Summary of Todays

Deut.31:18

And the LORD,

He is the One who goes before you.

He will be with you,

He will not leave you nor forsake you;

do not fear nor be dismayed.”

***

How could we bear life's constant care

Without faith's comfort true

Because God keeps His promises

And cares for me and you

***

Not in what lies Behind

or Before us,

but Between these two;

Today, always and only,

as long as we live!

***

Futile to weep at yester's grave

Or borrow morrow's strife

Today is always all we have

To make the most of life

Today?

Food prep... among others tasks!

(so I'm not food prepping when I could be gardening)

Today's temp; a brisk 7C, feels like 4!

Perfect cook and bake weather while sipping tea!

Today's brew a first for me; lovage tea!

As with all fresh herbs...consume regularly/happily

but not in CRAZY amounts! 

I enjoyed it with a bread stick and a piece of cheese for a five-star lunch!

Food prep comforteth my garden soul!

Gardeners are needing to be patient while spring

takes its time to warm up!

So, in the meantime we will warm up with

last year's garden-fare...

...spruced up with fresh chives, oregano and lovage! 

And, believe or not, I have gathered this year's first harvest; lovage!

(while its still tender and not yet quite as potent/bitter as more mature leaves)

Soon it will grow VERY tall, with whimsical yellow flowers!

I'm happy to share if you would like to sample some! 

Drop by!

All the best to whatever is filling your today!

Behind, the joys and griefs we've borne

Past's world to which none can return

A track-record of highs and lows

No prayer or rue can interpose

To resurrect the rose it lent

 Of laughter's bloom, of gloom's lament

Of growing older day by day

Learning to shoulder gold and gray

Where none is spared the sacred thrall

Where seeds of spring bear fruits of fall 

Before, the gaping, great Unknown

A void through which no dove has flown

To return with a sprig of green

To grant a glimpse of Worlds Unseen

No rooms reserved to guarantee

The tenure of our tenancy 

No docket to detail what waits

Where morning flings afar/ajar its gates

Yet hope is trustworthy and true; 

What God has promised He will do

Between what lies behind-before

Lifetimes unfold; as moments pour

Through steadfast mercies that bestow

The holy ground of Here and Now;

A joy and sorrow-sanctioned lease

Of health and sickness, war and peace

Of daily opportunity

To bow the head and bend the knee

To thank God who has promised to

Be with us in all we pass through

No matter what was or will be

Time and change will roll like a sea

That bears upon its ebb and flow

All that we hold but to let go

No matter what succumbs to change

God is forevermore, the Same

He holds the cup that pours the vim

That ushers all life back to Him

Where every Here and Now becomes

Life's collection of Today-sums

Janet Martin

Death is the destiny of everyone;

the living should take this to heart.

Ecclesiastes 7:2

Dessert anyone?

Strawberry-rhubarb Crisp

or Apple-Cranberry Crisp!

Balancing Life's Ledger

"The man who would truly know God must give time to Him."

- A.W. Tozer

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass 

under trees on a summer's day,

listening to the murmur of the water,

or watching the clouds float across the sky,

is by no means a waste of time.”

― John Lubbock, The Use Of Life

Right now 'us daughters' are helping mom sort through Things,

as they prepare to downsize in the next year.

Recently mom showed me an old ledger 

where every dollar spent was recorded and accounted for.

I couldn't help but wonder what another Ledger looks like

that God will open and show me every moment spent,

recorded and accounted/accountable for!

Oh! God help me be mindful of

the gravity and goodness in the Gift of a new day!

Forgive my fumbles and failures and let 

your sufficient grace be my hope and delight,

(for) with you there is forgiveness, 

 so that we can, with reverence, serve you. Ps.130:4

Ps.51:10-12 KJV

Create in me a clean heart, O God; 

and renew a right spirit within me.

 Cast me not away from thy presence;

 and take not thy holy spirit from me.

 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; 

and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Lord, I don't want to emulate

The pace that seems to dominate

The human race with breathless chase

That falls prey to dusk's dust and dew

But still, while morn-to-evening tolls

I want to strive to lovely goals

And recognize the holy prize

That gleams where morning hails anew

I want to work with willing hands

Not shirking what duty demands

Yet not dictate so strict a gait

I cannot pause to stand and stare

Aware of Whose Evidence brims

In awesome, unparalleled hymns

In every hue-commanding view 

That every new season lays bare    

How sorry, never to afford

An hour to spend with You, Lord

In Your Good Book or by a brook

Or on a hill, where zephyrs loll 

Else, in my trek from dawn till dark

Prosperity misses its mark

As I pay heed, with frugal creed 

To the body, but not the soul 

I want to take stock of the clock

That gives and takes with tick by tock

Aware of He who holds Time's key

Before eternity; to ken

With open eyes and arms and heart

The beauty of each day's fresh start

To weigh, then choose, then kindly use

This gift the Lord has made. Amen

Janet Martin

Ps.118: 19-21, 24-29

Open to me the gates of righteousness;

I will go through them,

And I will praise the Lord.

 This is the gate of the Lord,

Through which the righteous shall enter.

 I will praise You,

For You have answered me,

And have become my salvation.

This is the day the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Save now, I pray, O Lord;

O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.

 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

 God is the Lord,

And He has given us light;

Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

 You are my God, and I will praise You;

You are my God, I will exalt You.

 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

The Makings of a Masterpiece

Today- a very momentous occasion!

God uses the ordinary

to fulfill the extra-ordinary!

Things like moments, willing hands and feet,

Things like little prayers that wing from our hearts to God!

Each moment we use to the glory of God

turns a diamond in the rough 

to a gem of eternal value!

1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

My moments have me seeing red these day!

 Apple and tomato red, that is! 😅

Thank-you Lord!

The top layer of this heap was turned into salsa,

 bbq sauce and tomato soup yesterday!

Today applesauce

while the remaining tomatoes redden up a bit more!

Today is Time’s freshest release

(The makings of a masterpiece

If we with honour weigh the sum

Of what each moment will become)

Like little diamonds in the rough

God tips His treasure trove of love

As moments mete the means whereby

Duty and privilege reply

This is no common enterprise

Melting night’s shadows from yon skies

Let’s meet each charge of God’s command

With thankful heart and willing hand

For the secret to success lies

In what we seek to recognize

Of moments, as they glint and spill

Like diamonds gleaming with God’s will

How precious is the sum of them!

Then let’s not waste one precious gem

But, pursue with each moment-lease

The making of a masterpiece

Janet Martin

Shadow-Forge

I LOVE September mornings, where shadows sprawl, tall across the waking land...

This, along with the memories of Lucy that people share helped inspire today's poem

John 9:4

I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day;

 the night is coming when no one can work.

It is Today; where rooms expand with gleaming opportunity

And grace extends a helping hand, because life is no Easy Street

All that has passed to yester-path is beyond reach; the part we see

(So potent in its aftermath) unfolds fresh favour 'neath our feet

It is today; a fleeting hold soon melded to Eternal Past

As moments, like nuggets of gold, mold all that we cannot undo

While forging with subtle finesse a sort of shadow we all cast

An indelible sacredness we ought to pay attention to

It is Today; nothing we say can un-happen Bygone unfurled

The best we all can do is pray and trust the One who knows/shows the Way

Because the shadow that we weave will follow us beyond this world

Of the Influence that we leave, through how we loved and lived Today

We cannot wish or wash away, or detach ourselves from it

By deeds we do and words we say, shadows of influence soft-fall

For better or for worse; life shapes that which transcends its transient flit 

A shadow sprawled across thought-scapes that those who yet remain, recall  

Janet Martin

For Each Today, Fresh Made...

'Put sprinkles on mine so I will be really happy'

ordered/requested an eager, innocent three-year-old recently

as he watched me scoop, wishing the ice-cream was blue, 

like the picture on the cone-box.

(is that how we sound to God sometimes??

Asking for sprinkles while he is scooping generous

helpings of ice-cream?!)

Stand in awe and sin not.

Ps.4:4

This morning I had all but the final two lines down in today's poem

before Duty prevailed...

Sausage to can...

Grand-kiddo helpers to pick peas...

Mercy, in tender splendor sets the wick of morn ablaze

For we, time's fortune-spenders in a sequence of todays...

Mercy, in tender splendor sets the wick of morn ablaze

For we, time's fortune-spenders in a sequence of todays

Where ups and downs, bound to perplex the architect of dreams

Wait, once again to test and vex and prove what love esteems

Creation's constant glory seals the evidence of God

Wonder, like holy thunders peals in each soul, humbly awed 

While laughter and tears ebb and flow, while sorrow-billows swell 

*Where holding turns to letting go and hello to farewell 

Let us reason together the Duty of you and me

To kind and humbly weather both beauty and misery

Not on our own but by the grace of God, who made all things

His steadfast Presence helps us face whatever today brings 

Mortal wish sometimes disagrees with purpose God-bestowed 

'An ice-cream cone with sprinkles please' is not a pleasure owed 

And all the 'sprinkles; in the world cannot compare, when weighed

With mercy's  faithfulness unfurled in each today fresh-made

Janet Martin

*Where holding turns to letting go and hello to farewell 

(the above lines inspired by the heart-wrenching tragedy of the Texas flood)

Tears and prayers flow...

May Today Be...

And just like that it's Summer

Happy First Day of Summer!

May today be a hymn of praise

to He who grants all of our days!

Isa.61:10-11

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise 

to spring forth before all the nations.

After yesterday's wind and rain the garden, adorned with nature's jewels,

 springs forth with vivid hymns of praise!

May today be, in Bygone's trove, 

above all else, a cherished thought

A gem in a collection of 

learning to love the way we ought

A token where devotion crowns

the tempo that unravels days

Composing from hope's ups and downs

a memento of grateful praise

May today be in reverie 

a masterpiece Past mediates

Into the kind of poetry 

ink never quite encapsulates

Arpeggios that waltz and brood, 

o'er vistas of echoes unbound

A breathless sense of having stood 

with shoes removed on holy ground

May today, as moments are spent, 

augment inestimable worth 

An intentional investment 

in treasures not beheld on earth 

As, grace upon grace grants no lack

Because God keeps his promises

May today be, when looking back

A frame filled with God's faithfulness 

Janet Martin

Awakening to 'Living the 'Dream'

Today's poem was inspired by my niece who, yesterday, wrote on her Facebook post...

(after recovering from another round of sickness in their household)

'Walking around our property tonight, I took a moment

and realized in all the busyness & stress of home ownership & motherhood,

this is everything I've dreamed for' 💗

Thank-you J, for the reminder to treasure the moment and find the joy in it

no matter how hectic the 'happiness' spills!

'The dream' isn't only the picture-perfect moments but all of it together;

the lows make us more thankful for the highs.

This is the day the Lord has made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it!

Ps.118:24

Family milestone celebrations

are one of the happiest blessings on earth...

The other evening we celebrated Granddaughter's 6th birthday,

Which means it was her turn to receive her mommy-box/gramma box

'mommy' is the Pennsylvania-Dutch word for gramma.

(a short 'e' sound at the end rather than long)

In a mommy box 'treasures' are buried in popcorn...

Gum-lover's delight below 😂

the inside of the box is lined with little poems, pictures and bible verses

(I forgot to take a photo of the inside)

Awakening to 'Living the Dream'

To recognize that sorrow is the price we pay for joy

Loss is the proof of having had; everything comes, to pass

And grief and love are life’s most tenderly entwined alloy

Moment’s momentous momentum, sand in life’s hourglass

To recognize that highs and lows comprise ‘living the dream’

Without the brutal ‘bitter’ we would not cherish the ‘sweet’

Or taste the lilt of laughter with more reverent esteem

After the tears we shed when life and death solemnly meet

To recognize the priceless prize disguised as here-and-now

Intangible and fleet, the font that fills history’s mold

And then, with fervent thankfulness to make a humble vow

To do our part to make its art a pleasure/treasure to behold

To, recognize today is all we have, no more or less

To ‘live the dream’ by faith, not fate; to be constantly awed

By He whose loving kindness is the key to happiness

To recognize, through lows and highs, the faithfulness of God

© Janet Martin

I have decided to center my posts after all.

It's hard to teach an 'old dog' new tricks, plus

I have discovered some 'centered' poetry volumes 

in my poem book collection.

See HERE for back story on this 😆

To Think, Dear Day...

Today, the canvas of each and every lifetime!

Matt.6:34

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, 

for tomorrow will worry about itself. 

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

A stampede of Duty-dues assaulted my waking senses

threatening to thwart awareness to the whisper of mercy-renewed

and thus, reply of gratitude...

Yesterday I was visited by two little girls...

(dolls and outfits including shoes, handmade by local Talent)

oops, I mean four!! 😂

My granddaughter and my sister Lucy's granddaughter...

(where a few times I replied to the bittersweet title of Gram, um, Janet)

They giggled when I told them they made my dream come true...

a little home by the mountains and a lake!

Day...such a little word for all it unfurls

of troubles and triumphs and giggle of girls...

To think, I sometimes suppose you as common at first glance

Where opportunity is new, preceding consequence

Where the dictation of demands can consume praises owed

For it is not by human hands your favour is bestowed

To think I sometimes dare to state your mist as mine, somehow

And I am apt to underrate your mien of Here-and-Now

Where you are always caught between what was and waits to be

A sacred stage set with each scene that begets history

To think, sometimes the part I/eyes see can blind my finite gaze;

On the brink of eternity, the trail you blaze conveys

A fleeting caravan of fellowman from Here to Where

You yield your dust of Season-span to He who put it there

To think sometimes I rise without a rush of gratitude

For what none can surmise because of God’s mercy renewed

Where beauty you unfold is but a little foretaste of

The end of you, when we behold the Mystery of love

To think, I sometimes miss the wonder of your holy ground

Because the thunder of what is unfurls its sight and sound

To think, dear day, sometimes I suppose you as Duty’s toll

Rather than the highway hosting the carriage of the soul

© Janet Martin

a sacred stage set with each scene that begets history...

Roly-polies...leftover pie-pastry tradition! 

And today's devotion!