Gathered Thoughts

On poetry:
To hold back the poem
Burning inside of me
Is like forcing back rivers
At the mouth of the sea

On Strength:
The greatest strength is proven not in the holding
but in the power to let go…

On moderation:
Indulge every so often
It won’t kill you
And life is short
Do not indulge
Too often
For it will kill you
And shorten life

On trust and humility
“God” I ask, “Why must these things be?”
He replied, “So you trust with humility”

On sacrifice and submission:
God, don’t ask me to give up this little thing…
It is so very small
In fact, it is so little
It should not worry You at all,
Please, don’t ask me to give it up

On authenticity:
If the branch is attached to the true Vine
It will yield fruit fit for Heaven’s wine

On judging:
Unless we’ve lain with him in the trenches
And tasted the same bitter dirt
We ought not to judge our brother
On his reaction to hurt

On giving:
If you are giving where it is unappreciated
It does not mean you are giving to the wrong people
Especially if those people happen to be
Your children

God gives freely to us
In each moment

On serving;
We go
Driven by a force
Beyond human reasoning,
Love

The Very Beginning...

http://thewordwhisperer2.blogspot.com/2012/01/beautiful-gift-from-beautiful-friend.html

Carrie Burtt's story at Hope Whispers caused me to recall with sudden clarity when I began to write...today I was trying to decide why it is I need to write...I'm not sure I have the answer but it began when I was nine years old. I was sitting on a straw-covered step in the barn and suddenly I had a poem...a song actually to the tune of the stanza part of Rest By and By.

(I dug out the old black scribbler that holds my earliest dreams of writing) Here and there is a page with a huge X over it if I wrote it and then rejected it;))

This is the first poem I recall writing...

Me and My Savior

The great door of my heart
Is wide open each day
To let in the Savior
If he passeth that way

I often forget him
and sometimes go astray
But I ask forgiveness
When to the Lord I pray

I know how he suffered
On the cross of Calvary
And died in pain and sorrow
All because of you and me

He was laid in a tomb
By His friends who were sad
But on the third day
He arose, and they were glad

Forty days afterward
He ascended into Heaven
but the disciples kept the rules
That he had given

They preached to the people
In the countries far and wide
and told them of the story
How Jesus suffered and died

Janet~

I think the first three verses were the original poem and at some slightly later date I decided the poem/story was incomplete, hence the two columns.

Of Things to Come

It’s happening; you’re leaving me
Time sheds its guarded subtlety
It fills the timbre of your voice
I must concede; I have no choice
You’re leaving me

The way you look into my eyes
Has cut denial down to size
Your thoughts have changed as well they should
Time loosens strings and it is good
You’re leaving me

You’re leaving me; I look ahead
With throbs of mingled joy and dread
I wonder what God has in store
As you advance toward the door
You’re leaving me

To bolt the door I would not do
Many before have passed on through
Childhood extols its dividend
As love and pride and longing blend
You’re leaving me

It is the way of life and time
The broadening of a nursery-rhyme
Years bare their single-minded plan
A boy must leave to be a man
You’re leaving me

Janet~

Lest week Matthew (our son) had a few buddies over. When one of them first spoke
I spun around and did a double-take. I had not seen him in a little while
And suddenly his voice was deeper. Today, from another room, I heard Matt talking and it hit me…it is happening to him too.
When…how?

Where Would I Be?

Where would I be?
My fumbling thought
Seeks to express
My love, oh God
Nothing of worth
Have I to bring
To show my love
For you, my King

Upon this broken
Void of sin
Its grief would quench
True joy within
But then one thought
Occurs to me
Without Your love
Where would I be?

Tempted and tried
Lord, I would stray
Without Your light
To lead the way
Your mercy beams
Across the night
Where would I be
Without Your light?

Seasons and stars
Heed your command
And yet You hold
My shameful hand
As every sin-stain
You erase
Where would I be
Without Your grace?

Oh Lord, I have
One gift to bring
Accept the praises
That I sing
For living Hope
Has set me free
Without Your love
Where would I be?

Janet
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions
—it is by grace you have been saved.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
not by works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Eph. 2:4-10

The Perfect Poet

His poems are not constrained by words

They shout from sky and land and sea

For who on earth has ever heard

A purer form of poetry?


The poet of this humble sod

Could not one stroke of beauty pen

But for the poetry of God

Written on the hearts of men


Janet Martin~

You Are Not Alone

When midnight is lonesome and heavy and deep

When need in your bosom is stronger than sleep

When longing is clenching the hope from your soul

And life is a journey without a clear goal

You are not alone

When empty arms yearn for someone to embrace

When love’s loss has stolen the thrill from life’s race

When cold lonely hours bleed away, undefined

And night’s endless hollow expands in your mind

You are not alone

When tears of desire and helpless despair

Weep in every heart-beat and breathe on the air

When only the darkness responds to your plea

And nothing but silence keeps you company

You are not alone

Someone is waiting to be a true Friend

Arms full of mercy and grace without end

God so loved the world that He sent His dear Son

He is a true, faithful Friend to each one

You are not alone

What can we do His fellowship to receive?

All we can do is simply believe

His grace sufficient is love’s offering

Tender, omniscient are the words of a King

“You are not alone”

Janet

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son

That whosoever believes on Him

Will not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

I will never leave you nor forsake you. Heb. 13:5

Love's Parting

There is parting, in love
But never good-bye
Though its force like an ocean
May flow from our eye
Sweet, ever sweeter
Its memories gleam
Caught in the current
Of Time’s hastening stream

There is pain in love’s parting
And an ache in its thought
But love overcomes
What desire cannot
Though oft, for a moment
A tear dims the eye
At the thought of love’s parting
…but never good-bye

J~

Moments are like bubbles..
we cannot catch them, but simply marvel at their
delicate beauty as they pass.

Revelation

Beneath the sea
Behind your eyes
Under the snow
The 'hidden' lies
Beyond the hill
Around the bend
Above the sky
At rainbows end
In your pocket
In your pen
In your mind
Hidden, but then
In just one tremble
Of your lips
A universe
Of 'hidden' slips

Janet~