He Holds Me Fast

On my own plan I cannot do

The very things that I ought to

Though good intention shapes my will

It falls beneath Life’s keening drill

For soon the strength that I posses

Is but a mirrored hopelessness

And all that I can do at last

Is cling to He who holds me fast

I cannot by myself endure

Or my full lot of wants secure

The hands and hearts of mortal skin

Are prone to subtle, sundry sin

We battle a persistent foe

Of selfish thirst and prideful woe

My only hope abides at last

In He who keeps and holds me fast

Goodness and mercy do not spring

From founts of fleshly fashioning

And soon our guilt and guile will prove

Our utter need for guiltless love

Oh Lord, my God, soon I am weak

And cannot find the things I seek

My only hope is Heaven-cast

In He who guides and holds me fast

© Janet Martin

Time Flies

Time flies, we whisper

Then turn to the moments at hand softly drifting

For these are love’s milestones in the making

Time flies, we lament

Yet we cannot afford to mourn too long

For soon these moments will tune yesterday’s song

Time flies, we sigh

Treasuring its bittersweet agonies

As we hold the mold of tomorrow’s memories

Time flies, we agree

As we join the ranks that murmured it too

Walking in their footprints where the old is new

© Janet Martin

I love watching the kids discover age-old truths; then I realize that we as parents are also discovering what our own parents could not make us understand when we  were young as they would caution us to choose wisely and well who and what we serve for this life is short!

Inspired as I read this.

Of Heart-voids

 

Her purposed banter eases a fabric

Of comfort across the holes in her mirth

She laughs with her mouth wishing its magic

Would heal that inner, untouchable hurt

She loves and is loved; the ache in her being

A bittersweet duel of pleasure and pain

She writes; but words keenly expand the knowing

That something is missing that she cannot explain

She lives in awareness of moment surrender

In passionate struggles of ‘dust unto dust’

She prays and she plays and she works as the splendor

Of love, loss and longing fill heart-voids with trust

© Janet Martin

I believe in the immortality of the soul because I have within me immortal longings. Helen Keller

Where I Come From...

 My 4th Birthday

I come from wild flower fence-rows and grass rural routes

From clover-sweet meadows and muddy barn-boots

I come from co’-boss calls and farm-life joys

From ‘I’m the 3^rd of ten children; five girls and five boys’

I come from Daily Bread mornings and evening prayer nights

From ‘listen to your parents’; ‘many-hands-make-work-light’

I come from itchy stockings and worn hand-me-downs

From everybody’s talking while the food’s passed around

I come from learning how to flute a pie-crust

From piled in the station-wagon ‘in God we trust’

I come from hard work and front-yard baseball

From a two-cookie rule or the cookies ‘is all’

I come from ‘Everyone needs to do their part’

From a hymn-singing mother with a gentle heart

I come from a Daddy who taught us of God

And whistled while he tilled both souls and sod

I came from God’s country; I was sure of that

As the rooster crowed early and the dog chased the cat

And the grain turned amber in the summer sun

As did care-free children in the pasture pond

I come from a quaint, two-room country school  

Eight grades of book-learning and the golden rule

Cartoons were pictures and words in the paper

And television was something we once saw at the neighbor

I come from sister-spats and singing four-part harmony

As we husked mountains of sweet-corn beneath the willow tree

Oh, I am who I am not by some fluke ho-hum

I am who I am because of where I come from

© Janet Martin

"What are sister-spats?", asks Victoria, my youngest daughter as we read the poem together. "Well", I said, "I guess it's like little fights".
"Oh Mom",she replied, aghast! "You fought with your sisters?! I didn't think you ever fought" ;-0

This is the time of year I always ask myself ‘How did my mother do it?!”  The four oldest in our family are celebrating our birthdays.

Oldest daughter, June 16 1964,

Oldest son, May 30,1965,

Next daughter(me) June 7 1966,

Next son, May 28, 1967,

after that 3 more daughters, then 3 sons!

While we grew up we were ‘the four oldest’, ‘the three little girls’ and ‘the three little boys’. I remember Mom saying my youngest brother had six mothers. This past Sunday I attended a 40 year school reunion. The two-room school is now a three-room school but wow, what a trip down memory lane.  Tonight while I was washing dishes and watching the rain fall suddenly ‘where I come from’ washed over me…

Life's Miles

   

 Image Source

Life has many glorious miles

Where winds are kind and sunshine smiles

Where grass is soft beneath our feet

And flowers bountiful and sweet

Life has many grueling miles

Of hurt and dirt and sorrow’s trials

Where fears and tears torment, bequeath

We chew the grit between our teeth

Life has many merry miles

Where mercy’s tender touch beguiles

Filling our mouths with melody

And happy hearts with charity

Life has many lonesome miles

Robbing the lips of laughing smiles

As twists and turns would make us fall

But God is faithful through them all

© Janet Martin

No Halls of Fame in Heaven

There are no halls of fame in Heaven

The ground is level at the cross

We employ the gifts He's given

None are greater than, or less

We serve, not for vain recognition

But with humble heart and soul

Knowing God knows our ambition

He can see the unmasked whole

There are no halls of fame in Heaven

Though the enemy suggests

To us that there might be a difference

God loves each of us the best

The inheritance of Heaven

Is for all who will believe

In the gift of God’s redemption

As His mercy we receive
 

Jesus died for every person

Each must strive for the reward

There are no halls of fame in Heaven

Where all glory is the Lord

© Janet Martin

Sometimes it's easy to look at someone else and think their service is more important, more honorable perhaps...

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

...for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Rom.10:13

The Prize

How soon we become distracted

By what impedes our view

To keep our eyes upon the Prize

Is not always easy to do

Lord, help us to be faithful

With love’s humility

And keep our eyes upon the Prize

In spite of what we see

Love never fails though often

We cannot understand

With earth-dimmed eyes we seek its Prize

Held in Love’s nail-scarred Hand

This world is torn and troubled

Yet we must journey on

Keeping our eyes upon the Prize

When life’s short race is run

Within this broken turmoil

Abides both hope and grace

Lifting our eyes toward the Prize

Beyond life’s little race

© Janet Martin

 

Knowledge and Wisdom

We may have knowledge

To cover the earth

But it’s what we do with it

That measures its worth

***

Knowledge on its own

Is not of much use

Knowledge without wisdom

Is like a tree without roots

***

One may absorb a world of knowledge

Yet be unprepared for the strife

Of living, for wisdom is not found in college

But in the lessons of life

***

Knowledge without wisdom

Is like a ship without a sail

Its hold is full of luggage

At the mercy of the gale

***

Knowledge is a hat

Wisdom is a crown

© Janet Martin

(I began this as a 'Thursday thoughts' post, but Thursday ran out of hours:)

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Prov. 4:7

Scripture teaches us the importance of knowledge and wisdom and understanding.