Priceless Provision...

Visiting the dentist that I have had a long-standing 

Or rephrase, a long tipped almost upside-down relationship with

is NOT the way I would choose to start the week 

but I am very thankful for him nonetheless😅😂

This morning I couldn't help but laugh out loud when he asked me

if I'm feeling numb yet? Oxy moron?

Visiting the dentist always allows lots of time to reflect!

The eastward edge of earth and sky gives birth to break of day...

(to we who remain)

We know it will be so for nothing can dawn’s courser’s sway

How beautiful the funeral service message of comfort was yesterday

to the family and friends of my Uncle Ernie Frey

In closing the minister reiterated the wonderful comfort in the knowledge

 that though we mourn it is not without hope

because God did provide a way that defeated death

and leads to life eternal.

Oh, what a blessed hope and joy for all who believe!

So, though this year for many, Christmas is marked with sorrow

for those who believe it remains a season of everlasting joy as well!

The Child in the manger 

became man's redemption on the cross at Calvary!

Now, that's a Tree worth revering,

a joy worth shouting!

From it hung the Light of the World

in time's darkest hour!

Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

The quote below is from a book of Peter Marshall messages...

The eastward edge of earth and sky gives birth to break of day

We know it will be so for nothing can dawn’s courser’s sway

Just as we know the west will showcase sunset’s artistry

Faith fixes eyes upon a prize it knows but cannot see

This is the day the Lord has made with hope and grace renewed

Time’s march, far more than stiff-starched moment-soldiers, season-hued

It is a footpath to an aftermath by breath concealed

And only when life ceases, then the rest will be revealed

God does not leave grief comfortless when death collects its due

If we believe then we receive Hope’s anchor, firm and true

Though storms may toss with loss, the power of the cross abides

Faith dearly clings through sufferings to the hope God provides

The Faithful One who gave His Son to pay the sinner’s debt

Will never fail though dark the vale of sorrows that beset

God, through His Son, knew love had won, though it appeared He died

The triumph of faith, hope and love was on death’s other side

© Janet Martin

Luke 12:31-32

But seek [f]the kingdom of God, 

and all these things shall be added to you.

 “Do not fear, little flock, 

for it is your Father’s good pleasure

 to give you the kingdom. 

Jesus, Son of God

Something More Precious than Time...

If You Believe

(playing a song from the era of many fond memories

of a friend's mother, who has passed on)

And praise God, she believed and taught her children to believe too!)

At today's visitation the phrase 'precious time'

stood out to me as they fondly recalled

the last days/year and a half with Mother

after they were initially told maybe three months...

Time/life is precious 

but to the believer there is something more precious than Time...

Precious in the sight of the LORD

 Is the death of His saints.

Psalm 116:15

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”

and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved.

Rom.10:9

Oh, have you received the free gift?

Have you believed so you will not perish

with that final breath

but have everlasting life?

John 3:16

We don't need to find and provide the atonement offering!

God provided the Lamb...

For just as through the disobedience

of the one man (Adam) the many were made sinners,

so also through the obedience of the one man (Jesus)

the many will be made righteous.

Romans 5:19

What is our part?

To believe, receive and then,

'Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, 

in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,

 holy and pleasing to God—

this is your true and proper worship.'

Romans 12:1

(this not to secure our salvation, 

but to say thank-you, thank-you, Jesus

with a life of worship!)

He did not leave it up to us sin’s penance to procure

But gave His only Son, Jesus, our pardon to insure

If we believe we will receive the Gift purchased by He

Who suffered for us to achieve redemption’s legacy

He suffered for us to achieve redemption’s legacy

The evil one tries to deceive us with uncertainty

But God is faithful; He supplied atonement’s sacrifice

Once and for all Perfection died to pay salvation’s price

Once and for all Perfection died to pay salvation’s price

He does not ask us to provide what could never suffice

But simply beckons us to trust His forgiveness by grace

If we confess our sins His justice will our guilt erase

If we confess our sins His justice will our guilt erase

Oh God forgive us if some lesser god should take Your place

You lead us, not into temptation, You are our Shield

You repeal condemnation as by Your stripes we are healed

You repeal condemnation as by Your stripes we are healed

Hope’s open invitation rolls across earth’s Harvest Field

While Death is like a reaper’s blade a-swinging to and fro

And joy is knowing Jesus paid the debt we should yet owe

© Janet Martin

One more fav hymn by George Jones

How Beautiful Heaven Must Be

Of Blue on Blue

One of the moms I do childcare for lost both her grandparents within two weeks. 

Her Grandma's funeral is today.

Lloyd and Shirley were married for 63 years 

and raised their large family in this community

They were well known and loved and will be missed by many!.

Death has a way of kindling the flame of awareness within us!

Awareness of the brevity of life even if lived to a ripe old age!

Awareness of the preciousness 

of what may appear commonplace

until it is no more!

So let's linger longer

... over supper,

on garden benches

lets dance in the rain,

delight in the sunrise,

...and such, 

Before what may seem commonplace

slips from our touch

Where yester-twilight’s countryside

Was veiled with deeper blue on blue

Soft pink, the ink of morning-tide

Seeps through the heavens far and wide

To melt the mantle twixt the view

And toll the bell of life-to-do

How faithfully new morning breaks

Through bars to hold the stars at bay

While we tend to soon-morrow’s wakes

Of toil and trust’s relentless stakes

While seasons subtly ebb away

The gap twixt grace and Judgement Day

A sense of something more endears

Us to the precious peal of grace

For with life’s gathered, dwindling years

That like a little mist appears

And soon no fingertip can trace

We cherish more, the commonplace

Of smiles to wear and help to lend

Of gratitude for mercies new

While moments fall and seasons wend

Their way from beginning to end

Where, who knows who will next pass through

The veil that deepens, blue on blue

Each day on earth, a gift of grace

Time like an easel, splashed with pleas

Lord, teach us to treasure each face

Of loved ones still in our embrace

Before A Final Brushstroke frees

A Masterpiece of memories

We tread the sacred breadth of Now

Absorbed by little life-to-do

As breath-by-breath winnows the bough

Of blooms we often miss somehow

Until Death lowers blue on blue

And draws another face from view

© Janet Martin

James 4:14-15

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.

What is your life?

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Instead, you ought to say,

“If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Hallelujah, What a Promise

Inspired by my sister-in-law's mom's funeral message and prayers

of hope, comfort and exhortation...

The minister who opened the funeral service stated

'If it were not for people dying a minister’s words would be vanity.'

Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

What a privilege and wonder to we who, partakers of

God’s compassion, grace and comfort cannot drain His wells of love

What a hope we have through Jesus; debt no ram could reimburse

Paid upon the cross that frees us from mortal’s inherent curse

Hark! an open invitation, calls to all ‘come unto me’

Beckons to each tribe and nation with salvation’s guarantee

What a blessing to be bidden to draw from Mercy’s wellspring

Though His reasoning is hidden, God is good in everything

Hallelujah, what a Savior, man’s preaching is not in vain

Resurrection’s glorious favour turns death into life again

By one sin we all were blighted; by one death we are set free

By grace we are all invited to a Banquet yet to be

What a joy in spite sorrow, what a peace instills the gale

Yesterday, today, tomorrow, Jesus Christ will never fail

What a journey dust-to-dust is, paved with prayers and washed with tears

What a life of learning trust is, before Jesus reappears

Hallelujah, what a Promise keeps us pressing to the Prize

What a little vapour time is before death opens our eyes

© Janet Martin

Lam.3:24

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Here We Are (where yester-eons echoes brim)

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Psalm 46:1

This morning we received word that

my sister's brother-in-law passed away (Murrell Martin)

after a battle with cancer!

This same sister and family are in the thick

of wedding preparations for their daughter's wedding on Friday.

Please remember this family (and Murrell's family) in your prayers.

God knew when this date was chosen for the wedding

what would transpire!

His timing is perfect in spite of our wondering whys!

(I helped for two summers on Murrell's farm in the early 80's

so yester-eon's echoes are brimming)

This is one of my favorite pics of a long-ago day.)

This song is running through my heart this morning

We Are Going Down The Valley One By One

We never know when we will meet

The Hand the snuffs the chime

So lets make living's echoes sweet

While we are granted Time

***

Where yester-eon’s echoes brim

In scenes that tenderly compose

A sweet and sentimental hymn

As time its healing balm bestows

Where broken and beauty compete

Through joy and sorrow’s highs and lows

Love's acclamations, bittersweet

Mete metaphors of thorn and rose

Where faith and fear rival within

Where smiles and tears sparkle without

Where lament, laughter, groan and grin

Suffer conflicts twixt truth and doubt

Where morning breaks and twilight dims

And God wakes wonder mids’t life’s fuss

Where we are not worthy of Him

He bends and ministers to us

Where we would be a sorry lot

Death’s bell would toll with doleful knell

Without the Hope God’s Son begot

To save our deathless souls from hell

Where we are all in the same boat

In need of Light to pierce the dark

Because time is a transient Float

Where one by one we disembark

Where yester-eons echoes brim

And morrow offers no sneak-peek

A sweet and sentimental Hymn

Is being written as we speak

In scenes of tender reckoning

Like music notes of stone and star 

Where yester-eons echoes brim

Twixt past and future, here we are

With a fresh page, where humbly awed 

By Mercy's vow renewed, we sing

A hymn of grateful praise to God

Where yester-eons echoes brim

© Janet Martin

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. 

The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 

and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

 Do you believe this?”

Murrel believed this! Hellelujah!

Date With Destiny

PAD Challenge 23: For today's prompt, write an appointment poem.

This date with Destiny

That no one can deny

Or somehow go unnoticed in

That Ledger in the sky

This date with Destiny

Ought to make us think thrice

About filling each moment with

Love’s gentle sacrifice

For what we leave behind

Becomes our legacy

While each breath draws us closer to

This date with Destiny

Ah Death! None can escape

The Reaper’s Swinging Scythe

Or the Appointment that awaits

As we step from this life

Then, pray that we prepare!

For Exodus Profound

For death is life's one certainty

The grave, it's common ground

This dust we stir with feet

Soon claims its due return

As Deathless Soul transcends time's toll

Far from earth's umber urn

The shadow that still falls

Across stone-stippled lea

The sacred image of the Soul

Awaiting Destiny

© Janet Martin

Heb.9:27-28

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 

 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, 

will appear a second time, not to deal with sin 

but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Thou God, Of Earth and Heaven

 

Whether at the funeral of a Prince,

an innocent child,

a pastor

whether almost a century old

or a baby,

or somewhere between,

the same words of comfort are offered,

drawn from ageless, timeless, changeless Word of God,

Father of all

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. 

The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

John 11:25

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, 

concerning those who have fallen [b]asleep, 

lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 

14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, 

even so God will bring with Him those who [c]sleep in Jesus.

1 Thess.4:13-14

Our Father Who Art In Heaven

Last Post

 

Thou God of earth and heaven

Thy Perfect Love, nail-scarred

Faith’s Dying-Breath confession

Thou dost not disregard

Thou Godhead Everlasting

Divine Supremacy

No Last-Post Bugle blasting

Thy final eulogy

Thou God, changeless and gracious

Author of life and light

Each one of us is precious

And equal in Thy sight

Where none can earn the merit

Of the gift of Your grace

Thou, Beholder of spirit

Rather than breed or face

Thou God of earth and heaven

Thou Saviour of the soul

Thou God, of sins forgiven

And faith that makes us whole

Thou, Father of the orphan

Thou, Comforter and Friend

Thou God of earth and Heaven

Thy Kingdom hath no end

© Janet Martin

I Will Come To You...

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

John 14:18

Let us never dare to think when we see God

we will hold Him accountable to us for something

we are called to suffer!!

On the brink of His betrayal, torture, and crucifixion

to purchase man's redemption 

He gave His Disciples (all who will believe in Him)

a most precious promise!

Have you claimed it/Him?

And I will pray the Father,

and he shall give you another Comforter,

that he may abide with you for ever;

John 14: 16

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, 

whom the Father will send in my name, 

he shall teach you all things,

 and bring all things to your remembrance, 

whatsoever I have said unto you.

 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:

 not as the world giveth, give I unto you. 

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:26-27

The above verses were part of a comforting funeral message

 for the family and fellow-mourners

at the loss of Cody Troy

my nephew's son/brother's grandson.

We mourn, but with hope of seeing him again!

 Father Along was sung at the first part of the service

 which aunts and uncles attended

 (second stanza esp. fitting)

Near The Cross

Oh, God, the sense of loss we feel

When loved one’s ways are parted

Can spark longing’s utmost appeal

And leave us broken-hearted

But You, whose ways we cannot know

Though we may seek to fathom

Are always faithful to bestow

Your uttermost compassion

When on the brink of agony

To purchase man’s salvation

You poured Your sacred sympathy

In words of consolation

‘I will not leave you comfortless’

Oh, what a tender token

This most precious of promises

On the eve of Your death spoken

For all who believe will receive

Your Holy Spirit’s kindness

A Truth the world cannot perceive

Because of grievous blindness

But you provide a Comforter

In sorrow’s darkest hour

While we behold the sufferer

You behold grace and power

The bud, before the bloom unfolds

Does not reveal its glory

So too mortal visage beholds

But a glimpse of the story

Then help us not to hate or doubt

Love beyond comprehension

But pray instead for those without

Thy Spirit’s intervention

You will not leave us comfortless

Though trial's troubles test us

We have your precious promises

To sustain and to bless us

Oh God, you know grief's anguish too

You suffered our pardon

Then help us wholly lean on you

Lest our hearts should harden

© Janet Martin

Yet Hope Lives

 

(my brother's grandson)

In Memory of Cody Troy

August 27, 2019-March 28,2021

Yet Hope Lives

When God reaches down from Heaven

For a child, so sweet and fair

Hearts with sorrow’s pangs are riven

We are tempted to despair

When death claims a life so tender

Grief is raw and tender too

Yet Hope lives as we remember

Where this little angel flew

Safe within the arms of Jesus

Is the little child He lent

For a little while to please us

And make homes and hearts content

Gifting gladness with their laughter

Weaving through grief’s agonies

Fond echoes that linger after

Touch has turned to memories

God ordains our days of passage

Before one has come to be

Some He spares from life’s cruel heartaches

Some must suffer patiently

So, by grace that we are given

We will hope and not despair

When God reaches down from Heaven

For a child so sweet and fair

© Janet Martin

From a Fount That Forges Memories...

Happy 2nd Birthday, sweet grand-daughter!

...though without a doubt the celebration is bittersweet this year!

This is not quite the poem I had in mind but

 circumstance sort of moved the heart in this direction today!

Details here on

Divine Design

From a fount that forges memory’s fond mementos, mercy-lent

Pours the future to a suture that weaves pictures, echo-bent

Who knows what will flow from heaven to bestow laughter and tears

Where dawn kindles what dusk dwindles until ‘lifetime’ disappears

From the hand of God (no other, lest we confuse hierarchy

And forget the One who numbers days before one came to be)

From His hand, (the fount of mercy) time’s momentous stream runs rife

Until the will of the Giver returns to Himself, each life

Sacred is the surge of seasons, slowly reeling farewell in

Holy is the toll of twilight, siphoning the soul from skin

Precious is each gifted hour, arranged step-by-steppingstone

Faithful is the loving Father drawing his dear children Home

© Janet Martin

Your eyes saw my unformed body; 

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

 before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:16

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 Way It Goes...

gardening always drives home

the raw reality

of the circle of life...

The way it goes

Each perfect rose

Succumbs to time’s incumbent must

And all that breathes

Surely bequeaths

Its tallied timbre to the dust

Then, toss thy head

But don’t forget

Each lilting leaf will fade and fall

And rise and shine

But keep in mind

The Lord and Master of it all

This circle of

Life’s learn-laugh-love

by strength’s reason might grant four-score

But that last breath

Ushers in death

How utter then, forevermore

© Janet Martin

Psalm 103:14-16

 14 For He Himself knows our frame;
            He is mindful that we are but dust.

      15As for man, his days are like grass;
            As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

      16When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
            And its place acknowledges it no longer.

to stop reading here sounds rather futile, doesn't it?!
THIS is verse 17&18
 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear Him,
            And His righteousness to children’s children,
      18To those who keep His covenant
            And remember His precepts to do them.
...and verse 13?
 Just as a father has compassion on his children,
            So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.