Showing posts with label golf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label golf. Show all posts

Monday, January 22, 2024

What/Who We Need Most...(To Get From Here to There)




A stunning sunrise to kick off a new week to...who knows what?!!



For football fans, the countdown to who will make it to the 2024 super bowl is on!

Golfers have been delighting fans with some history-making highlights!

Did you happen to see any of winner, Steve Alkers amazing shots this past Friday and Saturday

Last week the winner of the Sony open was Grayson Murray!



He has been open about the demons he battles in his personal life, 
which affected and impeded his game! 
When asked what the difference is in his life now, he answered immediately that
his fiancée, but above that, Jesus Christ has made the difference!

For, no matter how sweet the kick, the toss, the shot, the triumph
it will never be enough to satisfy our need. Thrills soon fade...

1 John 2:15-16
Do not love the world or anything in the world.
 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, 
the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—
is not from the Father but from the world. 
17The world is passing away, along with its desires; 
but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

Matthew 16:26
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? 
Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
***

We need more than this world’s finesse, to get from here to There
We need more than man’s promises, on which to cast our care
Where, though we need each other to cheer us along the way
To help us as we weather ups and downs from day to day
Our kindest word or dearest deed are inept on their own
To satisfy the need this world cannot fill or atone

We need Jesus, nobody else can save us from our sins
Or help us into heaven when eternity begins
Or hear our prayers or see into our heart of hearts to know
The truth without excuse, idols He longs to overthrow
The spirit, oh, so willing, and the flesh, weak as can be
Without His Spirit instilling, ‘not I, but Christ in me

We need more than this world can boast of season-severed strings
No matter what success we toast, these are all fleeting things
The love of family and friends, as precious as they are
Will never be enough to rend and fling Heav’n’s gates ajar
We need Jesus; His Name is Wonderful, Mighty to save
He fits us for the flight that thunders through the lifeless grave

When all is said and done; the gap that gaped twixt here and There
Dissolved; when we have run the final lap of worldly care
We need more than this world can give; the whole world not enough
To take the place of ‘Look and live’; God’s gift of grace and love
Is Jesus; we all need Him; Savior, Shepherd, Father, Friend
For this world’s greatest favor is but vapor in the end

© Janet Martin






Monday, April 11, 2022

Road to Glory...


"God made me good at golf and
I want to glorify him with this gift"




“God is in control and the Lord is leading me, 
and if today is my time, then it’s my time, 
and if I shot 82 today, somehow I was going to use it for His glory."

a few favorite moments...(proud wife)

...and caddy


savoring the sweetness of the moment 
and the support of many fans and family


In the writer's digest poem-a-day challenge
Yesterday's Prompt was write a taste poem
This poem could be entitled 
The Power of Perseverance or
The Sweet Taste of Success

This poem could be about a private, personal challenge or
The fight to faith's finish-line!
So I settled on the title 
Road to Glory

Because the glorious sweetness of success's trophy always casts a shadow;
the bitter cup of dreams dashed (for now)
Cameron Smith acknowledges appreciative applause from fans
after a disappointing finish...

This poem was written with him in mind as well
as well as all of us who
have tasted, in varying degrees, 
the bitter draught of disappointment!


The pleasing flavours/favours of success
Somehow become more sweet
When hope’s hurdles to happiness
Have been honed by defeat

Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose
Life’s course of ups and downs
Refines endurance with its dues
Of crosses before crowns

The hard knocks of ‘not yet’ beget
If we do not give up
After the challenge has been met
The sweetest victor’s cup

Defeat is not the finished fight
But just a stepping-stone
To test the mettle of the might
Of more than skin and bone

Sometimes what at first glance may seem
Like failure and regret
Is but the beauty of a dream
Not quite accomplished yet

Then keep the faith; this is the rite
Before we realize
Where what once seemed a bitter fight
Was sweetening the Prize

© Janet Martin


Shout out to Corey Connors (a former local)
 from proud Canadian fans!

Eric Liddell, when being reprimanded by his sister 
for neglecting his responsibilities before God 
as he devoted his focus toward competitive running, responded,
 “I believe that God made me for a purpose. 
But He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure .”

In whatever form it takes
May we all 'run' to feel God's pleasure!
So someday we may exclaim triumphantly

2 Tim.4:7-8
I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course, 
I have kept the faith:
 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day:
 and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.



Friday, March 18, 2022

Love's Sweet Assurance



I enjoy watching golf, partly because it's so easy
to get emotionally connected to the highs and lows
of those little white balls and the drivers behind them...
I also find so many metaphors for life in the game
with its challenging courses, 
the exhilaration of an eagle, 
and the frustration of the bogie

What a competition it was last week
 for all who participated in the Players Championship 
finally completed on Monday!

And of course, tears at both ends of the emotional spectrum;
Anhirban Lahiri's tears of disappointment in loss...

and Cameron Smith's tears of joy in victory!


(Big hug from mom)


Cameron Smith, when interviewed, told reporters that the
joy of the win is secondary to the joy of being able to see
his mom and sister face to face for the first time in two years
due to covid restrictions.(he now lives in Florida)

 (smiles and tears from girlfriend, sister and mother)

His mother and sister flew in from Australia a few hours earlier
to share what turned out to be a celebration with the Champion!
Isn't it wonderful to have love's sweet assurance no matter 
what the results of a day's effort brings?
Love shares in both highs and lows of life💓💔

Here's to all our personal 'Sawgrass 17th holes

We are all in a Challenge with very grave stakes...
Imagine if we put the time and passion/effort into training like top athletes do!
And for the victor, oh the joy of that face to face meeting at last!

This life of highs and lows composes opportunity
To help us stop to smell the roses midst adversity
To let our words and meditation honor He who grants
His gift of grace, salvation, to the sinner who repents

This life of hope and heartache is a course of down-and-up
One copes with loss and heartbreak while one hoists the winner’s cup
But all of us are equal in the eyes of He who holds
Soul’s very sacred sequel to Time’s very temp’ral molds

This life of want and wonder thunders with faith’s wait-and-see
Time’s little haunt of hunger harbours immortality
Where the gift of salvation is no temporary prize
But seals our vindication through Lamb’s blood that justifies

This life of Good misunderstood and dreams never come true
Could drive us to despair and would faith’s quest for Best undo
Without love's sweet assurance proclaimed by Jesus, our Lord
All who run with endurance will receive Endless Reward

© Janet Martin

Heb.12:1-3
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, 
let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. 
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. 
For the joy set before him he endured the cross, 
scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, 
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.






Monday, May 24, 2021

Because Of What Yet Waits To Be...(Eternity)


Phil Mickelson makes history as he wins the PGA at 50 years old!


Whenever I witness the joy of the winner
in a competition (esp. one that goes against the odds)
 I can't help but think about
the unsurpassed joy of the victory of the believer
when the race is run/victory won and (against all would-be odds) 
we lay hold of the Prize,
possible through the victory of Christ on the cross
when He uttered 'it is finished',
just before He died and paid sin's debt
then rose again because Death is not the victor for all who put
our faith in Christ!
This Hope changes our perspective and objective 
from the temporal to the eternal!

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 
I press on toward the goal to win the prize 
for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
(Phil. for Philippians, not Phil Mickelson😄)



Because what was will be no more
And what will be we cannot see
Where morning flings ajar Time’s door
We ought to step through rev’rently
To meet this measure of God’s grace
To treat it like a treasured prize
Because this wisp of time and place
Is like a spark that upward flies

Because what was is always set
In fathoms of mercy renewed
We ought to meet morn’s gracious ‘yet’
With conscientious gratitude
Where moments gather to become
The sum of sacred reckoning
Who knows when we will be borne from
Time’s tugging tide of beckoning

Because what was none can retrace
And what yet waits we cannot tell
We ought to tread with steadfast faith
This brink between heaven and hell
Where morning like a gleaming sea
Of beauty over brokenness
Washes shores of eternity
In love’s unbridled faithfulness

© Janet Martin

Where morning like a gleaming sea of beauty over brokenness
washes shores of eternity...



Monday, April 12, 2021

Onus of Reply

 PAD Challenge day 12: 

For today's prompt, write a poem using at least three of the following six words:
convict, great, play, race, season, and voice.
Extra credit for using all six words.
Extra extra credit for writing a sestina.

Sometimes dreams wane...
sometimes they are fulfilled!
Japan celebrates with Hideki Matsuyama 
as he, the winner of the Masters 2021




I am a bit of a born day-dreamer but am beginning to realize
in my mid-fifties, how the play of dreams is no longer center-stage!
Too much reality to focus on!

Attempting a sestina😐
I realized after struggling through writing this 
the extra challenge was using the six key words as the last word in each line! 
oops. See if I get a chance to try again later!


Somewhere along the way the play of dreams begins to wane
The great weight of love’s tears seasons the years with sun and rain
The voice of choice convicts or forgives; we live its Reply
The success of life’s race we run is determined thereby
Where, not how we begin but how we finish is the test
This is the day the Lord has made and He deserves our Best

Life is too precious to give it anything but our best
Reality plays havoc with dreams, thus sometimes they wane
Who knows what life bestows to compose the lows of its test
Some seem to get more sunshine; some seem to live in the rain
Where so much more than meets the eye is presented thereby
The voice of choice always at the mercy of our reply

We ought to give most careful thought to effects of reply
Because much more than meets the eye works out for our best
Where strength of character, not physique, is fashioned thereby
Our voice is heard without a word in life’s multi-choice Test
Where oft we face the race, drenched by life’s elemental rain
And in its storm the play of dreams sometimes begins to wane

But, even as the play of darling dreams begins to wane
The world is waiting to receive the brunt of our reply
Because we are all runners of a sort, life’s sun and rain
Matters of fact that season trust and dust of days thereby
For no one runs the race of life without facing a test
And sometimes those who finish last are they who finish best

This is the day the Lord has made and He deserves our best
Who knows what waits to take the place of darling dreams that wane
What phoenix waits to rise like a prize from ashes of test
What flower waits to wow us after a shower of rain
Where our measure of happiness is oft finessed thereby
Where love’s treasures that we possess depend upon reply

It all comes down to this; the sacred onus of reply
We bear responsibility for both its worst and best
The legacy we leave behind is thus designed thereby
Not by the circumstance but by the reply to the test
Where together we can weather either the sun or rain
And perhaps fill the gaps with joy when dreams begin to wane

So then, because reply is what a life is shaped thereby
Even when dreams begin to wane let’s face both sun and rain
With nothing but our best to conquer the brunt of the test

© Janet Martin




Monday, April 5, 2021

To Become a Champion

PAD Challenge day 4: For today's prompt, write an active poem.

I can still hear my mom and gramma encouraging us 
when we were children and ready to quit,
 'deah veah ohaldt, winned'. 
Translation from Pennsylvania Dutch,..
 'the one who keeps on wins!'

Jordan Spieth is living proof!
The one thing he did not do was quit!
'sometimes I shot balls till my hands bled
and nothing seemed to help' said
Jordan Spieth in an interview 





Anyone who follows golf is surely celebrating and rejoicing
with Jordan Spieth, after yesterday's triumph at the Valero Texas Open
  ended a four year victory-drought; his first win in 83 starts!!

Eagle, birdie, bogie, par
What a lot of ways there are
To test confidence and grit
Suffer long and do not quit

Grimace, grumble, grapple, grin
Take a few knocks on the chin
Weep, pray, rant, rave if you must
Slam your club into the dust

Weather heat and wind and rain
Take a deep breath, try again
Perfect drive or bunker-shot
Sometimes high-five, sometimes…not

Sometimes fairway, sometimes rough
Sometimes ace and sometimes duff
There is no way to win but
To keep on with drive-chip-putt

If you want the winner’s cup
Do not, oh, do not give up
This is the only way, son
To become a champion

© Janet Martin


Monday, February 15, 2021

Remembering What's Important


I've come to the conclusion
that happiness
 seldom fits like a glove
That clutter 
is the tinsel of
Live, 
Laugh, 
Love
💗

Some tinsel-tatters of the weekend...

(Victoria's hand-painted valentines)

 
Melissa's  sketch-table

Furniture rearranged for comfort, not style!


traces of Grand-daughter's visist


Sunday was a wonderful day for a winter walk...





...and sometimes instead of the futility of scolding about pet peeves we just 
let. it. be...😍




Today in Ontario, Canada we are celebrating Family Day!
Cherish.

Jim and many others do not have a holiday today.
Thank-you snowplow-drivers, truck-drivers, healthcare workers etc.!


Here's to remembering what matters and letting go of what doesn't!
Who knows what a day may bring?!

Rememb’ring what’s important 
Hand to hold, a hug 
Thinking more of others 
As we learn to love 

Remembering what matters 
(put that phone away) 
While the young child chatters 
While he wants to play 

Remembering to let go 
Of the bitter grudge 
Lest its malice poisons 
All we taste and touch 

Remembering the merit 
Of love’s chast’ning rod 
Knowing we can bear it 
If we yield to God 

Remembering to cherish 
What we have and hold 
Soon yon echo-chariots 
Refine gray to gold

Rememb'ring to be reckless
With kind word and kiss
Priming time's momentous
Metamorphosis

Remembering the treadle
 Making memories
From the common mettle
Of moments like these
 
Remembering what matters 
Never mind the mess 
With its homespun tatters 
We weave happiness 

© Janet Martin 

A few more mementos



And on the golf-front
Jordan Spieth and Spieth-fans hopes soared
and fell with the ball!
Better, but not Best.


Best goes to Daniel Berger!
What an impressive eagle putt on the 18th for the well-deserved win!


Dear family, church-family, friends, neighbours, and blog-visitors...

I have not stopped giving thanks for you, 
remembering you in my prayers.
Eph.1:16


Friday, April 12, 2019

The Art of April...(Home of the Masters;-)


  PAD Challenge day 12: For today’s prompt, take the phrase “The Art of (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem 


 Every year Ontario-ans have a love-hate affair with April!

Artist that fuels the optimist’s grin
While colors duel twixt winter and spring
Sepia surface primed for floods of green
Suffers the surges of caught in-between
While high and low flings its yearly travail
Seasonal seesaw of zephyr and gale
Eager eyes scanning the soft-swelling bud
Waiting for wonders to fan from the mud
Where April’s artist, brush dripping with flow’rs
Teases the landscape with snow-stippled showers
Vexing and cheering with gold gilt then white
Unleashing tides of chagrin and delight
While hearts and temps, like golf-balls, soar then drop
Annual tug-of-war in Time’s weather-shop
Teaching the patron of petal-plumed flit
The fine art of patience while waiting for it

© Janet Martin

Ir's Master's Weekend! Looks like a good one. Enjoy!