For This Is Life...

 

2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 10

For the 2025 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, 

poets write a poem a day in the month of 

November. Day 10 is to write an advice poem.

Some of us love the snow.

Some do not!

Snow is much like anything else in life;

loved or loathed,

it comes to pass...

Saturday...

Sunday...

Monday...

Life's holy haste 

Of touch and taste

And twist and turn 

Of live and learn

And give and take 

Of sleep and wake

Is bound to test 

The worst and best 

Of us

With smiles and frowns

And ups and downs

With faith and fear's

Laughter and tears

With ebbs and flows

Of yes and noes 

Hellos, goodbyes

Low blows, high fives

And such

While daily dues

Of win and loose

Of rose and thorn

Nightfall and morn,

Of loss and gain,

Pleasure and pain

Of hit and miss

Of kick and kiss

Amass

Do not lose heart

Come sting and smart

Come rush or lull

Or push and pull

Or sun-rain-snow

Hold or let go

Hip-hip-hooray

Or gold or gray

Or wonder why

Or fall or fly...  

 For this is life;

Come joy, come strife

Be kind and true

Because this too

Shall pass

Janet Martin

Eccles.3:1-8

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

2A time [a]to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

3A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

4A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

5A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

6A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

7A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

8A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.

Crucial Consideration

Earth's annual flower-carousel has begun to twirl...

and, our days are like the flowers...

a brief bloom at best!

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,

Considering that you and I

Are here for such a little bit

It behooves all of us to try

To make the very most of it

To do the very best we can

To honor God with word and deed

To truly love our fellowman

And not to want more than we need

©Janet Martin

Ps.103:15-18

As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16For the wind passes over it, and it is [b]gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
17But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
18To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

Take a (Humbler) Moment...

Yesterday we celebrated our sweet Victoria's 24th Birthday

Every celebration (esp. since Sept. 17) is raw with humbler awareness 

of life's uncertainty/vulnerability...

My sister Lucy's husband and daughter were a special part

of the celebration; unspoken sorrow tuning our laughter

with kinder joy...

It is with unspeakable tenderness that we treasure the halo of faces

around a dinner table! 

 

(I'm not sure why the beginning and end of 

the song is cut off) oh, well...

***

Ah, take a moment, drink it in; the clime of Time is hasting

Its dawn-to-dusk designed to win the present we are tasting

Where nothing stays the same for long; each season, farewell-smitten

While deathless lyrics to Our Song of Life are being written

Sometimes, while in the bloom of love eyes close, never to waken

The loom that weaves The Mortal Glove, by God given and taken

Then, take a moment more to treasure the halo of faces

Around the table; prize love’s pleasure nothing else replaces

Behold the bud of virgin morn, like a flower unfolding

Where soon the bloom of it is borne to Bygone’s holy holding

Each bud a little like a door that God opens and closes

So, take a humbler moment more to thank Him for life’s roses

For no one knows the day nor hour He will bend without pardon

To pluck another precious flow’r from this world’s wanting garden

Then, drink with mindful regard from a fount filled by life’s Giver

With Ink of Moments that become Our Song of Life forever

Janet Martin

Acts 1:7

Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons

that the Father has fixed by His own authority

( our community is in deep mourning once again;

last week a young husband and father of five,

lost his life in a tragic accident).

Behold the bud of virgin morn, like a flower unfolding

Where soon the bloom of it is borne to Bygone’s holy holding

Each bud a little like a door that God opens and closes

So, take a humbler moment more to thank Him for life’s roses...

A Life Well Lived or Because of Him

Jim, when he called this morning,

because I attended a funeral yesterday,

wondered if I am writing about death and sorrow...again🙏

'Actually, the total opposite' I replied,

'I'm writing about life and living'

 (hopefully joyfully in spite of sorrow)

Yesterday, at a another funeral service at our church 

for another beloved, ripe-old-aged, faithful saint laid to rest

the relevance of the phrase 'life well-lived' impacted me.

No fancy or exceptional faculty or status required

to earn this accolade.

What first may seem quite commonplace;

Morn's light-replenished sky 

Is fresh evidence of God's grace

Waiting for our reply... 

A life well-lived; a culmination of moments well spent

Of recognition that its gift begets its testament

Aware that by God’s grace who and wherever we may be

He grants to all this universal opportunity

To triumph in what matters most, not for fortune or fame

But, with one sole objective; to bring glory to God’s name

To know it is enough, no matter how common the task

To render service for the King; He helps us if we ask

Transforming what, in the grand scheme of things may seem so small

And commonplace, because of love, into life’s Best of All

A life well-lived does not depend on rare ability

Superior intelligence or physicality

A life well-lived is something we are all able to do

And its account we give to God is up to me and you

With no one else to blame, because in every circumstance

He does not leave us helpless or without His providence

He never turns a blind eye or deaf ear to prayer or need

His Word is truth; We ought to give his word more earnest heed

And recognize Today is of great price, an altar where

We prove through fruit of sacrifice, who we love and revere  

A life well lived; what better witness can we leave behind

Than the track-record of love, generous, patient and kind

With God, then others first in mind, and not begrudgingly

But with a heart that overflows with joy of ‘Christ in me’

His light no dark hour can dim, His grace our want supplies

And as we cast our cares on Him His faithfulness replies

To keep us in His perfect peace though sorrow-storms assail

To know that He is able, His promises never fail

To help us, for His glory to accomplish day by day

A life well-lived, because of Him, when Soul’s shroud slips away

© Janet Martin

Colossians 3:17

And whatever you do, in word or deed, 

do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

 giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, 

that they may see your good deeds 

and glorify your Father in heaven.

1 Peter 4:11
If anyone speaks, 

he should speak as one conveying the words of God.

 If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides,

 so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, 

to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. 

Amen.

I've had much occasion recently to ponder this song...

We Are Going down the Valley

This is the Life

'This is the life!' I sometimes find myself repeating,

as the raw brunt of it rushes away another day midst work and play

..as I sense the precious shimmer of summer skimming

 the surface of sod and skin, while sweeping souls

in Rites of Passage back to the Giver of life.

Sometimes my breath is stolen anew

by the re-realization of the brevity of Innocence

as I watch my grandchildren growing up far faster, even

than our children did 😅💞

resulting in renewed earnest endeavor, by the grace of God,

not to take a moment for granted,

not to take holiness for granted but pursue it with

unthwartable purpose!

Heb.12:14-17 & 25

Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness,

without which no one will see the Lord.

15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God,

and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.

16See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau,

who for a single meal sold his birthright.

17For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing,

he was rejected.

He could find no ground for repentance,

though he sought the blessing with tears.

25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks...

This is the life!! May we, by God's grace

make the sacred most of Today!

Cookies are ready, calls Grandma

...and they all come running!! 😂😂💗

This is the life; the good and bad, the happy-sad of hold-let-go

This the life; the grim and glad, the weathering of yes and no

Hello-goodbye, we laugh, we cry, while growing older by the hour

While learning, teaching, crawling, reaching, planting, reaping, sunshine-show’r

This the life, the joy and strife, of traveling a winding path

Of depth, of height, of gloom, delight, of day and night’s long aftermath

Of touch and taste soon laid to waste, of slowing haste to hear the sound

Of Footsteps in the garden where the place we stand is holy ground

…where commonplace is full of grace and nothing stays the same for long

Where happiness is saying ‘yes’ to righteousness and ‘no’ to wrong

Where gray and gold and heat and cold and work and rest skim sea and sod

Weathering frames where death soon claims this little life that leads to God

…this is the life God grants, a gift of song and dance, of loss and pain/gain

Where seasons swirl, where little girl and boy cannot a tot remain

This is the life; morning, noon, night, how swift God’s gifted seasons glim

Where every life is running rife with Rites of Passage back to Him

© Janet Martin

IT Is What IT Is...

We enjoyed celebrating Jim's 60th birthday yesterday...

Sometimes we say ‘IT is what IT is’

With morose resignation

As if IT held no promises

Worthy of celebration

As if IT didn’t burst from buds

In petal-wild profusion

Or drench June worlds in purple floods

Of wild phlox absolution

As if IT did not overflow

With mercies, new each morning

Or leave a Light in the window

For a loved one returning

Or bake a birthday cake or pie

Or scatter summer showers

Like silver laughter from the sky

To quench the thirst of flowers

Or weave, where winsome echoes waft

Fair scenes, love fondly misses

Or, for each hard knock, a sweet, soft

Memento warm with kisses

Or, strew in the blue wake of years

Grace, green with spring’s caressing

As if IT did not dry our tears

And cheer us with fresh blessing

As if IT didn’t steal our breath

With thankful exclamation

Because God made a way so death

Is no vague destination

As if IT offered nothing more

Than doleful growing-older

No picnics, gardens or seashore

No  friend-to-lean-on shoulder

As if ‘ IT is what IT is’ was

A sorry state of guesses

Rather than love’s thundering applause

For all IT’s happiness-es

Rather than Time's unsullied page

When a new day is breaking

As if IT did not set the stage

For memories-in-the-making 

© Janet Martin

Our grandchildren were SO excited to give him their

silly cards so we could all laugh 😂💝

 A fantastic cover of Alan Jackson's song

The Older I Get 💓

 

Ps.71:8-9

My mouth is filled with Your praise

and with Your splendor all day long.

9Do not discard me in my old age;

do not forsake me when my strength fails.

On Living Life to the Max

Today's poem-a-day prompt from Robert Lee Brewer @ Writer's Digest;

For today's prompt, write a maximum poem...

We never know what a day will bring

so let's live each one to the max!

 These past few evenings have been spent

 in the barn next door...

It reminded me of a song from my youth..

esp. this line

'it's nice to think about it, maybe even visit,

but I wonder, could I live there anymore'.

because

Farming is very serious business these days,

and not for the faint of heart.

Charley Pride -- Wonder Could I Live There Anymore

let's live life to

its precious max,

work hard, love kindly,

run, relax

push, pull, pray, play

smile, sing, give thanks

make the most of

spring-green creek banks 

pick buttercups

plant seeds, sip tea

engage in

real-time poetry 

aware of the

far-reaching way

of deeds we do 

and words we say

where finding joy

is no secret 

the more we give

the more we get

where happiness

holds out its key

...to make the most

of you and me

so, let's live life

to its lent max

the same up front

as behind backs

© Janet Martin

Col.3:23

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

Don't Judge a Book By The Cover

 Everywhere we turn we see a library of humanity!

Behind the whole of human race

The smiling or the somber face

The eyes we meet in passing, oh

Behind each silence or hello

A story of a life unfolds

…behind facades our gaze beholds

Ink-drops of love, of loss and gain

Of want and need, pleasure and pain

Of holding on and letting go

Shimmers of a life story, so

…because we do not know in full

The details of love’s push and pull

The landscape of life’s ups and downs

That turns the face to smiles or frowns

Because we cannot see the part

…that cradles dreams, or breaks the heart

That fuels gladness or despair

The pressing paragraphs of care/prayer

Should we not be much kinder then

To a world full of fellowmen?

…and season each response with grace

For what we see upon the face

Does not reveal the no or yes

That authors ruin or success

Where we all share the common ground

…of hope, of Something lost or found

Of longings that have not been met

Held in the brooding bay of ‘yet’

In stories of ink not yet dry

In so much more than meets the eye

Tall, short, rich, poor, plump or petite

Each bears a book that does not meet

The eye; where fingers cannot trace 

The lines that bridle human race

Into a kind of library

...penned by the likes of you and me

With no two stories quite the same

However great or small its fame

Where behind every face we meet 

Unfolds a story, bittersweet 

© Janet Martin

2 Cor.5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, 

so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done 

while in the body, whether good or bad.

Rev.20:11-13

Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it.

Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.

12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.

And there were open books,

and one of them was the Book of Life.

And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.

13The sea gave up its dead,

and Death and Hades gave up their dead,

and each one was judged according to his deeds.

Like a Dead Man Walking...

2 Chron.6:18

Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You.

When one lives, indifferent to and unaffected by such a God

as described in the verse above,

such an one is surely like a dead man walking💔😥

wild flowers...just one example of how

our Creator delights to delight us!

May we never live unaffected by our awesome God!

Unrepentant of rebellion, undelighted by God’s word

Unexcited about spending eternity with the Lord

Unattached to wonder’s wellspring surging from the hand of He

Who created earth and heavens with His sovereign ‘let there be’

Unmoved by mercy’s renewal, unawed by redemption’s flood

Unbowed by confounded humble awareness of Holy God

Unchanged by His grace and goodness, untouched by unfailing love

Unpersuaded by the power that can earth and heaven move

Unstirred by the pretty flower, by the songbird’s sanguine trills

By the beauty of a bower lavished with leaf-layered frills

Undevoted to His kindness, undefended by His Shield

Unaffected by thought-blindness unoffended by sin’s yield

Unguarded by angel-armies, untransformed by hope’s pure joy

Inattentive to heart-gardens of innocent girl and boy

Indifferent to the Shepherd, who, without counting the cost

Leaves the fold to search until He gathers the sheep that was lost

Unfamiliar with the Father and faith’s fellowship of prayer

Unappeased by Living Water’s promises beyond compare

Unimpressed by the true riches stored beyond time’s subtle haste

Preferring one that bewitches Want with instant touch and taste

Unaroused by utter worship to the Author of all things

Unamazed and uninspired by blessing each season brings

Unable to see the table that is groaning with a feast

Granted by He who is faithful from the greatest to the least

Unthankful, proud and unholy, unresponsive to the toll

That will strip Self of its boasting, leaving nothing but the Soul

Giving no glory and honor to God for the gift He gave

Living like a dead man walking but to wake up in hell’s grave

© Janet Martin

The Holy Whole (of Soul's eternity)

Gorgeous sunny, spring daybreak!

I'm sure everyone in our neck of the woods wants to make the most 

of FINALLY, a fabulous stretch of sunshine warming winter-weary bones! 

Lawn-raking never felt so fine, like spring-cleaning the outdoors!

The wise in this world endeavor to make the most 

of every day, no matter the weather! 

Because, no matter who or where we are, death is life's gravest matter 

and none of us knows how near its Door draws with each breath we take...

***

We live but once; the wise weigh well the measure of its lease

For there are none who can foretell how soon a life will cease

But only God, who grants each breath beholds the holy Whole

Of numbered days before the death that bares the deathless soul

Not one of us can know who next will hear His summons fall

To draw us from time’s brief context to meet the Lord of all

Death is life’s gravest matter borne on seasons as they roll

Its dust and ash we scatter, the torn garment of the soul

The holy Whole of moment-sums slip subtly, yet rife

Through the undoing that becomes the measure of a life

The wise, aware of today’s momentous fragility

Weigh well the flickering blaze of accountability

Oho, how soon the afternoon dons twilight's dusky hues  

How swift life's gleaming gift spawns the shadow of deathly dues

How surely no one knows That Rending Toll's proximity 

That will  unveil The Holy Whole of Soul's eternity 

© Janet Martin

Luke 12:35-40

Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 

36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, 

so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.

 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. 

Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, 

will have them recline at the table 

and will come and wait on them. 

38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready,

 even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak.

 39 But understand this:

 If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming,

 he would not have let his house be broken into. 

40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come 

at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Oho, how soon the afternoon dons twilight's dusky hues...  

A Royal Opportunity

 

(photo in the public domain)

A few comments from King Charles III's proclamation speeches;

‘I shall strive to follow the inspiring example that has been set…’

‘Even as we grieve, we give thanks for her life well lived’

We have a royal opportunity to have something in common with Queen Elizabeth;

Through faith in Jesus Christ, to set an inspiring example

 and to leave behind a life well lived

to honour the King of kings and Lord of lords

by following the example He set!

 The family of believers in Jesus,

 is the greatest royal family of all!

Everyone is welcome🙏

John 3:16-17 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 

but to save the world through him.

***

Far more than merely moments spring from time’s volatile fount

Where life runs rife with choices for which we will give account

As step by step and day by day we all advance toward

Last Breath, when this world slips away and we will meet the Lord

What earnest heed we ought to give to what we do and say

Between the past and future, we live always in Today

Where no one knows how near or far its final grant will be

Or when the person that we are becomes A Memory

The common ground of opportunity is made of dirt

A momentous velocity of happiness and hurt

Where we all share the common need, however rich or poor

Of faith in Jesus Christ; He alone keeps the soul secure

This is the day the Lord has made; oh, will it be our last?

Not all will see its shadow laid to rest in ages past

Lord, help us live as if today could be the steppingstone

To that which never fades away, when life on earth is done

© Janet Martin

Col.1:9-13

For this reason, since the day we heard about you,

 we have not stopped praying for you 

and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will 

in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 

10so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord

 and may please Him in every way: 

bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

  11being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might 

so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, 

who has qualified youc to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

13He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness 

and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, 

14in whom we have redemption,

d the forgiveness of sins.

What a Day That Will Be...

Life; a Rollercoaster Poster

Happy Labour Day!

(Here's hoping mine will soon taste like tomato soup, salsa etc.! )

For this Labour Day I chose these two passages below to remind us to

serve with gladness while letting patience have its perfect work!

SO much easier said than done!!

Psalm 100:2

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, [a]all you lands!

2Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

3Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and [b]not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

5For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.

James1:4

... let patience have its perfect work,

that you may be [b]perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Oh! The labor pains of patience

before we are perfectly complete and lacking nothing🙏😥💔🙏

Jim's patience is being tested right out of the gates this week!

His high hopes for Happy Labour Day 

 have already taken a plunge; truck troubles

changing 'early start' to 'turn back' !! 😓

If life had to be portrayed with one image 

it would have to be a roller-coaster, right?!

(an image used in yesterday morning's message at WBC)

We can go from being on top of the world to a spiraling plunge in an instant!

and SO many unexpected twists, turns and tunnels!

Aren't you thankful God is steadfast, changeless and faithful no matter what?!

Rollercoaster...

The ups and downs and smiles and frowns of love and life persist

The ebb and flow of boon and blow and high and low repeat

The perfect work of patience lurks at every turn and twist

To teach us how to reach and bow and ‘wash each other’s feet’

Where faith and fear, laughter and tears, dismay and cheers conflict

Where serving God with humble laud makes every task esteemed

Where thick and thin of loss and win and groan and grin’s edict

In due time earns wisdom’s returns in ways we never dreamed

The fruit of toil and root of spoil in close proximity

Tests vim and verve and who we serve; The Apple of our eye

With age-old art reveals the heart with startling clarity

No trick or fence thwarts consequence; no truth can ever lie

Hope and defeat clash and compete; bittersweet battleground

Love’s push and pull not beautiful when felled in broken dreams

Where faith refined appears unkind, where bold doubters abound

Where ‘to serve God with gladness’ is madness to most, it seems

Where ups and downs and smiles and frowns of love and life repeat

Where ebb and flow of boon and blow and highs and lows persist

To teach us how to reach and bow and ‘wash each other’s feet’

The perfect work of patience holds refined gold in its fist

Do not despair; the work of prayer is oft invisible

While we who see in part and He who sees the heart entreat  

Until the awesome consummation of Love's Miracle 

So brutally refined, bows heart, soul and mind at God's feet 

© Janet Martin

What God Hath Promised...