Preludes to Amen... or, Today

Happy, Happy green, gold and blossom-pink

month of May!

This cheery. warbling songster enticed me from my cozy slumber to greet the day and May!

Have you ever longed to rush the ways

 of wisdom or nature;

to become wise overnight

instead of weathering/suffering growth

like a tree or a child?

In order for a flower

to mature into full bloom

it cannot skip one step of the development

and unfolding;

so too with faith and wisdom

***

Last fall my cousin  gave me some money as a gift to buy

a keepsake plant in memory of Lucy.

I chose a few 'special' peonies.

(in memory of my peony/flower-loving sister)

I wish I could hurry them into

big, beautiful bushes of full bloom,

but I cannot.

\

we cannot hasten growing things..

a tree,

a child,

the wisdom

that experience brings

better to live with patience then

rather 

than push

or try to rush

God's gracious hand

*Amen~

© Janet Martin

God does not give us surplus strength

we can store up for tomorrow,

nor knowledge that usurps faith,

nor detours, shortcuts or bypasses

to His commands in his Word

in an attempt to hurry the gain of His blessing...

...and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

Deut.33:25

 

*My, how very special and sacred then, is Today

because by each 'amen' lifetimes are born! 

Sometimes, in the heat of hello 

and farewell's beck and call

Of morn-to-eve-tides ebb and flow 

in seamless rise and fall

Where sun and shadow ups and downs 

Like friends and strangers meet

And bittersweet, its artwork crowns

Both triumph and defeat

...sometimes we tend to overlook

or undermine the way

These fill the pages of life's book

Entitled thus, Today

And, how each Good we wish would be

is worth the work/wait, though hard

 As faith believes, but does not see

As love learns no holds barred 

So, better, than to analyze

details of dust-to-dust

 Or air the grievances of 'why's

better turned into trust

Pray, we press on with humbler heed

to what we do and say

Because the fruit of scattered seed

begins again, Today 

What universal, noble cause

anoints each morn-to-morn

Hark! mercy breaks dawn's seal of gauze

As new Today is borne/born

From God to man and back again

filled with responses, where 

Pray, preludes to today's 'amen'

are filled with thankful prayer 

© Janet Martin

Rom.13:8-14

8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, 

for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 

9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,”

 “You shall not murder,” 

“You shall not steal,” 

[b]“You shall not bear false witness,”

 “You shall not covet,” 

and if there is any other commandment, 

are all summed up in this saying, namely, 

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor;

 therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

11 And do this, knowing the time, 

that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; 

for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. 

Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, 

and let us put on the armor of light. 13 

Let us walk [c]properly, as in the day, 

not in revelry and drunkenness, 

not in lewdness and lust, 

not in strife and envy. 

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, 

and make no provision for the flesh, 

to fulfill its lusts.

Content to be Content

Last night, due to fog etc. the older half of our small group

was unable to be present and I was the only oldie,

(because the host home was two minutes from my home...)

I listened to young parents as they shared delights and challenges of

babies and tots.

Sometimes, youth in its 'youthful loveliness' can make more weathered relics

 hanker for days, long spent and much forgotten,

until my 'leveler head' prevails 😅

Sometimes I hunger deeply for life before the loss of loved ones

 altered it eternally.

Sometimes that longing serves as a wake-up call to 

redeem my time wisely rather than in foolish, futile lament. 💔

This was the Lord’s doing;

It is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it

Ps.118:23-24

Don't wait until tomorrow to smell today's roses...

Sometimes, in foolish moments I hanker for days gone by

Where common scenes have softened until only love remains

Where lessons I once rued while youth unfurled its butterfly

Have settled like gold-dust in the wake of love's growing pains

And then I am content; futile, longing's lament because

Want wishes for a star-glossed world that never really was

Sometimes, in foolish  moments I am tempted to appeal

To once upon gone-good-old-days for laughter's freer vim

Until I turn to gaze at faces, kissable and real

Warm with the precious company of darling Her and Him

And then I am content with blessings too profuse to tell

Sensing a sacred cadence tuning hello with farewell

Sometimes in foolish moments I am blinded by a view

Surreal and sentimental, gleaming in yesterday's sun

Where time's redeeming brush has smoothed what once was troubled too

Where, rather than battlefields, a masterpiece has begun

And then I am content to relinquish Want's wanderlust

God keeps the Part that matters; all else is but dust to dust 

Sometimes, in wiser moments I am able to discern

The hues between the views that else would gleam in flawless poise 

I feel the faded sting of lessons we must live to learn

And even if I could I would not resurrect spent joys 

Content to be content though grief seasons the heart with scars

It grounds and guards love's feet from wand'ring lost, among the stars 

 © Janet Martin

I found this poem-gem in a book

I picked up the other day from our local thrift/treasure store  

How To Recognize What Matters Most

Yesterday morning began a new year of Sunday School,

at our church,

and as I joined the group of teachers and children

something hard to explain ripped through me...

such love for a room packed with Eager Innocence!!

(soon under fire!!)

What a sacred charge, for we who are older

to teach, (far more by example than words)

our children to remember their Creator in the days of their youth

and what it means to love the Lord, (y)our God,

with all (y)our heart, soul, strength and mind

and to love (y)our neighbour as (y)ourself! 

Luke 10:27,Mark 12:30-31,Matthew 22:37-40,

Deuteronomy 6:5,Deuteronomy 30:6,Romans 13:9,James 2:8,

Mark 12:33-34,Leviticus 19:18,1 John 3:18,Deuteronomy 10:12,

Matthew 19:19,Hebrews 8:10,Galatians 5:13

Children are such precious jewels!!

When He Cometh 

The older that we grow the harder it becomes to change set ways!

How crucial, while we may, to pray, 'God teach us to number our days...

...so we may gain a heart of wisdom, before days come, trouble-cursed

Before we find no pleasure in seeking God and His kingdom first

Before worldly cares choke His Word that fell like seed on thorny ground

Before strife or the pride of life lures love, still innocent and sound 

Before desire is not stirred to love the Lord with all we have

Before we boast, forgetful of Who's goodness and mercy forgave

...Us, while we were still dead in sin, sinless, God's Lamb was sacrificed

To rend the temple's veil and anchor Living Hope in Jesus Christ 

Granting to heirs of Love's great promise, consolation, strong and sure 

Fitting faith, when facing temptation, with conviction to endure

Before we grow old, habit-hardened, heart untuned to wisdom's ways/praise 

Pray the Lord to teach us early how to humbly number our days 

...and how to recognize the gain of what appears most modest mien 

Faith, the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things unseen 

 

© Janet Martin

Eccles.12

Remember your Creator

in the days of your youth,

before the days of trouble come

and the years approach when you will say,

“I find no pleasure in them”—

2 before the sun and the light

and the moon and the stars grow dark,

and the clouds return after the rain;

3 when the keepers of the house tremble,

and the strong men stoop,

when the grinders cease because they are few,

and those looking through the windows grow dim;

4 when the doors to the street are closed

and the sound of grinding fades;

when people rise up at the sound of birds,

but all their songs grow faint;

5 when people are afraid of heights

and of dangers in the streets;

when the almond tree blossoms

and the grasshopper drags itself along

and desire no longer is stirred.

Then people go to their eternal home

and mourners go about the streets.

6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,

and the golden bowl is broken;

before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,

and the wheel broken at the well,

7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,

and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

8 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.[a]

“Everything is meaningless!”

9 Not only was the Teacher wise, 

but he also imparted knowledge to the people. 

He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 

10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, 

and what he wrote was upright and true.

11 The words of the wise are like goads,

 their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails

—given by one shepherd.[b] 

12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.

Of making many books there is no end, 

and much study wearies the body.

13 Now all has been heard;

here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is the duty of all mankind.

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,

including every hidden thing,

whether it is good or evil.

Time's Wise, Worthwhile and Most Beautiful Redemption

Ephesians 5:15-16

Pay careful attention, then, 

to how you walk,

 not as unwise but as wise,

redeeming the time, 

because the days are evil.

A wet garden stroll this morning

with coffee and camera in hand 

(naturally 😊)

Larkspur 

Sunflower

rain-bent geranium

Daylily

Hosta

Dipladenia

Petunia

Hollyhock

Honeysuckle

Can there be a wiser way

To redeem time’s hours

Than to spend a summer’s day

Communing with flow’rs

Than for half an afternoon

Stop to smell the roses

Awed at petal-poem boon

Only God composes

Than to gaze at Queen Ann’s lace

Studying its stitches

Than to reverently trace

Detail that bewitches

Than be sweetly stunned to find

Myriad masterpieces

Then, be more worship inclined

As wonder increases

Can there be a better way

To relieve love’s duty

Than to pause, a summer’s day

In God-gardened beauty

Can there be a purer laud

Than in bloom bent bow'r

Than to grasp a glimpse of God

Smiling in each flower 

Sh-h-h! Can you hear wisdom woo

Gloriously granted?

To be like a flower too

And bloom where we're planted 

© Janet Martin

A Blessing for Dads

Happy Father's Day...

I am grateful for the many sacrifices Jim makes

for the benefit of us, his family!

Thank-you 💖

Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, 

bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

I am so thankful to God for my dad who loved the Lord

and instilled the spark of God's love in us when we were but a little child,

and nurtured it, sometimes by great frustration of the child

into something we can look back on, in maturity

and marvel at his wisdom!! 

A photo from a month ago of my grandson and his daddy...

my love and prayers are with young dads esp. who are seeking to

raise children to grow into godly men and women, in an ungodly world.

What a tremendous, sacred calling, dear young fathers, you have!

I pray God's Word is a lamp to your feet

and a light to your path!

Without it we stray and become wise in our own eyes 🙏

God bless the dad who is undeterred

In training a child through the lens/Light of God’s Word

God bless the dad whose ultimate goal

Is nurturing child in both body and soul

…who teaches his children to love and revere

Our Father in Heaven, who loves us so dear

God, bless the dad who hallows Your name

And teaches his children to do the same

And, bless the dad who, when the going gets tough

Still trusts in Your promises to be enough

Who instructs his children with more than mere talk

But, sets by example, the way they should walk

…who faithfully labors and faithfully prays

And shoulders the yoke of his call, by God’s grace

© Janet Martin

I love this excerpt from the book Little Rivers

by Henry Van Dyke

I'm sorry I can't share the whole chapter!

I'm dusting off an oldie this morning, as well;

a poem my son and some of his friends read for a Father's day church service 

around 16 years ago!

Some dads are really, really cool, and some are really smart,

Some dads barely went to school but still have big soft hearts,

Some dads stand up straight and tall and look all sober-like

As if they’ve never thrown a ball or raced on their old bike,

Some dads like to tease and wink and some dads laugh a lot,

I guess, I suppose, it depends, I think, on how many bills they’ve got,

‘Cause dad says, as long as the bills keep a-comin’,

He’ll have to get up an’ keep on a-workin’,

And God bless the dad that keeps on a-hummin’

Even when the bills keep a-comin’

Some dads make lots of money and some, I’ve heard, are broke,

Some say things like sweetheart and honey and some dads never joke,

Some dads work from dawn ‘til dark with little time to play,

Some take their children to the park and some just go away,

Some dads work so very hard so mother can stay home,

Some dads are so very tired, when at last they come,

But, God bless the dad, who at the end of his day

Still gets down on his knees to pray,

And God bless the faithful dad who

Teaches his little ones to pray too

Some dads are really big and tough, while some are short and thin,

Some dads are kinda’ rough and some are gentlemen,

Some dad’s hair is curly and some dad’s hair is gray,

Some don’t really worry ‘cause their hair has gone away,

Some dads drive pick-ups shiny and new, some say any wheels will do,

'As long as it takes me to work and such, and the insurance on it isn’t too much,'

Some dads whistle and some dads sing,

At home some dads feel as rich as a king,

But for one thing I sure am glad,

God knew how much we’d need some dads

Some dads read God’s word every night, some never read at all,

Some dads teach us wrong from right to guide us lest we fall,

And some dads are a little like God, I suppose,

‘Cause through trial and error this dad knows

Though hearts be broken and sometimes need mending,

A father’s love is never-ending,

And God bless the dad whose love never fails,

When the going gets bad, love still prevails,

Thus, for one thing I sure am glad, 

God knew how much we’d need some dads,

Some dads’ sure leave big shoes to fill 

but the One who guides them will be there still,

Someday, when someone says they’re glad 

God knew how much we’d need some dads

Janet Martin

Dear Henry Van Dyke (and a few other rare old writers/poets)

Books that touch me/move me as often and deeply as the one below

are far and few between!

Thank-you Henry!

You are my friend though you were gone long before I was born

And we have never met, save in words penned in days of yorn

You move me still, where once your quill traversed a barren page

To leave behind kind fellowship for folk of future age

To touch us in those places time cannot affect, it seems

No matter how it chases generations through its schemes/dreams

I love you, though to tell you is a joy deferred and weighed

In a balance that tips toward a door none can evade

Till then I'll taste thy turn of phrase with slow and sheer amour

To think that ink can keep alive what death cannot devour

To touch us with affections Time cannot thwart by its toll

As you arouse reflections in rivers poured from your soul

You make me smile and weep and laugh and sigh in sweet surprise

You steal my breath; earth moves beneath its motionless disguise

Oh, how I wish that I could shake the hand that shaped the thought

That gently cheers an afternoon, soon otherwise forgot

You touch me as if we were just a fireside apart

Sharing a glimpse of heaven as we commune, heart to heart

© Janet Martin

Below are a few examples why I love this writer so much!

It's Not Easy But It Is Possible

This winter I have committed to sorting through

a lot of long-neglected corners and drawers filled with paraphernalia and plunder

of collections no longer relevant to the season I am in...Older mother!

And while mothering is by no means over, preschool and school children mothering is!

Leaving a lot of hard decisions to be made like

how many old art projects, canvases, folders, sketch-books, keepsakes do I keep?!!

My oldest daughter is at the other end of the spectrum, at the beginning of this journey

 and sometimes the only way I know how to advise her on

how to navigate a situation is because 

though the circumstances may differ the solution is the same for her season as mine;

 Ask God for wisdom then trust Him to provide!

Often wisdom comes through what feels like failure first.

But the important thing is that we don't give up!!

 Keep trying/praying! 

It’s not easy, learning how to fully lean on God to guide

How to trust Him without fretting about if/what He will provide

It’s not easy learning how to yield and say ‘Thy will, not mine’

And to rest in Him untroubled by His unrevealed design

It’s not easy, learning how to sacrifice each selfish choice

Taking God’s Word at His promises without doubt’s vexing voice

It’s not easy to be holy; we need God’s word in our hearts

To undo sin’s dark dominion and to thwart the tempter’s darts

It’s not easy to be faithful if we look ahead too far

But God makes it possible if we trust Him

Right

Where

We

Are

It's not easy, the relying on strength we do not possess 

But as long as we keep trying God unveils His promises 

© Janet Martin

Prov.3:3-8, 33-35

Let not mercy and truth forsake you;

Bind them around your neck,

Write them on the tablet of your heart,

4And so find favor and [a]high esteem

In the sight of God and man.

5Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

6In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall [b]direct your paths.

7Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear the Lord and depart from evil.

8It will be health to your [c]flesh,

And strength[d] to your bones....

...The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked,

But He blesses the home of the just.

34Surely He scorns the scornful,

But gives grace to the humble.

35The wise shall inherit glory,

But shame shall be the legacy of fools.

Faith-forge...

This poem is inspired in part by a few stories I recently read or am reading...

the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and now, Moses!!

Also, the story of George Mueller

(the excerpt below esp.)

Heb.12:1

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

 let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,

 and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

The beautiful 'cloud of faithful witnesses' that encompass us

 challenge, inspire and encourage

 the ongoing stories of our own lives/faith still being written!

Take heart, fellow-friend!

Stories of faithfulness cannot be written in a hurry!

I began this poem yesterday morning, but it was not a poem

that could be quickly spilled....then tot-care gobbled up the day!

Last night my energy and concentration tank was so completely depleted

to the point of feeling like I was getting sick (but a good night's sleep resolved)

so this is yesterday and today's poem!

Below: a Celebrate-the-Very-Brief-Splash-of-Sunshine-with-a-Hot Chocolate-'Picnic'!

The answers that we seek in our hurry oft seem slow

When faith’s posture is weak, not meek but impatient to know

Doubt and desire wrestle as God tests love’s utmost part

(To be His chosen vessel is not for the faint of heart)

The high call of surrender grants no accolades unearned

Faith’s Author and Perfecter leaves no stumbling block unturned

But moves in ways contrary to sight’s acumen and whim

God’s rebuke necessary to expose wants not of Him

Encompassed by a cloud of witnesses, faith’s legions shine

As God fulfilled/revealed His promises and purposes divine

While waiting-seasons refined trust and taught them to endure

And be obedient because God’s Word is just and pure/sure

What sometimes seems like pleas ignored or forgotten by God

Or futile ‘waiting on the Lord,’ is oft discipline’s rod

To dredge the depth of the heart’s measure where His Word should be

To test the timbre of the treasure only He can see

What masters of disaster mortal’s lack of patience proves

When we choose to move faster than God's higher way behooves

When foolishly we plunder gates still barred to our request

Blind to redemption’s wonder waiting to reveal His best

God's providence instilling/fulfilling holiness, makes no mistakes

He tugs at ties unwilling until pride's resistance breaks 

And probes the hold that still denies Supreme Authority

Until faith's utter boast replies 'not I, but Christ in me'  

© Janet Martin

2 Tim2:3

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Be Careful/Prayerful

'Be Careful we don't want your toes too close!'

  I cautioned Tot yesterday as he got as close as he could

to watch Janet cut up a massive pumpkin on the floor

because it was too heavy to lift to the counter-top.

Due to a bumper pumpkin-canning crop I welcome any favorite pumpkin recipes

(preferably not rich desserts) those recipes are easy to find😅

From little tots to adulthood...a mother's most-oft repeated caution must surely be 'be careful'!!

I find myself saying it countless times to the children in my childcare 

and many times to my grown children!

As we mature we realize there is only one way to be truly careful 

and that is to be duly prayerful!

The best way then, to say 'be careful'

is to say, 'be prayerful'!

Be careful/prayerful then, lest unaware

In what appears as harmless fun

We miss the deathly hazards where

The tempter's web of lies is spun 

Be careful/prayerful then, so when we we meet

The Wolf, dressed in sheep-like disguise 

We will recognize and defeat

With truth, the mastermind of lies

Be careful/prayerful then, and do not wink

At God's Word, man's authority

Where what He says, not what we think

Is what our conduct ought to be

Be careful/prayerful then, and by God's grace

Commit to Him, heart, soul and mind

Lest careless, prayer-less, we embrace

Hands of the blind leading the blind

Janet Martin 

Eph.5:15 NIV

Be very careful, then, how you live—

not as unwise but as wise,

Pumpkin can be turned into Bundt Cake, muffins

and all sorts of goodies!

We mix, stir and bake...and voila!! 

within the hour, results!

Some results for choices we make, take far longer 

with far more serious and far-reaching effects! 

Be careful/prayerful!!

Good, Better, Best

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly

 above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Eph.3:20

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Phil.2:13

This is the time of year when in boxes and mail boxes are FLOODED with pleas for donations

 leaving us wishing we could help them all! they are all worthy causes.

The Red Cross seeks to touch our hearts with a packet of tangible gifts,

right down to a personalized pen to sign and send; no excuses!!

Today's Devotion in the book Streams in the Desert

struck me with the realization that to give is more than

the licking of an envelope with 'gift enclosed'

more than a few clicks on a keyboard after hitting

'donate now' then forgetting as soon as we exit the page.

Rather, monetary aid hopefully is the small part in the

much larger labor of praying for the causes to which we give!

In my in box, just to name a few;

The Canadian Bible Society seeks to bring the

hope of the God's Word to those who do not have access to bibles.

Focus on the Family seeks to minister in various ways to strengthen families

in this troubled and confused age.

Our local churches seek to minister in our own communities...

and the list goes on!!

Praying we all pray for guidance to know where

to do our part with a generous heart!

To ‘do’ is a good start

To give is pleasing too

But to pray is the vital part

Of all we say and do

For as we pray toward

The hope to which we live

We will better honor the Lord

With what we do and give

To give is well and good

To ‘do’ our part is fair

But to live and love like we should

Begins and ends with prayer

The good of love's kind quest

Is better every day

As we are blessed with Mercy's best

Because we pray and pray

Then, what seems commonplace

Turns into worship where

Exceedingly abundant grace

Works God's pleasure through prayer 

© Janet Martin

We may not be able to help everyone but everyone can help someone,

hopefully beginning with prayer and seeking to honour God

in all we give and do!

Eph.6:18

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions 

with all kinds of prayers and requests. 

With this in mind, be alert 

and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times 

and not lose heart:

Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, 

but in everything, by prayer and petition, 

with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.