Monday, June 3, 2013

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


Saturday, June 1, 2013

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

Friday, May 31, 2013

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 3rd 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



   




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.