Because Beauty Really Is In The Eye Of The Beholder...

 What do you see?

For all this spring has not been, it has been a bird-lover's paradise!

We are enjoying a rainbow of feathered flurry!
Here are a few shots from the past 24 hours...

Above; male Baltimore oriole...below; female

 Above; killdeer sitting on a nest in our garden;
lucky for her there has been no tilling or planting activity so far to disturb her!
Below; Rose-breasted Grosbeak

 above; ruby-breasted nuthatch...below gold finches

 above; bluejay...I really wish I could have gotten a shot of the flock of approx. 8!!!
below; mourning dove all in a huff because of the newcomer(the grosbeak:)

 and this small bird below is an immature female oriole! 

(who new, birds have immature females too. 😅 )

My pics are not perfect due to shooting through a screen and tot-smudges on the window and a camera that has trouble focusing but you get a bit of an idea what fun we are having!

There are many varieties of sparrows visiting as well!

below a blurry shot of a chipping sparrow (or a song-sparrow?)

We all came and looked and saw

Criticism found the flaw

Love found hope and beauty’s bloom

Misery saw trouble loom

Thankfulness sang joyfully

Self-pity cried ‘woe is me’

Fear saw the approaching night

Faith was awe-struck by the light

Greed saw little to amaze

Worshipers were filled with praise

© Janet Martin

Point of View (have-to or get-to)

I was immediately challenged while writing this...

Someone called and woke up Sleeping Baby and I had to...oops, got to, change my 'plans' 

(This is written with the remembrance that some things we simply 'have-to'!

But even in the dark parts we 'get-to' choose whether we trust the Light, right?)

Wherever we are going 

Whatever we must do

We choose its joy or burden

By a 'Have to' or 'get to' view

Perception picks the colors

Of gray or blue and gold

Where faith or fear will offer

A 'have-to' or 'get-to' mold

How simple seems the format

Where choice will soon become

The happiness or heartache

Of have-to or get to's sum

Janet Martin

inspired by this morning's devotional reading

 

A Bitty-Ditty on 'Do Not Quitty'

(Above excerpt from Uncle Tom's Cabin)

Oh, take your place and fill its space

With all you have to give

Because to all alike, one life

Is all we have to live

So do not shirk its common work

Or want and wish in vain

Because to all the same, each frame

Will never pass again

…then do not quit; the sum of it

Much more than we can see

For how we choose to use each day

Becomes our legacy

© Janet Martin

Eyes on the Prize (part 1)

 

... edification exchanged for entertainment carries a sobering price-tag!

 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

Phil.3:14 

Oh, what a prize on which to fix our eyes

While lesser gods appeal with pleasure’s trance

And wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing cover lies

With what seems satisfying at first glance 

Oh, what a prize for us to press toward

Where Heaven waits beyond this finish line

The High Calling of Jesus Christ our Lord  

Will make each earthy sacrifice divine

Oh, what a Prize when all is said and done

If we have fought the fight, finished the race

And kept the faith, then triumph has begun

Henceforth, a crown of righteousness awaits

Oh, what a prize prayer warriors march toward

To hear ‘well done’ from Jesus Christ, the Lord

Janet Martin

While We Work...

Sometimes task upon task can cast a ho-hum shadow over would-be hallelujah-hymns, 

...but only until we turn our work into worshipping the Author of salvation!

Slice-dice-chop

slip in a splash we slopped

wipe the sweat from 'not-done-yet'

and give, nay live praise to God

Hope, for all its hurt and hunger

Finds fresh footholds, wings to fly

We who believe will be stronger

Than they who doubt and deny

Praise the Author of creation

Far above our mortal ways

He bestows love’s celebration

To life’s commonest of days

Mercy flings its floodgates open

Everybody qualifies

Dares us to desire more than

That which we see with our eyes

Hallelujah fills our ho-hum

Stills despair’s demons that lurk

Puts purpose into this sojourn

If we worship while we work

© Janet Martin

 ...but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. 

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, 

they will walk and not be faint.

Isa.40:31