Showing posts with label getting along. Show all posts
Showing posts with label getting along. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

A Gentle Reprimand (mother or not!)


Below, a bit of conversation between my daughter and I
as she lamented some not-so-shining-parenting-moments earlier today💓
(my comments in the blue)



The quote my daughter shared reminded me that we sure shouldn't 
point an accusing finger at anyone
before we have walked a mile in their shoes...should we?💖💕

Until we’ve worn each other’s shoes and borne each other’s cares
And struggled with each other’s dues and prayed each other’s prayers
I think the point that lingers is love’s gentle reprimand:
Instead of pointing fingers let’s reach out a helping hand

© Janet Martin


Monday, January 23, 2023

With Only One of Each of Us...


How grieved our Creator must be when we choose to bicker and bite
instead of lovingly forgiving each other like He lovingly forgives us!
After all, every single one of us is on our maiden voyage through life 
with so many mistakes made, to learn from...
and to top it all off there are no two of us exactly alike!!!

Unlike these birds who all sound and look exactly alike...


With only one of each of us and no two quite alike
It stirs in us the impetus to do the best we can
To honor He who drew in us His holy breath of life
Where there will never be another you or me again

With only one of each of us and no two quite the same
Is it then any wonder that we often disagree
But wouldn’t it be nice if we recalled from whence we came
Then strove to love because there is only one you and me

And no one else can take the place of only you or me
Where every single ‘us’ is originally designed
And no one else can be the person we were made to be
Now is that not reason enough to be loving and kind

…and just a bit more patient with one-only-you and-me
Where we are all on maiden voyages from here to There
With our one and only unique personality
And our One and Only Creator beyond compare

We all have this in common; He who makes us black and white
And numbers our days before one of them comes to be
He smiles with loving kindness; we are precious in His sight
For there will never, ever be another you or me

How often we could treat each other better than we do
And cherish one-and-only-me-and-you while we still can
Before it is too late because either first me or you
Will go the one-and-only way we go since time began 


© Janet Martin

Psalm 139:13-16

For You formed my inmost being;a
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14I praise You,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Marvelous are Your works,
and I know this very well.
15My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in secret,
when I was woven together
in the depths of the earth.
16Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all my days were written in Your book
and ordained for me
before one of them came to be.

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Where Autumn is Life's Sister...



This morning I asked Victoria to take a picture as a keepsake of the sacred commonplace...






Of countless times in our 34 years of marriage,
Jim realizing, he could arrange his route to come by the house
to grab a coffee and breakfast sandwich etc.
giving me a heads-up call when he is almost here so he can just pull over,
trade empty containers for full ones
and carry on with a thank-you and see you in a few days...


As I turned and looked at the yard, frigid with first snowflakes
 but clinging valiantly to its glow of gold
like Woman vainly gripping the fraying edges of the garb of middle age,
 the need for this poem of why I love Autumn so much,
 washed over me...

The woo of purple blue scarves draped on skyline filigree
The curb appeal of Today, caped in Autumn’s finery
The holiness of hunger no five-star meal can assuage
The happiness of wonder too epic for ink and page
The glory of the hilltop cascading its color-roar
Like an Artist’s tipped palette immersing the valley floor
The rush of season-splendor undulating, wave on wave
An orchestra of grandeur serenading the cold grave
As sweep of rain song clinches nature’s prey to gray archives
Gold leaves like drunken finches sail from trees in wild nose dives

The sorrow of surrender and its bittersweet relief
Time’s touch, so harsh, yet tender in the binding of the sheaf
The land, a grand portrayal of meager glimpses of He
Who overflows earth’s table with fringes of majesty
The bright October afternoon poured from welkin canteen
In a mirage-collage of June’s peppermint, misty green
July’s gold wheat fields rippling, August’s aquamarine sea
September’s orchards twinkling like glass jars of rosehip tea
The poet, as she grapples with time’s ever-ebbing swell
Of blossoms turned to apples, of hello turned to farewell

The sense of Something Sacred swirling, slipping, tripping by
An elfin ballerina twirling on a splash of sky
A sentimental molding of love’s carousel of crumbs
Of holding soon enfolding what all letting go becomes
An impression of moments caught like petals in an urn
Of girls becoming women in a world of no return
Of murmurs snared from summers sparkling like a bit of brook
Through pages filled with darkling pictures tucked into a book
Where autumn is Life’s sister walking through joy rife with grief
An empathetic whisper unraveling leaf by leaf

© Janet Martin




Saturday, October 15, 2022

Lens Awareness



We view other people's lives through the lens of our own experiences.
One size does not fit all!!


If only we remembered that the window we peer through
Is not a universal, unobstructed point of view
Where, we all dream, hope, hurt and bear the cares of time and place
And no one is beyond the need of sympathetic grace 
While one is celebrating a victorious delight
Another is debating whether life is worth the fight

 The highs and lows of thorns and roses scatter in the wake
Of what becomes the lens through which we view life's give and take
Where soon a season disappears, turned into memories
Laughter and tears unrav'ling years like leaves unravel trees
While, weathering the wounds and wonders of gladness and gall
Of All-in-this-together but one lens does not fit all

Some sorrows flash like neon signs, some lodge deep in the heart
Not one of us can see behind the facade of the art
Where we are all God's workmanship, all simply fellowmen
Not one of us fully equipped to wield the Poet's Pen
Without thought of the welfare of each other first in mind
Because the lenses we look through are each one-of-a-kind

© Janet Martin

Phil.2:4
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests,
 but also for the interests of others.

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Thus, Fellowmen

 Don't you just love cooking with fresh ingredients?!



Don't you just love a child's eager curiosity?!

Don't you just love a sunny daybreak?!


or a surprise flower bouquet from a friend?!


...or winter-dusk's farewell hues?!


and thousands of other kindred kindnesses!!

With so much in common, why do we bicker so?!!

We walk life’s path of day to day
With many a bump along the way
With many a trip, slip, stumble-spree
(The birthplace of humility)

Thus, we should not be enemies
Because life’s commonalities
Are always more, we must confess
Than that which marks our differences

All that we have we leave behind
This but the dust of daily grind
Where rich or poor, small or great ken
By grace we go, thus, fellowmen

© Janet Martin

Monday, March 15, 2021

All Together Somehow

 

Inspired with amusement by all our differences,
to keep life and love interesting!😍

Midst mess and mayhem
love and life unfold
in the clutter and clatter
of growing old-er

I'm de-cluttering (and spring-ifying) today after the weekend...

(don't you oh, so dearly love everyone
who adds a bit of clutter and clatter to your life?!!)

Flash-back to some Tuesday echoes 💗



Differing perspectives and personalities can make for some lively discussion sometimes...
(so kiddos leave to get lost in books while adults linger at the table)
...but let's never let it get in the way of love!

Ahoy! An envoy of eclectic attitudes embarks
From east to west on quests wrestling life's exclamation marks
Some ho-hum-hum and dum-de-dum, for they are more laid back
Than others who resemble predators poised for attack
Yet all together somehow while we fight with right and wrong
We are commanded to learn how to love and get along

Aha! The law of love runs through a pothole-riddled road
Some (seem to) dodge them all, some wheels fall off, some stumble ‘neath life’s load
But oh, we should remember we are all broken while bound
Toward That, which makes us all fellowmen on common ground
Where altogether somehow in this grin and groaning grind
We are commanded to encourage one another and be kind

Ho-ho! The ebb and flow of dawn to dusk is like a barge
That edges ever closer to where trav’lers disembark
Where now we are still tethered in an all-together Here
Before the ways we weather with one breath will disappear
So, then let’s all together somehow, by God’s grace each day we live
Obey His great command to love each other and forgive

© Janet Martin

Sunday night supper at gramma's house
always includes *'tea' in a cup from the colourful mug-tower!
(oh, the race to get first dibs on a colour!)
this little tradition always ends up soon involving a mop
 as L'il Lady and Gentleman are still learning the art of sipping without spilling😋



* a splash of tea topped with  much milk and a drizzle of honey




Tuesday, January 19, 2021

The Wonder-full Wake Of It All



This poem began with the intention of being about life
but turned into a poem that could also be about marriage





Life is full of lessons on learning how to get along and share!
Every summer the ducks at our cottage make me chuckle;
they seem like people in a way; some greedy and noisy
 and others more easy-going as they learn how to share
their food and their lake😊 


You know how it is; the kick and the kiss 
The sorrow that sweetens the joy 
The worlds that fly through hello and good-bye 
The duty that gathers our dreams in a sigh 
The beauty that feathers a tear to our eye 
And weathers the once-girl-and-boy 

You know how it goes, high-fives and low blows 
The wonder-full wake of it all 
The twist, turn and tug, the live-learn, the hug 
The pain-staking prayers for loads that we lug 
The haste of a year full of chug-chug-chug 
The sparkle of stars as they fall 

You know how it hurts; for better or worse 
So worth keeping hand to the plow 
The pull and the shove as we work through the rough 
Knowing sometimes showing up is enough 
Heave-ho, hold, let go, for the sake of love 
And the sanctity of a vow 

You know how it takes what we have and makes 
A heart-and-soul art-gallery 
The tint of Time slips through fingers and lips 
My, how the brush of the rush of days drips 
Into a mural of tempests and ships 
And by God’s grace, love’s legacy 

© Janet Martin 

 
 
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, 
but also for the interests of others.
Phil.2:4