What a Gift...

 

This is the day which the Lord hath made; 

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

'What beauty to behold amidst brokenness and decay'

When we plant tomatoes and peppers we expect to reap

tomatoes and peppers; 

We plant word-and-deed seeds, often without thought;

What will the reaping of them produce?!

What delight this; a new day (that the Lord has made) to pour

Its moment-sand through hands and feet until it is no more

What privilege to embark where the darkness lifts its veil

And make the most of this, a gift from He who will not fail

What joy to know no matter what, God goes with me and you

He parts the waters of Unknown so that we may pass through

Trustworthy to the finish is the One who grants the gift

Of buds that break and bloom where soon its withered petals drift

Today is like a garden that we plant with words and deeds

God is not mocked; soon we will reap the fruit of scattered seeds

The fount that yields the harvest field instills beneath our skin

A time to sow and watch it grow; a time to gather in

What delight this; but what sacred responsibility

To labour for the Lord and Master of eternity

The dust of time’s entrustment soon returns from whence it came

Where days of grass blaze on a wick soon snuffed of mortal flame

What beauty to behold amidst brokenness and decay

This day the Lord has made is like a wonder-laden tray

Lowered to we who sometimes cannot see the fulness of

The Hand that overflows with grace, goodness, mercy and love

© Janet Martin

Monday Morning Mosaic

 

For farmers May is planting season

For all of us it is a gift of grace and blossom-glory!

Sometimes, when our feet and hearts hurt

we get distracted by the dirt of life and love

but no matter what, we are in the care of the Giver 

...the blossom but the bloom before the fruit;

The fruit, the fortune of harvest!

Nurtured and nourished, tossed and tested

by many a sunbeam and gale!

Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

Eccles.11:4

Laughter leaves us feeling nourished

Longing drains delight

Kind words gladden and encourage

Harsh words crush and bite

Love is patient and forgiving

Others-ward inclined

Not intent on shallow living

With self first in mind

Hope is more than bread for hunger

Hope is for the soul

It is like a steadfast anchor

Where doubt’s billows roll

Failure makes us feel like quitting

Success makes us smile

Though the struggle is faith-gritting

God makes worth earth’s while

Heaven, beyond comprehension

Waits if faith endures

Hell should seize sober attention

Devious are its lures

Life was never a gift granted

To be a joyride

Immortality-implanted

Mortal dust is tried

Worship keeps us meek and thankful

Worry binds and blinds

Pray each day love’s flame will kindle

Heart, soul, strength and mind

Life is laughter, longing, hunger

Gain and loss's pains

Life is never growing younger

As its charter wanes  

God is love; He never leaves us

His Word, firm and true

Is the Light HE IS, to lead us

Till this life is through

© Janet Martin

Harvest Thoughts...

The 'harvest' is in full-swing...

 

as is the ever-sacred, ever-planting season!

How swift the seeds return

With harvest-heavy grant
The laborer is sure to learn
We gather what we plant

The heart is like a field
Where toiling is in vain
Unless we sacrifice its yield
To the Giver again

What good is grain/gain galore
For the poor that we see
If we offer them nothing more
Than verbal sympathy

 

So small, the seeds that fall

But what a vital part

For harvest is a Holy Call

In the field of the heart 

Then pray we keep in mind

The planting-season's sums

Of seeds that will reveal their kind

When harvest season comes

 

© Janet Martin

Swift The Deed That Plants The Seed...

How swift the deed, how long the growing season as the seed takes root
The harvest, though the crop seems slow to show its kind will yield its fruit
The field of Time is filled people planting as we come and go
God is not mocked; and He has promised that we will reap what we sow

The seed, once dropped may seem stopped by the cover-up of dirt and time
But it is folly to believe there is no reckoning for crime
And we ought to be wary of the nucleus within our dreams
For idols will betray, no matter how harmless the worship seems

Take heart, dear little mother as you kiss and correct, scold and hold
The mission-field of home-sweet-home has so much harvesting to mold
Though modest seems the labour in this sacred little plot of earth
The seeds you drop and nurture none can equal in its priceless worth

Beware; dear young-but-not-for-as-long-as-the-season-may-appear
Wild oats are no small matter when the reaping of its crop is here
Where recompense, in spite of regret, grief cannot void or revert
Then ponder well the seeds you scatter; be vigilant and alert

…for swift the deed that plants the seed that sooner or later bears yield
Where we reap what we sow; and we are all part of a worldwide field
Where none can fool or trick the Ruler of temporal toil and strife
He who sows to the flesh reaps death but to the Lord, eternal life

© Janet Martin

 

Gal.6:7-10

 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

  ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, 

but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 

  ⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, 

for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 

 ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, 

especially to those who are of the household of faith.

 

 'Very much of our future life will depend upon our earliest days', said preacher Charles Spurgeon on January 15, 1893, then quoted Mr. Ruskins, not quite verbatim, ' people often say we excuse the thoughtlessness of youth, but he says no, it never ought to be excused. I'd far rather hear of thoughtless old age when a man has done his work, but what excuse can be found for a thoughtless youth? The time for thought is at the beginning of life and there is no period which so much demands or so much necessitates thoughtfulness as our early days...I would that all young men would think so.They say that they must sow their wild oats. No! No, my dear young friend. think before you sow such seed as that what the reaping will be. See if there is not better corn to be found than wild oats and sow that, then think how you will sow it and when you will sow it 

for if you do not think about the sowing, what will the harvest be? '

So It Begins...

 Planting season has begun...

So it begins

The fallow grins

And lures the farmer to commence

Amidst the dust

He puts his trust

Of seed-sized faith in Providence

So it begins

The woodland spins

A diadem of emerald lace

Nature is stirred

With bud and bird

And anthems of amazing grace

So it begins

The barrier thins

Between the dreamer and the dream

As winter yields

To wakened fields

And babble from the meadow-stream

© Janet Martin

and why is this so exciting?!

Because a few days ago this!

 of course, 

an hour later this,

because winter's wild bluster is no match 

for spring's sweet kiss😎

The Sower and the Seed

In Ontario harvest-season is in full swing.
It often makes me think of another plant and harvest scenario and
  reminds me of  one of my farmer-dad's favourite hymns...

 

The commission of word and deed

Which each of us employs

Is like a sower panting seed

In fields of need and noise

How sure the kernels strew the field

Where grace extends its lease

How certain, what seems yet concealed

Will render its increase

How hard the grind of honest toil

And earnest diligence/vigilance

How easy seems the striking spoil

Of pleasing indulgence

But Lord, whatever be our lot

Ere death our breath will bind

Help us to tend time’s tender plot

With Harvest Day in mind

Dear Lord, with conscience keen and pure

Let love for Thee implore

…to plant a crop that will endure

Upon the threshing floor

Where, when we meet Thee face to face

Should there be sheaves of grain

These but by merit of Your grace

Thy mercy didst sustain

 

Then, let us labour undeterred

By those who scorn and laugh

Lest, when sifted through by Thy word

All that remains is chaff

Lord, let our seeds of say-and-do

Be worthy of our days

Where purpose is our love for You

And labour is our praise

© Janet Martin

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, 

gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Matt.3:12

What Seems Seemingly Small...

 ...hopefully in a week from now these seeds will be planted!
(wow! hopefully seems to be the much-used word of this spring😏)

From these seeds we hope to harvest vegetables.

We plant them with intention.

Most of what we plant often without purposed intention,

holds a far more crucial harvest!

Those small choices we make often without much thought at all

Those small bites that we take ( c’mon, mostly just crumbs that fall)

When, given enough time and taste will then reveal the sum

As seemingly small ‘morsels’ make/shape the person we become

That seemingly small drink or two, the seemingly small thought

Makes us feel satisfied with what we do (when we should not)

For left unguarded and unchecked a little thing becomes

Without intentional neglect a lifetime’s solemn sums

We ought to pay close heed to seemingly small moves we make

For what is first a teeny seed holds harvest in its wake

And what begins as ‘little sins’ if unaddressed becomes

The decline of morality in monumental sums

© Janet Martin

 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; 

but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.…

Gal.6:7-8

 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, 

lest at any time we should let them slip.

Heb.2:1

Farmer or Gardener's Planting Prayer

 

I was digging up around the rhubarb just now, enjoying the hum of tractors on the land, all around...some cultivating, some hauling manure and some planting. Working the earth draws us near the heart of God, don't you agree?

 Whether literally or metaphorically, it's planting time!

Lord, help me do my best to tend

The plot you’ve loaned to me

Then trust You for the dividend

Of harvest that will be

Lord, stir in me a humble worth

As spring-birth stirs the sod

For as I till and plant the earth

I touch Your hand, oh God

Lord, let me never then forget

Within life’s rain and sun

That you are faithful to beget

What now has just begun

© Janet Martin

 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Phil. 1:6