Earth Before Heaven...

 We wrap our arms around the fleeting charms of precious girl and boy...

(the first line of this poem was inspired by Eager Little Girl
in the top left corner of the photo-collage)

We press our eager faces to the places we caress with joy

We wrap our arms around the fleeting charms of precious girl and boy

We vow to keep within our hearts a fragment of the art that spills

In seasoned form; the flower-storm of hymns unfurled in flawless frills

But even as we feel fond measures fade on fingertips and lips

Another comes to steal our gaze and amaze us with fellowships

Of love in all its sundry ways; where joy is not at loss for long

Because God tunes the harp that plays the prelude to His perfect song

The enemy of hopes and dreams schemes but can never thwart the Hand

That touches strings that heed the Maestro always in complete command

Then when love breaks our hearts and souls smart with the bitter sting of grief

The Gilead of woods and gardens showcases God in a leaf

Where, as we take a close-up look at minstrels in earth’s orchestra

Wonder overflows hunger’s cup and fills would-be despair with awe

Then we acquainted with love’s cares feel like a flower’s next of kin

As balm of bloom sings like a lark and keeps the dark from closing in

© Janet Martin

...and so it begins; that next-of-kin feeling flowers give us!
Next-of-kin with much we can learn from them!

They are not prejudiced
or anxious.

They never compare themselves to a fellow-lily.

They simply bloom where they are planted

and give God the glory!

Praying we can all, in troubled times, and disappointment, cling to the ageold message
of the verses below with humble hearts of faith...

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

f 28And why do you worry about clothes? 

Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin.

 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.

 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, 

which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, 

will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Matt. 6:27-30

The Way of Life...

 
Isaiah 51:12
I, even I, am He who comforts you. 

Who are you that you fear mortal man, 

or a son of man who withers like grass?

The hour like a flower blooms then fades to days of yore

Unlike the love of God; His love abides forevermore

All that we have weaves ties that bind until its tether breaks

But God, so rich in mercy, never leaves us or forsakes

How hard life’s little leap would be if it was nothing more

Than dawn’s constant crash-landing or the slamming of dusk’s door

Hooray, this way of life after its hold and letting go

Leads back to where it all began… to He who loves us so

© Janet Martin

 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.'
Acts 2:28

May-hem or May-break

 Little Girl and I picked flowers yesterday...(tulips and fern-leaf peony)

this morning as I was writing/painting this poem her mom texted me;

' Little girl is thrilled by the flower's sweet smell

but suddenly concerned that they are dying!'

I replied, "aw, sweet little girl is already being introduced to love's bittersweet;

the thrill of holding and the heart-tug of letting go."

Unfortunately these peonies bloom at best, only a few days

but oh so pretty in their passing!

May heals the hearts that winter wounded; wows us with its vim

Where verdant verve of virgin green lavishes land and limb

As Wand of May breaks soldered seams that quarantined the gem

And teases from bud-bondage Bloom's unfettered diadem

To thrill once more, since days of yore, all who pause to applaud

With never-failing wonderment, the handiwork of God

May breaks sod’s seal with eager abandon where Time is chief

And so begins another blur of seasoned joy and grief

A vexing intermingling of love’s laughter and lament

Beauty bound by the law of life’s momentous covenant

Unraveled ‘neath a blue-sky gavel poised above earth’s bars

As buds spill red-pink-purple-gold pillage of petal-stars

Now we take longer looking-breaks to wander where the world

Is like a freshly painted banner gloriously unfurled

With some parts plowed and planted, some nature’s free-hand release

But all together lovely like an Artist’s masterpiece

Where May breaks through the barriers that held blossoms at bay

The leader of a Grand Parade that blooms summer away

© Janet Martin

This past week our world turned green as it burst into bloom (in our area in southern Ontario)

where in this month we have gone from winter to summer in short order

...we are in the midst of a heat-wave with afternoon temps feeling like 34-36C!!

Like a Flower...

 
1 Peter 1:24
For, "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field;

 the grass withers and the flowers fall,

James 1:10
But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, 

because he will pass away like a flower of the field.

Job 14:2
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; 

like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

 This time  of year always re-reminds me of how man's days are like a flower...

Soon dust will claim its Must once more

In every bud and bloom it bore

And just like flowers flare-fade-fall

We too will answer Maker’s Call

Dusk garners in Time’s daily death

We fuss, and draw its gifted breath

Then live, laugh, love, and pray, my dear

All that we have is now and here

Who can the scythe of Time evade

Who can escape the reaper’s blade

Who can the wrath of God endure

So, make salvation’s calling sure

..for who knows when death’s bell will toll

When dust will claim all but the soul

When we will falter like a flow’r

On the altar of Final Hour

© Janet Martin

Almost Eden Garden Retreat

Don't have a front or back-yard garden?

... take to the country roads and see God's wild-flower gardens in full bloom!

Linger a little longer than you were going to and be surprised!

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:...

Gen.3:8

Retreat to Gardens; earthy glimpse of Eden’s Paradise

Where sweat and toil earns bread and spoil rich with wonder’s surprise

Work hard for what you take; give thanks to He who doth provide

And fill your place ‘mongst human race with kind and humble pride

...and if the load on living’s road gets long and hard to bear

Then Retreat to a Garden (methinks God still walketh there)

Where in the cool of day and in the hush of green-spun things

There’s something ‘bout a garden from which hope eternal springs

After the push of planting as dirt-dreams start to take shape

Then retreat to the garden for little Grand Escape

And listen to the fiddler of sun-shadows play on leaf

And let the lilies of the field heal love’s heart-gnawing grief

When common care becomes the colour of Melancholy

Then retreat to a garden for some flower-therapy/there-happy

Let worry take a break where breezes sigh and tendrils wind

And let the Voice of God speak through bloom-bowers He designed

© Janet Martin

Intro to Summer from the book Shape of a Year ...
 
Oh, I wish I could share the whole July chapter with you!