Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Monday, February 19, 2024

The Beautiful Blessing of Family to Love

It is Family Day in Ontario...




We bring out the best or the worst in each other
Through blood-bond (or bondage) of sister and brother
Of father and mother and uncles and aunts
Of Niece-nephew-cousins, and gramma and gramps
A lineage of names, frames and faces are we
Comprising the faction, that we call family

Fabric work of freundschaft, (relatives) of hand-me-down traits
Of stature, demeanor, chins, noses and gaits
Of quirks we don’t notice or question because
That’s just the way our family ‘does’ /was
A birds-of-a-feather Forever are we
By a genetic tether that we call Family

We banter and bicker, share laughter and tears
Because blood is thicker than water or years
We bear a fond bond, whether near or afar
Of a sense of belonging wherever we are
Because what makes ‘us’ transcends geography
Distance cannot sever cords of family

Of father and mother and brother and sis
Precious imperfection and terrible bliss
A beautiful chaos of ancestral ties
Grandpa Joe’s cowlick and Granny’s blue eyes
A come-from-a-long-line-of-proud pedigree
We are and will always be family

We are much more than mere faces in frames
Or leaves on a branch on a tree full of names
We are love-pray-for-and help one another
We are a thank-you God for father, mother
Where no one can take the place of you or me
When it comes to our part in a family

We gather 'round tables, 'round cradles, 'round graves
We celebrate triumphs and weather grief's waves
And wonder, where in God's wide world we would be
Without the dear people we call family 
Where, pray that we never lose humble sight of
The beautiful blessing of family to love

© Janet Martin

My first family
Photo Sept. 2023
Mom and dad and all ten of us...
(Celebrating my parent's 60th wedding anniversary)

My next family
After 35 years of marriage...
photo Nov.2023
Thank-you, Lord



Monday, November 6, 2023

(Love's) Better Poetry

PAD Challenge day 6: For today’s prompt, take the phrase "Better (blank)," 
replace the blank with a new word or phrase, 
make the new phrase the title of your poem, 
and then, write your poem.

This take on today's poem-prompt 
was inspired by yesterday's photo-session;
the aim being to get a few good ones
(aka everyone looking forward with eyes open!!) 
for a page in a family calendar for my parents for Christmas








You are the laugh-lines that I earn
And collect thankfully
As by the grace of God I learn
Love's Better Poetry

You overflow my cup of joy
Filling love's crooks and curves
With happiness, dear girl and boy
More than one heart deserves 

You are my gentlest lullaby
My tenderest of care
And each, the apple of my eye
And each, my humblest prayer

You are heaven-to-earth's caress 
You are my home-sweet-home
You are more holy thankfulness
Than pen can ever poem

© Janet Martin









Monday, February 20, 2023

Rush of Reverence (or, Blessing of Family)

Today in Canada we celebrate Family Day!
Thank you, gracious Heavenly Father for the most beloved blessing of family!

This poem began with a soft smiled desire
 to collect a medley of mementos framed in memories;
the kind most families can relate to...
It ended with me wiping away tears 
as our church family received a request to pray for a family
 who lost their son yesterday after a brief illness. 
He was in grade five and a best friend to a few boys in our church family.


There will be cake...

I realized I made exactly the same cake recipe (top left corner of photo collage)
 last year for family day weekend only last year's didn't flop😅

There will be little fellas by their older sisters, bossed
There will be Cinderellas with glass slippers not yet lost
There will be household chores and uproars outside bathroom doors
And scoldings as trespassers tiptoe over fresh mopped floors
There will be oceans of spilled milk on which years sail to sea
While we are busy being the blessing of family

There will be tender moments (and those, not so tender too)
As love lays down firm ground rules on what and what not to do
There will be happy laughter and oh, there will be heartbreak
There will be health and sickness as we shoulder give-and-take 
There will be prayers, so many prayers, and cake and cups of tea
As we thank God for the kind blessing of a family

There will be editing as mom tries to tame grocery lists
And day trips to doctors, dentists, teachers and pharmacists
And sweet goodnights and wake-me-ups at half-past way too soon
And playdates in the backyard and laundry lines to the moon
As smiles and tears compose a dear echo-framed gallery
Of motley medleys showcasing blessing of family

There will be second miles as we all learn to do our part
To make the most of perfectly imperfect works of art
There will be popsicle mustaches, puddle-splashes, and
A bedtime-story-goodnight-kiss-prayer-paved path to dreamland
There will be storms to weather as we weather what must be
Not alone but together with blessing of family

There will be sacrifice, the price of love requires this
There will be hands to hold and hands we held and dearly miss
There will be lovely glimpses of Heaven on earth and oh,
There will be grief, as we suffer Love’s hardest letting go
Which reminds us to cherish every opportunity
To never take for granted, the blessing of family

Lord, willing there will be babies, grandmas and grandpas too
And in between, a spectrum of love's green-gold-blush-and-blue 
There will be crushing disappointments, patience-bested rants
And through it all, pray, an increasing awe for He who grants
And cares for us the same through both triumph and tragedy
While teaching us to treasure the blessing of family

There will be noise and weariness and broken toys and dreams
As girls and boys shed childhood joys far too quickly, it seems
When looking back at careworn seasons hushed by yesteryear
Leaving behind a rush of reverence for now and here
Because no one can tell how near or far lies death’s dark sea
That alters (until Heaven) the blessing of family

© Janet Martin

“Honor your father and your mother, 
that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
 – Exodus 20:12

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.
 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! 
He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”
 – Psalm 127:3-5

“Bear with one another and, 
if one has a complaint against another, forgive each other;
 as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
 – Colossians 3:13


below, one of my forever favs by someone who hugely impacted my love of poetry
Edgar A. Guest

Home
BY EDGAR ALBERT GUEST
It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house t’ make it home,
A heap o’ sun an’ shadder, an’ ye sometimes have t’ roam
Afore ye really ’preciate the things ye lef’ behind,
An’ hunger fer ’em somehow, with ’em allus on yer mind.
It don’t make any differunce how rich ye get t’ be,
How much yer chairs an’ tables cost, how great yer luxury;
It ain’t home t’ ye, though it be the palace of a king,
Until somehow yer soul is sort o’ wrapped round everything.

Home ain’t a place that gold can buy or get up in a minute;
Afore it’s home there’s got t’ be a heap o’ livin’ in it;
Within the walls there’s got t’ be some babies born, and then
Right there ye’ve got t’ bring ‘em up t’ women good, an’ men;
And gradjerly, as time goes on, ye find ye wouldn’t part
With anything they ever used—they’ve grown into yer heart:
The old high chairs, the playthings, too, the little shoes they wore
Ye hoard; an’ if ye could ye’d keep the thumbmarks on the door.

Ye’ve got t’ weep t’ make it home, ye’ve got t’ sit an’ sigh
An’ watch beside a loved one’s bed, an’ know that Death is nigh;
An’ in the stillness o’ the night t’ see Death’s angel come,
An’ close the eyes o’ her that smiled, an’ leave her sweet voice dumb.
Fer these are scenes that grip the heart, an’ when yer tears are dried,
Ye find the home is dearer than it was, an’ sanctified;
An’ tuggin’ at ye always are the pleasant memories
O’ her that was an’ is no more—ye can’t escape from these.

Ye’ve got t’ sing an’ dance fer years, ye’ve got t’ romp an’ play,
An’ learn t’ love the things ye have by usin’ ’em each day;
Even the roses ’round the porch must blossom year by year
Afore they ’come a part o’ ye, suggestin’ someone dear
Who used t’ love ’em long ago, an’ trained ’em jes’ t’ run
The way they do, so’s they would get the early mornin’ sun;
Ye’ve got t’ love each brick an’ stone from cellar up t’ dome:
It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house t’ make it home.




Friday, October 7, 2022

Because You Can't Have One Without the Other

(I apologize to you who read, sometimes before I've found 
some editing flaws I missed previously...
These poems generally get penned and posted amidst 
MUCH more than merely writing)

Wow! going from 23C yesterday to 6C this morning gets one's attention!
There's no denying it: another garden-year is drawing to a close!




But the flowers are not going to fade without a fight!

They've shrugged off a few frosty kisses already!


Maple trees toss their fiery tresses, as if daring Father Time!
He just smiles because he knows who always wins in the end.


October's to-do list is bittersweet!
-cut back or pull out spent glory.
-Harvest final fare
-Dig out flower bulbs that can't withstand winter-brr!
-plant flower bulbs for spring tulips etc.
-Collect seeds for gardens not planted yet
-Tuck leaf-duvets over slumbering flowerbeds
-Plan for next year's growing season/gardens

The folding always follows the holding💞

Sometimes I tend to rue the shadows of longing’s despair
Forgetting that it is the sun that puts the shadows there
How quick the readiness of thorns beneath love’s lovely rose
Can prick the headiness of holding with soft curtain close
The hellos that fill hugs/mugs with happiness ignites the knell
That trembles in the offing that assembles fond farewell
The wind that woos the lover to the darling of his heart
Is the same wind that hovers, to dearly draw them apart

Oh look! The baby smiles and coos and sits, walks, runs, then flies
Time’s book full of spent centuries still takes love by surprise
Thus, I cannot afford to stand too long with mournful stare
To gaze upon a world that fell to pirates of the air
Where waves that roll across the shore and thrill children at play
Are followed by the waves that wash their sandcastles away
And the breath-taking beauty of life’s garden in full wreath
The prelude to the duty of the grave that lies beneath

Sometimes, I tend to rue the letting go of seasons felled
Until I look back, humbly glad for all I had and held
Sometimes, I tend to rue the rending ache for seasons spent
Until, with awe I thank God for the loveliness He lent

© Janet Martin


Sometimes, I tend to rue the letting go of seasons felled
Until, with awe I thank God for the loveliness I held...



Monday, July 25, 2022

A Ride (literally) Down Memory Lane


My third-youngest brother (Lewis) treated us to wagon-ride down Memory lane
(back our sideroad and local backroads)
on Saturday at our annual summer Martin family reunion...
Lots of laughter-filled reminiscing💖
(because most of us sister's childhood memories of wagon rides was to or from stone-picking,
 one of my sister's said 'yes! she would love a wagon ride!
 as long as there are no stones waiting to be picked😂😂)
 

(Dad and Mom, treasuring the flashbacks)


Young people getting a ride to the baseball field 
before we had our turn...
(to respect privacy faces have been blurred)



Where wild flowers still bloom and dust of youth still (almost) flies
Where fields gleam with bent barley-plumes beneath still cloud-strewn skies...


A few of my siblings teased me about a poem percolating as we trundled down dirt roads
and memory-lanes...while in the moment I couldn't imagine what was to come of it,
it was too special an occasion not to at least try to capture!
I tried to reel it in but it turned out longer than (Hubby, ahem,) 
quick readers would likely prefer...😅

We peer with distant gaze back to a long-forsaken world
Where out of Bygone’s haze an echo-mirage is unfurled
As scenes of common stomping grounds revive in hearts and eyes
And resurrect from misted Bounds, dear childhood’s paradise

Of dusty lanes and creeks and strains of weeping willow’s sigh
The thrill of racing to watch or chase freight trains rumbling by
Of dad and mom much younger then, although we didn’t know
Caught in the quick of hunger and molding what soon would show/grow

…while never going hungry, though a dozen mouths to feed
While learning about boundaries and how fruit follows seed/deed
While always loved no matter what we did or didn’t do
(…as we acknowledge the college, we drew dear parents through)

As we revisit places wakened by Past's sudden swell
As we dare to share secrets; laughing, brave enough to tell
As we retrace bare footsteps tripped through pastures; cow-pie rich
Or point to ‘there A Hay Load Tipped’, ‘there Fast Car Found the Ditch’

Where wild flowers still bloom and dust of youth still (almost) flies
Where fields gleam with bent barley-plumes beneath still cloud-strewn skies
Where little trees are big trees now, where yester-children learned
How swift the hand put to the plow will find time’s tables turned

Where correction we would not choose is worth its weight in gold
Where now we walk in well-worn shoes of swiftly growing old
Where mom and dad (still with us) hold a very precious part
In every single (ten of us’s) thankful-prayerful heart

So humbly blessed, we marvel at the patient, loving care
That surely must have tested their most earnest, pleading prayer
Of accidents (but life was spared) of mischief-foolish pranks
Of innocence guarded, work shared, of humble giving thanks

Memories mete a melody where music-shadows wend
As time perfects the harmony of notes that didn’t blend
As treasure-laden vessels, bent, broken, warped, chipped, and scarred
Embrace each tender token composing childhood’s postcard

Where weathering youth’s recompense makes us meeker of mind
Truth’s tethering of consequence and circumstance entwined
With what our precious dad and mom instilled, example-shod
The cornerstone of home-sweet-home; of love and faith in God

© Janet Martin


Monday, May 2, 2022

How Do I Love Thee, (Once upon Sweet Childhood's Girl or Boy)


(a rather sentimental undoing of a mother's heart
as she contemplates a mother's love for grown children 💝)

Birthdays have a way of doing that...
Happy 24th birthday, Matt!




How do I love thee, once upon sweet childhood’s girl or boy?
I love thee with a brutal grief and with a daring joy
I love thee like a gentle lamb yet with a lion’s roar
It seems like every day I love you like never before

How do I love thee? In a tender tumult borne within
My dear, you cannot guess the world unfurled beneath my skin
Or how a mother holds her babies close in spite of years
How love is like a medley of hugs, tugs, cheers, fears and tears

How do I love thee? With compassion’s firm and fierce regard
Because I know though love is sweet, love is grueling and hard
A holy weathering that cannot be estranged by miles
A prayer-worn tethering through sorrow-storms and sunshine-smiles

How do I love thee? like a dancer still learning the steps
A hold and letting go that Season-change cannot eclipse
With sympathy and hope and honor all rolled into one
I love thee like only a mother loves daughter or son

How do I love thee? with oft stumble-humbled gratitude
With by-the-grace-of-God whose kindness keeps courage renewed
With error-riddled aftermath and laughter’s grand release
With awe, while God is teaching me what makes a masterpiece 

From mom aka
© Janet Martin

Psalm 90:12
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Friday, April 1, 2022

Family...(or Best Gift Ever)

'This is the BEST day ever!"
declared Little Girl through a mouthful of raspberry jello and whipped cream💓😊
(don't we all feel like that when we have our mouths full of our favorite food?! lol)

Here's a fun little take on the poem-prompt below
Favourite Food
It is extremely hard to be rude
When one's mouth is full of one's favorite food!
So maybe the way to treat our fellowman
Is to eat as much favorite food as we can!😅


Happy April!

For today's prompt, pick a word that begins with F, 
make it the title of your poem, and then, write your poem.

Today, ah, what a gift
Of sacred tears and smiles
As morning sets a barge adrift
That dusk deftly exiles

Today, ah, what a course
Of forceful ups and downs
A gift that God’s mercies endorse
And twilight’s tableau crowns

Today, a tray that tips
And who knows what will spill,
But He who permits and equips
According to His will

Today, ah, what a lease
From God to man is borne
The canvas of love’s masterpiece
-es restored morn to morn

Today, ah, what a call
It bears for you and me
To remember that we are all
A great, big family

Let’s treat each other thus
And treasure each Today
For nobody knows which of us
Will next be called away

Today, always today
The page where ink runs rife
And writes with what we do and say
The story of a life

Today, let’s live and love
As kindly as can be
For you and I are all part of
God’s great, big family

© Janet Martin

Rom.12:9-21

Love in Action
9 Love must be sincere. 
Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 
10 Be devoted to one another in love. 
Honor one another above yourselves. 
11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
 12 Be joyful in hope, 
patient in affliction, 
faithful in prayer. 
13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. 
Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 
16 Live in harmony with one another.
 Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c
Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. 
Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 
18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you,
 live at peace with everyone.
 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends,
 but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: 
“It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 
20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Monday, February 21, 2022

Very Precious, Second-to-None Gift...

Happy Family Day!

Today's Family Day was spent with
cherished church-family
as a dear brother was laid to rest...

He was a son, a brother, a husband and a dad.
The tender tributes by his family
 surely roused in the hearts of everyone present
a kinder and humbler commitment to love one another,
to help one another
and cherish our families 
while we can!
Let's make every day Family Day💝💞💕


How suddenly (what may at first glance seem quite commonplace)
the ordinary becomes sacred!





The gift of family is life’s imperfect, Perfect Best
Epitome of love fulfilled and sorely put to test
How blessed we are with words like ‘husband’ and ‘wife’, ‘mom’ and ‘dad’
When life is Brother-sister-gramps-and-gram, aunt-uncle glad

For in the end all that remains of all we now embrace
Are memory-mementos of a bygone time and place
How humbly then, as today brims with opportunity
We ought to love each other like a great big family

When life’s sweet circle breaks as death collects its ordained due
It makes us more aware of little words like ‘me-and-you’
And stirs a deeper thankfulness, even while love’s tears fall
For the kind gift of family, life’s dearest gift of all

Life is too short to waste in bickering and blow-for-blow
Today is for forgiving because none of us can know
Who will be next to leave behind the rest of us to weep
Over precious mementos that the heart alone can keep

So, by God’s grace, while we are still on this side of the grave
Let's vow to live and love as if today is all we have
Where, nothing remains commonplace as we begin to see
The precious, second-to-none gift of love of family

© Janet Martin


A new commandment I give to you, 
that you love one another:
 just as I have loved you, 
you also are to love one another.



Friday, August 13, 2021

Forever-Gratefulness (for sisters)



This poem was inspired by the past week or two
by my sisters (and sister-in-laws that feel like sisters💗)
The main difference with sister-in-laws is that they had to learn to
tolerate if not appreciate Martin-girl quirks😉

*cucumbers from Lucy


Last year for Carolyn's 50th we enjoyed a day out together ( a rare occasion/delight)




We share garden-fare overflow
Cucumbers, beans and flower-slips
The brunt of high-five and low blow
Recipes, cleaning-canning-tips

We share our cares and prayer requests
Milestones, updates and poetry
And lend a hand when life upsets
Love’s heart-cart full of family

Laughter and tears are understood
As the firm hand of time’s finesse
Strengthens the bond of sisterhood
With fond, forever-gratefulness

We share the love of mom and dad
And years where childhood echoes drift
We share the joy of Humbly Glad
And thank God for each sister-gift

© Janet Martin

Each sister fills a special place.
As I reflected over just the past couple weeks
I realized how easily I could take for granted this
huge blessing as we exchanged recipes
such as how to get creative with zucchini etc.
One evening when I returned home from getting groceries Victoria said,
"Cheryl called. She said she will call back.
something about sharing something she read 
that she thought you would enjoy!
(and she did call back and I did enjoy it)
*Right now I am canning
 over-flow-from-her-garden cucumbers from Lucy. 
Our family is enjoying wedding leftovers Carolyn dropped off.
Marlene took some beans off my hands the other day,
not afraid to ask 'do you have any to spare for our supper?'




Friday, June 25, 2021

Best-Of-All Blessings

This poem was inspired by the flood of loving grad photos on social-media
from proud moms and dads...
One photo esp. inspired this poem as I stared at the tall, handsome, young man,
and seems, was the size of the tots in the photos below not so long ago.

Reminds us to cherish the Here and Now,
the 'noisy joys of girls and boys' 💗
which filled the morning at Janet's/Grandma's house

They start so small;
life's best-of-all-blessings...


The momentum of to...


...and from, is subtle in its tugs






They start so small
Life’s ‘best-of-all-
Blessing' fills arms and hearts
The noisy joys
Of girls and boys
One of love’s sweetest parts

…while sparkling streams
Of hopes and dreams
Become the tender tide
Of smiles and tears
And days and years
That draw them from our side

The momentum
Of to-and-from
Is subtle in its tugs
As moments meld
To seasons felled
Beneath kisses and hugs

Time’s stellar flight
Of morn to night
Turns little people tall
While ‘I love you’
Fashions the flue
Through which youth's contrails fall

And keens us to
An avenue
Trampled, but not with feet
Where blessings of
Life’s best part; love
Makes thankfulness complete
 
© Janet Martin

Eph.5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us...