A Very Present Sorrow...

The verse below was the first verse to minister to me 

in the wake of the news of my sister's passing last week

(that-feels-like-so-much-longer!)

God is our refuge and strength, 

a very present help in trouble.

Ps.46:1 KJV

As I watched the sun rise this morning 

a rush of conflicting emotions filled me...

A Very Present Sorrow tunes my senses to time's tug

Each moment widening the gap between what once we knew

While narrowing the distance till Yon Greeting's Hello-hug

Where there will be no parting, where no tears will run us through

A Very Present Sorrow draws attention to time's tide

Reverence and resistance clash like wrestler's in a ring

Futile to fight the Thing that harbours healing in its stride

Better to bear love's burden without bitter querying 

A Very Present Sorrow rouses respect for time's toll

We, like a brood of beggars would face Fate's future, so grim

Without the hope that transcends Time; salvation for the Soul 

From God, who richly comforts, as we cast our cares on Him 

A Very Present Sorrow needs a Very Present Help

God is our strength, He helps us carry sorrow's sacred cross 

As He bears us on angel's wings unto His Very Self

He heals the broken heart and binds the wounds of grief and loss 

© Janet Martin

Ps.147:3 

He heals the brokenhearted

and binds up their wounds.

Lam.3:32-33

Though he brings grief,

 he will show compassion,
    so great is his unfailing love.
 For he does not willingly bring affliction
    or grief to anyone.

(Read the whole glorious chapter HERE)

You're Still God

Numerous people have sent me the above song to comfort me, (thank-you)

and my sister read part of the lyrics

at Lucy's funeral in her tribute...

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.

Blessed Assurance

The Farewell We Are In...

Whenever I see the peonies begin to wilt and wither

I'm filled with a sense of loss...

Loss tends to make us bend a little closer to the bloom

To revel in the fragrant folds falling from summer’s loom

How subtle whirs the shuttle taming tendrils of the vine

Into a paisley fretwork of echo-woven design

Loss tends to make us kinder where we had been blind before

To how swift petals fade and fall to bloom for-nevermore

Whether the loss we suffer is a friend or season-flit

We find our hearts grow softer in the aftermath of it

Loss tends to make us more aware and thankful for Today

That ever- fleeting chariot that draws the years away

Filled with a holy hunger we can never quite appease

While petals fall from flowers like hours to memories

Loss tends to make us mindful of a deeper sense of Now

Its sorrow seems to kindle sweeter happiness somehow

As we learn to live slower and take time to take time in

Because Loss tends to tune us to the Farewell we are in

© Janet Martin

But as I mourn the end of another peony season I turn to

see that once again, the lily-lanterns are lit...

Loss tends to make us bend a little closer to the bloom...

The grass withers, the flower fades, 

But the word of our God stands forever.”

Isa.40:8

Yet Hope Lives

 

(my brother's grandson)

In Memory of Cody Troy

August 27, 2019-March 28,2021

Yet Hope Lives

When God reaches down from Heaven

For a child, so sweet and fair

Hearts with sorrow’s pangs are riven

We are tempted to despair

When death claims a life so tender

Grief is raw and tender too

Yet Hope lives as we remember

Where this little angel flew

Safe within the arms of Jesus

Is the little child He lent

For a little while to please us

And make homes and hearts content

Gifting gladness with their laughter

Weaving through grief’s agonies

Fond echoes that linger after

Touch has turned to memories

God ordains our days of passage

Before one has come to be

Some He spares from life’s cruel heartaches

Some must suffer patiently

So, by grace that we are given

We will hope and not despair

When God reaches down from Heaven

For a child so sweet and fair

© Janet Martin

The Gain of Loss

 

The pain of loss grants gain because we start to realize

That all we have God’s goodness gave; the prelude to The Prize

When we shall see His majesty then we will understand

How loss was but love’s albatross before the Promised Land

When deathless soul flies to its goal like a bird from a cage

Then we will see faith’s Mystery unfold on Heaven’s stage

The pain of loss that shaped the cross that we are called to bear

Will melt like snow when warm winds blow as we shed ev’ry care

The pain of loss carries an awesome opportunity

To lean on He who calms the sea and keens humility

for mortal mold of have and hold is but the brief prelude

That shapes and hones the steppingstones to endless gratitude

The pain of loss may vex and toss the heart with want and woe

Until we cling, through suffering to He who loves us so

And thus begin to hate the sin of selfishness and pride

And look with awe at He who saw our need and did provide

© Janet Martin

 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  
 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth 
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish,
 in order that I may gain Christ  and be found in him,
 not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, 
but that which comes through faith in Christ, 
the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 
^Eph.3:7-9

When What We Have Is Taken...

 Whatever the scale of the losses we suffer

 may it be the means to opening our eyes/faith to what/Who remains!

When what we had is taken it may make us feel bereft

Or cause us to awaken to how much we still have left

Matters of fact seem harsh sometimes in worlds subject to change

We grapple with what dawn unwinds and twilight will estrange

When what we had is taken we begin to realize

That until faith is shaken who can tell its honest size

Shall we accept only the good from Whom all blessings flow

If so, I am afraid we would forget how much we owe

…to He who gave His best to save us from eternal Worst

And sent His Son to brave the cross to rescue souls, death-cursed

Ah, faith is not for feeble-minded fortune-hunting clods

It tests we, prone to flawed, sight-blinded love of lesser gods

Each good and perfect gift is from above, its mercies spill

From He who does not shift or change, like shadows on the hill

Where we, never forsaken sometimes let our love grow dim

Till what we have is taken to awaken us to Him

© Janet Martin

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial;

 for once he has been approved, 

he will receive the crown of life which 

the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

James 1:12 

 Every good and perfect gift is from above, 

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, 

who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17 

Tick-tock's Undertow

It's quiet save the sound of the clock's tick-tock!

 Sometimes we wish for more 'bloom' as it fades

until we mourn the loss of one who never got the chance to fully fade or even begin to fade!

 Tonight the ache of mourning is raw as we enfold a widow in our congregation

in tears and prayer...

We miss you, Ron

Growing old does not stop

Until God wills it so

The momentum of tick and tock

A profound undertow

Where choice and circumstance

Adeptly intertwines

As we grapple with what God grants

While youth its bloom resigns

To make each moment count

Is more than a cliché

They are the sparkles from a fount

That never hits replay

Therefore we ought to prize

The gift of growing old

And kindly, humbly recognize

Time slipping through our hold

The ache for those we love

Who have gone on before

Keens a scared awareness of

What was and is no more

Where, as the seasons pass

We come to realize

How swift the sand runs through the glass

That drains the fountain dry

Dear Lord, bless those who mourn

For friend or family

Lord, heal the heart broken and torn

By sorrow’s agony

Awake in us hope’s boast

As by your grace we go

And teach us how to make the most

Of tick-tock’s undertow

© Janet Martin

 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 

for He who promised is faithful.

Heb.10:23