While Opportunity Affords...

whether its a hug,

flowers,

a text,

a thank-you,

a smile,

we'll take it,

right, moms?

(and dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, spouses, etc.)

any day of the week

any time of the year💝

and, while we have the opportunity

in like measure let's give to our moms

(and dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, spouses, etc.)

what we appreciate receiving...

tokens of love

Happy 26th birthday, Matt

(with celebrations better late than never)

Waiting for Uncle Matt to say....

OKAY! Blow!!!

Happy Birthday to you

Little Big Boy is two!

(whenever Little Big Boy's  mommy asked what kind of birthday cake he would like

his reply was quick and to the point, 'Candy!!' 😅😂💖

In the past week we've celebrated a few birthdays 

and a few mothers...

Each celebration's joy over-shadowed with the awareness

of a grief-stricken family in our neighborhood

who recently lost 'mother' without warning

on their way home from a day spent together.

These things should serve as sacred reminders

to love while opportunity affords...

(yes, every 'howling' bit of it, some with laughter, some with tears 😅)

in tot's defense, he just got pulled from playing golf with a set he just received for his birthday

Here's to the beginning of a lifetime of 'looking for the ball!'

While opportunity affords occasion to love as we ought

To test the reasoning that lords over empires of want-prone thought

While we are able to partake of moments shaping What Has Been

While love allots hope and heartache and all its tender points between

While give-and-take are running rife

Let's make the most of love and life 

While celebrating motherhood and everyone that makes Her thus

While learning to love as we should amidst the humanness of 'us' 

While weathering (but by God's grace) the rise and fall of highs and lows

While ever-approaching the place we all will face; life's curtain-close

While have-and-hold unfolds its lease

Let's cherish every masterpiece 

While laughter spills lyrical thrills and we embrace the gift of 'touch' 

While we encounter clash of wills because human nature is such

While years estrange each brief What Is, while leaving so much still to teach  

While we shoulder imperfect bliss before it slips beyond our reach

Let's taste simple pleasures with love

While God refills Time's treasure-trove 

While mercy meets us where we are and grants fresh opportunity 

While we are never very far from fond farewells waiting to be

While growing older with each breath that draws closer dust-and-ash dues 

Let's live today's prelude to death as if love has no time to lose 

Before its sorrowing tears pour

Let's love now, like never before    

Let's evaluate moment-art

then take each gift of love to heart

Janet~

...and last but not least, our master chef!

Yesterday morning the service was opened with one of my favorite Psalms-16...

Preserve[a] me, O God, for in You I put my trust.

2 O my soul, you have said to the Lord,

“You are my Lord,

My goodness is nothing apart from You.”

3 As for the saints who are on the earth,

“They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”

4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;

Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,

Nor take up their names on my lips.

5 O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You [b]maintain my lot.

6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Yes, I have a good inheritance.

7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;

My [c]heart also instructs me in the night seasons.

8 I have set the Lord always before me;

Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will [d]rest in hope.

10 For You will not leave my soul in [e]Sheol,

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to [f]see corruption.

11 You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Because God Is Love

 

Today's poem topic prompt from Robert Lee Brewer @ Writer's Digest

For today's Two-for-Tuesday prompt:

Write a love poem, and/or...

Write an anti-love poem.

Rom.12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, 

but overcome evil with good.

Completely Known, Completely Loved

Love encounters no burned bridges

For, love keeps no count of wrong

It does not harbor old grudges

Love forgives and carries on

Love, not overcome by evil

Overcomes evil with good

God is love’s perfect example

Though often misunderstood

Love is God’s eternal promise

Therefore love can never fail

Because God is love and God is

Everlasting, love prevails

Love; what miracles are made of

Love, incomprehensible

Because God is love, thus, with love

Nothing is impossible

Simple as a cup of water

Given in the Father’s name

Awful as a cross that flaunted

Hate and death; Love overcame

Love leaps, limps, kneels, never falters

Love, always fit for the task

Love’s Author is our Helper

All we need to do is ask

Love inspires mercy's missions

Visions of Heaven reply

Self-serving turns to contrition

Answers humbly, 'here am I' 

Love can never be defeated

No matter how hate may try

Love is always greater, rooted

In a Vine that cannot die   

Love is our perfect power

Love is our perfect peace

God is love, thus He is our

Confidence that cannot cease

Love is more than mere acquiescence

And adherence to cold law

Love, Indescribable Essence/Presence 

Fills us with hope, joy and awe

© Janet Martin

This poem gathered steam with every stanza...it could truly go on FORVER

and it does! Because our one true everlasting God, is love!

I am the vine and you are the branches. 

The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. 

For apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:5

A Sweeping Invitation (to love)

Today's poem topic prompt from Robert Lee Brewer @ Writer's Digest

For today's Two-for-Tuesday prompt:

Write a love poem, and/or...

Write an anti-love poem.

John 13:34
A new commandment I give you: Love one another.

 As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. 

Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.

1 Thessalonians 4:9
Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you,

 because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.

Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.

Love’s sweeping invitation crescendos; soft blush and blue...

...Turns gold as renewed Mercy spills, as morning is unfurled

Love’s sweeping invitation saturates heaven and earth

How we reply is crucial; for love is a sacred call

And no one is exempt from its incalculable worth

‘The greatest of these, love, The Greatest Commandment of all

Fathers, mothers, daughters and sons, neighbors and friends, oh my

Sisters, brothers, grandma, grandpa, grandchildren, husband, wife

So much to love, so little time, to utter our reply

To fellowman, but most of all to He who grants us life

The poetry of love is more than ink-endearments penned

(though The Bard and The Ballad are insep’rable, tis true)

Love is a language we struggle to fully comprehend

Beginning, first with God, who IS Love, then with me and you

Look, everywhere the opportunity to love abounds

How we reply, without a word, expresses evidence

Let’s slow down; listen longer where love’s need and creed resounds

And change the world with love’s unfathomable recompense

Imagine if we all did our little part to love

To lend a helping hand or walk a second mile, to pray

To live the loving kindness this old world needs much more of

And leave unspoken bitter words that love would/should never say

Love’s sweeping invitation crescendos; soft blush and blue

Turns gold as renewed Mercy spills, as morning is unfurled

And God extends love's faithfulness to likes of me and you

To help us love each other as we ought, in this old world

© Janet Martin

So much to love,...

Pups...

Yesterday morning I noticed the tip of a tail...😂💖

Neighbor's dog (also mentioned HERE)  had dropped by in hopes of a treat😆

Who could possibly resist those eyes!!

So much to love...

Mothers & sisters...

So much to love...

Daughters and Granddaughters

(watching yesterday's AWESOME eclipse)

Hard-working hubbies...

The list is endless, truly!

Romans 13:8
Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. 

For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:10
Love does no wrong to its neighbor. 

Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Matthew 19:19
...honor your father and mother, 

and love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Oh My God, Since Thou Art With Me

When I am tempted to despair

God bids me lean on Him in prayer

There He tramples the enemy

As He whispers His peace to Me

The world may sometimes seem like a different place

 than in 'the good, old days'

 but it isn't really. Evil has always been evil 

and God has always been faithful and good!

1 John 4:4

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them:

 because greater is he that is in you,

 than he that is in the world.

Greater is He

Ps.18:2

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 

My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; 

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

The Lord is By My Side

Oh my God, since Thou art with me

Thou who givest life its breath

Thou who walked the way to Calv’ry

Thou who bore love’s cross, to/through death

Thou, whom death could never conquer

Thou, whose Name grants hope its goal

Thou, the Victor of grave’s plunder

Thou, the Saviour of the soul

Thou, who satisfies Want’s hunger

Through Thy everlasting word

Thou, who fits us with faith’s armour

Thou, whose will is undeterred

Thou, who orchestrates each season

Thou who numbers all our days

Thou, whose ways transcend our reason

Thou, whose love never betrays

Thou, who never will forsake us

Thou, whose promises secure

Thou, whose favor longs to make us

More like Thee; holy and pure

Oh, my God since Thou art with me

To commune and commandeer

Thou, whose Light transcends death’s valley

What have I to dread or fear?

Oh, my God, since Thou art with me

Thou who suffered for my sin

Thou whose blood out-poured, redeems me

Thou, whose Spirit dwells within

Thou, my Comforter in sorrow

Thou, my fortress, come what may

Thou who bidst me not to borrow

Morrow’s troubles for today

Thou who cheers me in the struggle

Thou, who guards me from despair

Thou, who is my help in trouble

Thou, who hears my earnest prayer

Thou, whose purpose will not falter

Thou whose power will prevail

Thou, who beholds worship’s altar

Thou, whose Ransom will not fail

Thou, who receives my confession

Thou, Forgiver of sin’s shame

Thou, who keeps no record of them

To crush joy with guilt or blame

Thou whose Goodness overwhelms me

Thou whose mercy overrides

Oh my God, since Thou art with me

What have I to need besides?

Oh my God, since Thou art with me

Thou who holds Time in Thy hands

Thou, Cradle of eternity

Thou whose Supreme Say commands 

Thou, whose Provision is perfect

Thou, whose judgments never err

Thou, who is changeless in edict

Whose love is beyond compare 

Thou, who stepped from Heaven's glory

To be sin's Atonement Lamb

Author of Salvation's Story

I AM who I say I AM

King of Kings and Lord of Lords, yet

Thou, Redemption's Once-For-All

Thou, who broke the curse sin beget/begot  

Thou, who saves us from The Fall

Thou, who did not spare His body

But with selfless sympathy

Put on flesh, became nobody

Suffered in all ways, as we

Thou, who rent the veil to ritual 

Thou who saves us by His grace

Oh my God, since Thou art faithful

Who could ever take Thy place? 

© Janet Martin

He Whispers Sweet Peace to Me

John 17:3
And this is life eternal, 

that they might know thee the only true God, 

and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Psalm 100:5
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting;

 and his truth endureth to all generations.

Psalm 93:2
Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.

Candlelight Contemplation...

 Matt.5:14-16

“You are the light of the world.

 A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 

15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, 

and it gives light to all who are in the house. 

 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works 

and glorify your Father in heaven.

Letting love's light shine is easier said than done, isn't it?!

For just perhaps, when we think we're not faring too badly

along comes a sudden human-nature storm/retaliation

to remind us how mean and feeble we can be without

The True Light to light our little 'candles'

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God, 

the Word was God.

2He was with God in the beginning.

3Through Him all things were made, 

and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 

5The Light shines in the darkness, 

and the darkness has not overcomea it.

Candlelight is such a gentle picture of love;

the way its glow warms and cheers the dark!

To keep a candle burning properly proper care must be given,

(such as trimming wicks etc.)

An example for us to examine our candle 

before we carry into Today!

To keep alive the light of love it must be fueled by the Source

We, on our own are not enough to fit love for its tender task

So, when we sense love’s flicker dwindle in the face of mean discourse

God will be faithful to rekindle love’s kind candle if we ask

Because we are so prone to bicker when we do not quite agree

The ready tongue is sometimes quicker than love’s reigned-in bark or bite

So, when the rumpus of a ruckus tries love’s sweeter sympathy

If we but ask Him, God will help us to steady love’s candlelight

Love is not rude-jealous or greedy, love is gentle-patient-kind

It is not loud, proud or self-seeking, love does not envy or boast

So then, to keep love’s candle burning and to be less self-inclined

Means a consistent, conscious turning to love’s Faithful Uttermost

© Janet Martin

Carry Your Candle

Living Life To The Full or What a Way To Live!!

No matter how successfully

We gain grandiose boast

If we fail on the scale of love

We fail what matters most

Nothing can take the place of it

No matter who/where we are

In every goal that we pursue

Love sets the highest bar

***

If we ask ourselves if we are loving people I am sure we all

would like to think we would say Yes! Of Course I am loving...

1 Cor.13 puts our quick replies to the test, doesn't it?!!

1 Cor.13:3-5

If I give all I possess to the poor 

and exult in the surrender of my body,a

 but have not love, I gain nothing...

Love is patient, 

love is kind. 

It does not envy, 

it does not boast, 

it is not proud. 

It is not rude, 

it is not self-seeking, 

it is not easily angered, 

it keeps no account of wrongs...

Every day is a test...a love-test, isn't it?!!

It's not hard to love the people and things 

nearest and dearest to our hearts💝💖💕

Hockey-lovin' brothers...

...but what about the vast rest of it?!!

This is my personal challenge today,

 and only for today

because what's the use of straining toward yesterday, 

or tomorrow?!

Life always happens, to all of us

Today!

No matter who or where we are

How fast or slow we climb

To all alike, life sets love's bar

At ‘one day at a time’

No matter how we fret and fuss

Or trust in God, or balk

He doles life’s toll to each of us

In measures of tick-tock

No matter what, we cannot haste

Or slow the steadfast surge

That runs us through with touch and taste

Where past and future merge

Whether the gale is soft or gruff

Whether we push or pull

God fills each day with quite enough

To live love to the full

So, no matter what Today's spree

May scatter in its wake

It will be worth it all if we

Make love its highest stake 

© Janet Martin

'What's that word?' asked Granddaughter.

'What does it mean?' after I told her the word.

It means 'to treasure' I told her, like right now,

 I cherish time with you💖

Cherish the easy loves, for sure, but don't ignore the rest!

Maybe a resolution to refresh at this New Year??

sharing this cherished moment from yesterday...

I baked these rolls; 30 min. Dinner Rolls in the afternoon for

sloppy joes for supper.

While prepping supper my oldest grandson 

was SO hungry so I buttered 1/2 a roll for him

and off he hasted downstairs to where his siblings were playing

smacking his lips 😂💖

no surprise, his sister appeared and I gave her the same and off she went1

Chuckling, I grabbed my camera and waited...not very long!

...around the corner came youngest tot, not for a moment

 questioning whether he would get one too

Above All (Else)

Jim (my husband) called while I was struggling 

through the middle of the third stanza of today's poem, 

and in the course of conversation he remarked 

that he's driving through a stretch of the north 

that always feels like forever to get through!!

I told him 'thank-you!! that imagery was exactly what I needed

 to give this poem steam through the middle of it!

(Jim is a great conversationalist and I've written many a verse whilst conversing, 

or, he converses and I interject an occasional 'ugh-huh')😅😂💖

The initial inspiration of this poem was sparked after I came home last night

 after enjoying dinner at my daughter's home and getting a first-hand reminder 

of the end of day endurance tests when children are tired and parents are too!

Hang in there, parents of little children! 

it really is worth every lackluster labor of love!

Hang in there mother/daddy that feels like you walk or rock, 

rather than sleep the night away!

Hang in there, engineer of eighteen wheels. 

And we will soon welcome you to warm home fires, Lord willing! 

Hang in there, dear daughter-son-parent-spouse etc, traveling home after dark 

after spending precious time with a loved one in a long term care facility or hospital! 

Hang in there, husband and wife whose marriage ties seem strained to breaking point! 

God is love! 

Love never fails!

***

I couldn't help but chuckle at the amplified tranquility

of our house after we returned home last night.

That forever-stretch of raising youngsters,

as I look back feels more like a silk scarf

that slip-slipped through my fingers and disappeared!

only Victoria and I left to decorate the tree

while listening to Christmas music...

bittersweet!!

(for her and me)

Above all else, though duty’s dues may seem common and small

And in the grand scheme of pursuits, not very grand at all

Where no corporate ladder hails to scale with eagerness

And no plaque or trophy regales accomplishment’s success

Where no one notes the unsung skills of mundane ministry

Or celebrates the daily drills of domesticity

Above all else, no matter how we view Duty’s reply

It is not what but Who we do it for, not where but why

Then, in our search to satisfy fulfillment’s siren call

We find, to our surprise, a One-size Reason that fits all

For we will find the kind of wealth that always grants Enough

When what we do, above all else, is a labour of love

Love is enough to make remarkable, the commonplace

It transforms life into a miracle of joy and grace

It equips us to weather what loveless motives reject

For, ‘stretches of forever’ are so brief in retrospect

The miles that seem mundane, thankless, a mess of prayers and tears/fears

Soon meld into the counterpane of yester-days-and-years

Love instills wonder, thrills the things of modest recompense

It fills the world with whirring wings we cannot see, but sense

Because angels of mercy travel on the common beat

Clad in workday apparel; their wings look like hands and feet

As love fills with thunderous applause, each care-worn mile they trod

For above all, love is the wondrous evidence of God

Above all, let love carve a sacred crucifix within

Above all, fix faith's sight-scarred gaze, on the image of Him

Upon a cross, a cross that should have been for you and me

He bore love's brutal albatross to show how love should be

So, lest love grows ungrateful when love seems impossible 

Remember, love is faithful and will triumph, above all

© Janet Martin

1 Cor.13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 

5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,

 it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 

7 It always protects, always trusts,

 always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

Freedom's Price is Steep

If only we only took time

to humbly and kindly love

If only we lived as if we believed

That what God/love gives is enough

***

Until we change our ways to God's ways, 

war will not change its ways

***

I have shared these excerpts from Peter Marshall's Sermon

The American Dream, a few times before

But truth is timeless!

The phrase below could just as well be read 'we in Canada' 😥🙏

Freedom’s price is steep where after-effects run deep; their loss, our gain

Freedom is never free, but a hard-fought and blood-wrought cross of pain

Love, the greatest command never fails; but kingdoms rise and fall

When leaders turn away and disobey God who is Lord of all

The Author and Authority of love is long-suff’ring and kind

Without Him we are a pathetic case of blind leading the blind

The wisdom of this world is sensual, demonic and of little worth

True hope and help is found in One alone; Maker of Heav’n and earth

Until we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind

Freedom will fail. Travail of war will scream, blood red, dread’s streams unwind

God’s light shines on great darkness; a darkness that does not comprehend

The love of He who sets us free; whose death purchased life without end

If only we would take to heart the wage of disobedience

And would fear God, and love His Word, not treat Him with indifference

For ‘unto us a child was born, One whose kingdom will never cease

His Name, Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace

Freedom’s price is steep where after-effects run deep; His loss, our gain

Freedom is never free; His cost, a love-wrought, blood-bought cross of pain

Love, the greatest command never fails; great nations rise and fall

And will until all fear and believe in He who is Lord of all

© Janet Martin

Isa. 9:6

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: 

and the government shall be upon his shoulder: 

and his name shall be called Wonderful, 

Counsellor, 

The mighty God, 

The everlasting Father, 

The Prince of Peace.

More timeless truth from Jeremiah 

Who is wise and understanding among you?

 Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.

  14But if you have bitter envy and [h]self-seeking in your hearts, 

do not boast and lie against the truth. 

15This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.

  16For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 

17But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, 

gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, 

without partiality and without hypocrisy. 

18Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace 

by those who make peace. 

James 3:13-18