Three Sweetest Words I Know...

Oh, say those words again

Slow, soft like easy rain

Or like the stirring zephyr-song

Strumming the golden grain

Or spin them like a sigh

Of cloud-wisp drifting by

As we behold the treasure of

This trove we call July

And press upon thought’s slate

Earth’s lily-laden plate

Or hills mantled in mists of morn

…the brook’s unhurried gait

….the daisy-dappled heath

The hour like a wreath

Of butterflies and blue-hung skies

With bare-foot child beneath

…the dew-drenched field and fell

The bloom embellished dell

The sandbox full of boys and noise

Heedless of Time’s gavel

…the shushing canopy

Of summer’s full-leaf tree

That flings its shade like nature’s quilt

And seeks our company

So, say those words soft-slow

Before The Letting Go

‘It is July, it is July’

The sweetest words I know

© Janet Martin

In the book Little Men Louisa May Alcott begins a chapter with the words It was July...because it is July those words struck a chord... 

 The sunrise seemed like a seamless continuance of last night's sunset...

Wishing you a worship-full weekend as we adore, not creation but its Creator!

Praise the Lord, all you nations;
    extol him, all you peoples. 

 For great is his love toward us,
    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord.

Ps.117

What God Has Said Is So...

 My sister dropped off a belated birthday card yesterday and a bag of poems she clipped or copied from here-and-there that she thought I might enjoy...I opened the card and teared up at these familiar, yet dearly, precious verses.(if you click on the image, then right click on 'view image' it will be easier to read)

If we succumb to thee, oh murderer of hope and pen

If we allow you to endow our How with death, what then?

And if, because you are so present in each untried thing

Or in what we cannot full see, pray, who would laugh and sing?

If we grant chilling numbness leadership, ah, then we die

While still the mouth inhales, exhales; our spirits lifeless lie

The dreamer would be empty and the poet would be too

And no one in the world would dare to try anything new

God, bless our trembling fingers, wobbly knees and lips stiff-dry

And bless the pulse that quickens as we utter this, ‘I’ll try’

For we were given spirits to love one another here

And not to live as half-a-man because of thee, oh Fear

Then pray the Lord to instill in our hearts His perfect peace

And trust him for the outcome in our awesome weaknesses

For Faith is fear’s arch-rival, quieter perhaps but oh,

Fear cannot conquer or usurp what God has said is so

© Janet Martin

If we have not believed in He

Who saves us from death’s hell,

Then we should be afraid,

Very, very afraid

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

Colorful, Colorful World

Here's hoping your are rejoicing wherever you are, at the colors in your world!!
Above are a few colors we've enjoyed in the first ten days of July....already?!

Inspired by a color quote here

Mauve-misty morning

Azure afternoon

Hello gold buttercup

Where is thy spoon?

Pink clover lover’s lanes

White Milky Way

Blue sea-song splashing

Our troubles away

Opaque moon sliver

On dark velvet deep

Sage vine with purple grape

Woolly black sheep  

Orange for carrots

For willow, chartreuse

Green meadow medley

And brown chocolate mousse

Cinnamon autumn

And russet and bronze

White winter countryside

Emerald spring ponds

Warm saffron sunbeam

Gray raincloud above

Red boots for puddles

And roses, my love

Coral at sunset

Transforms turquoise sea

Yellow for lemon

To squeeze in my tea

Ruby for vintage

Of summer-sweet fare

Indigo ribbons

For Sue’s chestnut hair

Over and under

Around us unfurled

Oh, what a colorful

 Colorful world

© Janet Martin

Kind and True...A Morning Song of Praise

We are not bound to that

Which will not pass again

Oh, praise the One who does not keep

Remembrance of our sin

But from fathoms of grace

Bestows not old, but New

And lays upon this hearth of dirt

His mercy kind and true

Tomorrow none can know

And yesterday is past

Praise God from whence the morning flows

To those of us held fast

Within His loving care

He does not give our due

But stirs the dark with morning where

His Hand is kind and true

Man’s boast is paltry blight

Beneath dawn’s raving sky

Oh, praise the One who parts the night

For fools like you and I

His law is without fault

His mercies ever new

He tips the jars of heaven with

His goodness kind and true

We are not bound to that

Which will not pass again

Oh, praise the One who offers us

A fresh place to begin

And from fathoms of grace

Refills the old with new

And heaps upon this hearth of hurt

His Friendship, kind and true

© Janet Martin

Of Footholds and Age-old New

 They wander about for food and growl if they are not satisfied.

But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; 

Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, 

For You have been my stronghold 

And a refuge in the day of my distress.

O my strength, I will sing praises to You; 

For God is my stronghold, 

the God who shows me lovingkindness. 

Ps.59:15-17

The dark veil rends

And from the line

At the base of the sky

Mercy extends light's soft incline

From God

To you and I

Before twilight

Will tuck its hem

Around the girth of earth

I wonder what time will unfold

From this age-old

New birth

Dawn’s fresh foothold

Is pink and gold

It’s lark-song ladder spills

Up through new blue

Into the true and perfect

What-God-wills

© Janet Martin