To Keep On Keeping On...

In the spring Jim went peony-inhaling with me...

(insert soft breeze, sweet scents, pastel and vibrant hues and bird-song)

...so on Saturday I reciprocated and went fume-in/exhaling with him😂😅

Below a local young man's first pull!

I was going to record one of these...

 but the noise was so excruciatingly loud this is all I got...

(I dropped my camera 😅)

A tractor-pull exhibits each competitor in a brief

rush of noise, adrenaline and smoke

as they charge toward the finish line, 

in hopes of the farthest pull/the win

without breaking down!

Quite the polar opposite of faithfulness, isn't it;

of quietly keeping on till we cross an invisible Finish Line?!!

(if we break down, by the grace of God

we get back up and press on!)

2 Cor.4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,

that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

To keep on keeping on in bands of faith and hope and love
Will not draw crowds to line the stands with thunderous applause
No trophy waits, or inscribed plaque, in recognition of
Fidelity. Nor stats to track the progress to The Cause
Until we cross the finish line where Time no more will be
When faith and hope their charge resign in love’s eternity

To keep on keeping on is not a luring enterprise
Appealing to bystanders, who have come to see a show
It lacks the rush of pleasure that instantly gratifies
Its distance none can measure to break records here below
No adrenaline rush to fuel bursts of lightning speed
But rather a steadfast pull-push while God supplies each need

To keep on keeping on is a most unembellished quest
It does not earn reason to boast, save in the grace of God
Knowing, in vessels earthen, we are given Heaven’s best
God’s power; nothing human can inspire sweeter laud
His promises beyond compare, faith, hope and love console
Us day by day and prayer by prayer while we press t'ward the goal

© Janet Martin

Lest We Overlook The Giver

 Last Saturday night at a tractor-pull some let the full brunt of the 'music'

screech through them while others chose to 'protect' themselves a little...

 

Lest the well that dreams are drawn from fills with lifeless dust and ash

Lest a soulful swell of sorrow snuffs the sparkle from the splash

Lest a holy Heaven-hunger does not keen hope’s humble cheer

Lest no more than what we had and held comforts the mourner’s tear

Lest the dread of death is greater than life’s hearty appetite

Lest the weight of worry suffocates what wonder would delight

(Plant a garden)

Lest the Reason for the season seems as futile as the wind

Lacking passion for the ration of what no one can rescind

Lest we lose, not merely moments, but the gaping gate it grants

Let’s keep eyes and ears wide open to the music of the dance

Let’s choose love and glad thanksgiving over hours set adrift

Lest we overlook the Present and the Giver of its gift

(Like a garden)

© Janet Martin

I added the 'garden' bit as a personal joy-bell-ringer😊. 

Feel free to change that line to whatever rings yours.

other option for me besides 'plant a garden' would be (in purely random order)

'pour a coffee'

'write/read a poem'

'hold a baby or toddler'

'ride a bike'

'read a book/Book'

'find a brook'

...and so on, lest we let a spent season snuff the melody from the moment at hand!

For some, believe it or not, their joy-bell ringer is a tractor-pull!