the way

When country visits city for a bitty holiday

© Janet Martin

Whenever I go to the city I feel a little like the country mouse😁

 (mid-video begins the part of the story where country mouse accidentally ends up in the city)

how do I know this?! perks of childcare😉
plus, I love Beatrix Potter stories!

  

A Mom-to-Daughter Birthday Poem

 Hi Melissa and God bless you on this day, your Birthday!

Twenty-four years ago Emily became a sister 

and I was delighted beyond words to be the mom of another daughter.

The delight and humble pride of motherhood has never wavered, no matter the 'what'!

So thankful for you, Melissa, and what you add to the fabric-work of our family and home!

Sometimes it would be easy to slip into ‘missing you’

In spite of knowing heartstrings/prayers stretch as far as they need to

The joy that daughters bring to mothers tends to evade speech

And when I try to spell it, it seems words are out of reach

Sometimes the clock eats up a year with shocking fluency

And sometimes mothers can’t help but recall life’s used-to-be

But this is not for nothing; it reminds us to embrace

The here and now before it joins the cast of yesterdays

Sometimes words seems so little to tell of love without end

The ‘love-you-as-a-daughter-but-even-more-as-a-friend’

And sometimes ‘thank-you God’ seems quite a mighty, teeny praise

When I think of all it enfolds in age-old three-word phrase

The heart is like an art-gallery filled with pictures, prized

A mother learns that hold and letting go is synchronized

So every now and then when one would least expect it so

She snares a simple here-and-now and adds it to the show

Sometimes her love spills into stars that land upon her cheek

And when she tries to tell you why it seems she cannot speak

Except to fumble with words old as time yet ever new

Where there is nothing in the world like mother’s  ‘I love you’

© Janet Martin

My mom often 'gave' me this verse...
I now understand more fully why!
It applies to us all, no matter what stage/age of life we are in!

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding; 
 In all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.
Prov.3:5-6

For Precious You...(a Mother/Parent-to-daughter Birthday poem)

Happy 26th Birthday, Emily!💗

(Thank-you to a photographer in Nova Scotia for a lovely updated family-photo!)

Sometimes because of a mother's innate love and concern for her family,

as she faithfully prays the Lord to guard and guide them

...sometimes she forgets the simple prayer of 'thank-you for you'!

That 'room' beneath a mother's skin

overflows with fond picture-shows

of little girls in curls and bows

and echo-worlds wafting within

There many a care and many a prayer

Shapes and adorns, with tender art

The hallways of a mother's heart

As masterpieces tremble where

...she cannot reach but learns anew

How swift and soft Time's give and take

Turns moments into thought's keepsake

And fresh reasons to say thank-you

...for precious you; true, kind and sweet

Dear daughter-sister-mother-wife

She prays that God will bless your life

With grace for every day you meet 

...she prays for Him to guard, guide, cheer

(So much to turn our eyes from Him)

and whether days are bright or dim

She prays you sense His Presence near

...and then, for forums fondly sketched

she thanks Him for the gift of you

And prays you learn to thank Him too

As mother's love is stretched and stretched

Love, from Mom

aka Janet

Dear Emily, (and family) the prayer I prayed for you while I was waking up this morning...

Inspired by Ps. 23

May the The Lord be your shepherd,

May you lack nothing.

    As He makes you lie down in green pastures,

or leads you beside quiet waters,

May he refresh/restore your soul.

May He guide you along the right paths

    for his name’s sake.

Even though, should you walk

    through the darkest valley,

may you fear no evil,

    because He is with you;

may his rod and his staff,

    comfort you.

When He prepares a table before you

    in the presence of your enemies

may He anoint your head with oil;

    until your cup overflows.

May goodness and love and mercy follow you

    all the days of your life,

and may you dwell in the house of the Lord

    forever.

Amen

Lumps in our Throats...for moms

“Don’t worry too much”, my middle daughter tried to reassure me,

(as I 'expressed concerns' for her upcoming 'adventure')

 “like, just worry the normal mom-amount, okay? 

But not more than that! I’ll be fine!”

Ah, torn we are, twixt laughter and a lump lodged in our throats

Sweet Innocence is lovely without holes to fray its coats

My, but we’ve come a long way from those girlish, carefree days

When we scoffed at our anxious mother’s worry-tender ways

Now humble knees bend while pleas wend to God from helpless thought

And it is our turn to learn the trust our mothers sought

Where oft words would be reckless if first impulses would spew

But for ‘aha’; once we were wishful-thinking daughters too

Time is a patient Teacher; we all leave lost worlds behind

Surprised by changeless truths that youth is soon destined to find

Then torn we are twixt laughter for the girl she used to be

And tears; because the road is hard to true humility

How precious is the tick of clocks in childhood’s little leap

How pivotal this pit-stop; ‘now I lay me down to sleep’

For far too soon they drop their silver spoon and tiny coats

And leave us standing in the doorway with lumps in our throats

© Janet Martin

Years ago a local middle-aged DJ, Gary Doyle told his radio audience that he asked his mother how old he was when she stopped worrying about him.
She replied, I'll let you know!