Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Crucial Consideration

Earth's annual flower-carousel has begun to twirl...
and, our days are like the flowers...
a brief bloom at best!

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.

Monday, March 10, 2025

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

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...




Friday, November 22, 2024

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


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...




Wednesday, July 3, 2024

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!

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



Sunday, June 2, 2024

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.

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

On Living Life to the Max

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.




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,



Thursday, December 28, 2023

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.

Monday, June 5, 2023

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


Wednesday, April 12, 2023

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...  



Monday, September 12, 2022

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

 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.







Monday, September 5, 2022

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?!




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







Thursday, July 28, 2022

Mist-kissed Flower

This poem is a bit of bittersweet longing
 for the days/ 'mist' of July; 
a month that always seems to vanish too fast!

James 4:14
What is your life? 
You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.


Psalm 103:15-16

As for man, his days are like grass—
he blooms like a flower of the field;
16when the wind passes over, it vanishes,
and its place remembers it no more.



Sweet day, you wend your way through thought and touch to disappear
The sparkle of your subtle shuttle weaving yester-year

Like ripples on a lake of laughter; longing-hold-let go
Where echelons of ever-after ever ebb and flow

It makes life feel a little like a dreamland made of mist
A little like a spectacle of echoes/roses to untwist

Dawn spills and fills dusk’s purple tray with latest live-and-learn
Where always, sweet today, you wend your way to No Return

…only to reappear, my dear, as new as new can be
To weave fresh wisps of smile-and-tear/dust veneer into a memory

Bruised bliss, This; being brave enough to kiss your hands and feet
And dance with you, sweet day; for love is always bittersweet

…sometimes I get the sense of you soft-slipping from my touch
And sometimes then, I wish I didn’t love you quite so much

Sweet day, you spill your hour to a bower of Back When
Like petals from a flower that will never bloom again

© Janet Martin


I'm off to spend a sweet day among hollyhocks, green beans, tomatoes aka Garden😊