Showing posts with label now. Show all posts
Showing posts with label now. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Now's Love Song or Masterpiece in the Making


Wherever we are at in life, what ever part of the song,
may we learn to trust the Maestro
till the Masterpiece is complete...

My music sheet is a bit messy and paint-splattered  these days...

...hoping to get it a bit more organized today
before a belated birthday supper for Matt tonight!


(finishing this post while waiting for the cocoa-mixture to cool before
I can finish mixing the cake)

Matt's fav; Cocoa Chiffon Cake


This poem niggled beneath my ribs
from drifts of music from noisier
days gone by...


It seeps through heart-shaped holes, through walls weathered and whisper thin
A little like a gong that tolls when dusk is closing in
It gathers missing faces from Bygone’s lost places near
A love song of awareness to embrace the now and here

This is the life. Unfolding not upon yon fairer clime
That morrow is withholding; now is all we have of time
To touch and taste, to hug and kiss, to revel in the thrill
Of a love song we dare not miss as its melodies spill

...while penning lyrics to a tune not fully composed yet
A crescendo of crescent moon, a petal pirouette
A rush of sound and color, a rippling arpeggio
A test of will and valor as we hold, but to let go

A smile-tear-prayer glistened yes-no, a courage-christened leap
Now high, now low, now fast, now slow Now's ballads lilt and weep
To seep through heart-shaped holes, through walls weathered and wonder-worn
Where every gifted half-note tolls with love songs being born

© Janet Martin

Eph.5:15-20

See then that ye walk circumspectly, 
not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, 
because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, 
but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; 
but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms 
and hymns 
and spiritual songs, 
singing 
and making melody
 in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things 
unto God and the Father 
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Measure of Here and Now


Rather than vainly mourning what has slipped through Bygone's Gate
Let's make the most of here-and-now before it is too late
Rather than vainly fretting about what the future holds
Let's cherish that which here-and-now so preciously unfolds

Sometimes I am dumbfounded with joy and grief
over what no hand can stay
Comforted that the heart can keep
what moments brush away...

Grand-kiddos growing up SO fast right before our ever-thankful gaze...


Wishing you a wonder-filled here-and-now!
wherever in the world you are๐Ÿ’—๐Ÿ’–

Some morning here-and-now after-effects


I went down the road for some farm-fresh eggs
to make brownies (which I over-baked)๐Ÿ˜–


I'm bringing the snack for our Bible study group tonight so
if we choke on the brownies I guess we can wash it down with grapes??๐Ÿ˜…



Your ‘here-and-now’ and mine differ geographically
But here-and-now is common ground wherever we may be
Where so much more than chance grants circumstance, as you and I
Weather the brunt of consequence according to reply

For here-and-now though ever-present, scatters in its wake
The landscape of a lifetime forged from choices that we make
Where oft, now’s What frustrates its How, beyond complete control
Yet, each response right here-and-now impacts the sacred whole

Therefore, no matter what composes here-and-now’s love-song
Whether of thorns or roses, nothing stays the same for long
Where by the grace of God we go, from rise to set of sun
Where footfalls of love’s yes and no can never be undone

But leads into new here-and-now that trickles through our hold
The warp and woof of wish-and-wow like threads of gray and gold
Soft-slipping through our fingers like treasure; gladness and strife
Entwining Here-and-now into the measure of a life

© Janet Martin

Eccles.12:11-14
The words of the wise are like goads, 
and the words of [e]scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. 
12And further, my son, be admonished by these.
 Of making many books there is no end, 
and much study is wearisome to the flesh.

13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.


Since I had my mixing bowls out I decided to make some energy balls as well!
This recipe below is a super versatile base for whatever seeds, nuts and dried fruit
is added! Cocoa powder can be substituted for carob powder. 
Toasting seeds and nuts before adding, enhances the flavor







Thursday, December 8, 2022

Book of Now or Where No Today is Commonplace (because of God's grace)


Now is a sequence of little love-letters
unfolding and folding in sacred synchronicity!


My granddaughter's grin yesterday as her mommy surprised her
 with an unexpected visit (aka break for momma) to gramma's house

This morning's poem was penned amidst much Now unfolding, such as
a frustrated and discouraged daughter asking for prayers 
for wisdom and patience as she parents, 
especially a three year old daughter whose endless curiosity and energy
 results in the most unpredictable episodes.
Yesterday said grand daughter watched ever-so-closely as gramma put in her contact lenses. 
This morning while her mommy was busy with baby brother 
she decided to try to clean mommy's contacts!! 
Last week after her mommy glazed some meatloaf for supper, and
was helping Big Brother with some reading,
this opened a window of opportunity
to slather leftover glaze on the stove burner!
Other recent episodes, often harmless but patience trying...
let's see how much toilet paper fits in a drain.
let's get out all my summer clothes because the snow melted!!!
let's use mom's real taco -seasoning in my toy kitchen while I'm cooking!
(and this gal moves faster than the Tasmanian devil in the old bugs bunny cartoons๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚)
These episodes are most often followed with a very penitent little girl saying
 "I'm thorry, mommy for'...
and then its hard for mommy to stay cross for very long after๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ’“

Dear mommies and daddies, don't give up.
After prayer-folded hands, a loving and firm hand 
is the best thing you can give your children!
(Dear older moms and dads, 
let's remember to pray faithfully for younger parents!
because, do you remember the unrelenting challenge 
of parenting little children?!!)
Let's pray they may have the wisdom, the patience
 and the courage to do the hard parenting!

Every stage of Now, no matter how old we are 
seems to run rife with life's challenges/lessons!
By God's goodness and mercy aka grace, we go...


Lessons learned through laughter and tears
Tune tides soon turned to yesteryears
How swift sterling sunrises set
The stage unfurling folds of ‘yet’
Where gold and gray-spun Granting sweeps
Each new today to Bygone’s deeps
With Now, the ink that pulses through
What first we think and then we do
Until we ford that final rift
To meet the Lord who gave life’s gift
Where time’s tatters of touching lie
In stilled splatters where ink drops dry

…in a love letter God will read
Prompting us to pay better heed
To what deed writes before we bow
And God recites our Book of Now
…where, pray above all He will see
The acquittal of Calvary
That began, with Now’s earnest try
Eternity’s thank-you reply
Where no today is commonplace
In hope’s hooray, because of grace
As step by step and prayer by prayer
God folds away time’s sacred stair

© Janet Martin


some 'nows' are as sweet as maple cream fudge, (see recipe below)
being sampled here...

others, not!



(Above, Miss Mischief's Baby Brother who seems to take up a LOT of mommy-time๐Ÿ’ž๐Ÿ’—)

Here is an annual Christmas treat favourite from my childhood;
Maple Cream Fudge recipe...



Proverbs 19:20
Listen to counsel and accept discipline,
 that you may be wise the rest of your days.

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Momentous Exodus

 


Before the Door is closed 
To opportunity 
Lord, help us find its uttermost 
Potentiality 

Not with a host of Stuff 
To boast of sweet success 
But with the accolades of love 
Turned into holiness

Before the Door is closed 
To what Time will allow 
Lord, show us how to make the most 
Of its Momentous Now

Amen 

© Janet Martin 

 

 

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Now...Before Eternity



Yesterday's Brush
Today's art!


A compilation of Now does not
drift and heap visibly like flakes of snow...


yet leaves lifetimes in its wake...


Now is the test of time
Now is the day of grace
Now is a rung on scales we climb
A universal race
Now is all that we have
Twixt past and future fixed
Now is the dirt above the grave
The stomping ground betwixt
All that has passed away
All that is yet to be
Now is the mercy of Today
Before eternity

Now is the test of time
Now grace is full and free
Now is a ladder that we climb 
Into eternity

© Janet Martin

2 Cor.6:2 NASB

for He says, "AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,
 AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU." 
Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME," 
behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION "--

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Now-and-Here or Here-and-Now



 This morning's here-and-now was quite messy, sticky and noisy!!!
this afternoon, thanks to naps the here-and-now is quieter and a little tidier!
...and a lot less cute๐Ÿ˜Š




The best we have with which to serve, in present-essence streams
The past is made of seasons cast, morrow, of hopes and dreams
But here-and-now unveils the prow of opportunity
And darling, what becomes of it is up to you and me

Each circumstance is but a chance to drink from mercy’s fount
Each day a gift that God will sift (we all will give account)
Failure, full of excuse would be a noose that stifles cheer
But for God’s grace to help us face the charge of now-and-here

The Loom that grants the bloom that plants the seeds of daily grind
With give and take soon fills the wake of ages left behind
Then how imperative to give the best we have, my dear
For life becomes its total sum with simple Now-and-Here

Whatever spills in thrills or ills wafts on the winds of change
To fill a mold that none can hold and twilight will estrange
The best we have with which to serve we dare not overlook
Lest then somehow we miss the wow here-and-now overtook

Give thanks; the ranks that march to no-repeat beats of tick-tock
Fall prey to Yore behind a door that no one can unlock
Where sphere to sphere the now-and-here like bubbles, bob then burst
And what just was is not because it is in was immersed

Time’s laden trays that we appraise can dish out quite a mess
Wasted somehow if here-and-now never finds happiness
For we are fixed in present, twixt where past and future streams
Here-and-now existent, yet dependent on both, it seems

Dear me and you; all that we do deserves our humble best
Each now-and-here soon disappears to its eternal rest
Then would that we with word and deed the Lord of life applaud
And revere now-and-here for what it is; a gift from God


© Janet Martin

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Of Molded Strings







We sense it…
Long before the rifts
As
Love bends us
With lended gifts
While
Ordinary Disappears
Into a Blur
Of yester-years
Where
oft the kiss
Of This soft-rends
Beginnings through
With subtle ends
So
even while
We sense the tug
We smile and sing
And laugh and hug
For
 what good is
The hands that clings
To ribbons made of
Yester-things
And
what good is
The Cup we hold
If we are pining
For its mold

© Janet Martin