Wonderful to Me...

Wonderful to me

The dawn that lights the lea

Ignites what soon will be

Before we seek our rest

Wonderful to me

Love persists faithfully

Where our humility

Is pitiful at best

Wonderful, oh God

The bounty of earth’s sod

Where oft we trip and trod

Across its treasure trove

Without a word of praise

Until life’s testing ways

Returns us to that place

To wonder at your love

Wonderful to me

For oh, how can it be

That immortality

Awaits beyond this gasp

For in the flesh, a soul

In brokenness, the Whole

In life’s journey; a Goal

That wonder cannot grasp

Wonderful, I weep

This sin and sorrow sweep

Is not too dark or deep

To keep You from our call

And with Your Staff and rod

You comfort us, oh God

I cannot quell with thought

The wonder of it all

© Janet Martin

“I like the word ‘wonderful’ ”, said Victoria. “It describes itself; full of wonder”

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  Ps.139:14

one more verse because today we remember...vividly!! 9/11

Wonderful to me
The darkness that must be
Is but part of a sea
Before the Great Divide
When Love will conquer hate
And open wide the Gate
To God. Amen. We wait
Where Hope and Faith abide

For Struggling Authors...

The morning is to our feet

Like a fresh un-scribbled sheet

What untold possibility

Is poised above its waking lea

…where we, so spill and error prone

Are like a quill; we write upon

This page; how swift our touch disturbs

That vault of adjectives and verbs

…as moments drip their chartered air

Like ink drops from a pen somewhere

The hour grins, a verse begins

Time’s parchment suffers sundry sins

…from struggling authors; blood-sweat-tears

Composes script of yester-years

For all that we cannot erase

Remains forever etched in place

…and yet, a patient Teacher knows

The anguish of life’s highs and lows

Thus granting us in every dawn

…a brand new page to write thereon

© Janet Martin

In the middle of Time's storms of bad news and fear if we listen we can hear Him testify in each new day,

"Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Matt. 14:27

Of Gifts and Givers...

 Working at some canning this evening, listening to the rain and thinking...

 

Imagine receiving a gift, turning it over in your hands, marveling and exclaiming at its loveliness but never turning to acknowledge or thank the giver. Imagine if we gave a gift and the recipient dashed off after snatching it out of our hands without a backward glance or smile or thank-you…

He fills the dawn with daylight

He fills the night with rest

He fills the seed with what we need

Before we make request

He refills while we empty

He spills; we take and eat

He wills; and we go forth, He fills

The hills with meadow-sweet   

He tilts the fount of blessing

To shower us with grace

We drink and often never think

About a Giver’s face

He opens wide His storehouse

And fills the earth with plants

Fruit tumbles to our humble reach

In spite of ignorance

How gross our utter wanting

How base our needy ways

To take yet never bow our heads

Or lift to God our praise

© Janet Martin

I know I shared this song a little while ago but it bears a repeat...

We Call This Piece September

 (September feels like cello music to me)

...the first line came to me as I watched  from my dentist chair perch this morning; yellowing branches strumming the sky outside the window...

The Fellow in the yellow on the Cello

Plays a musk-dusk mellow tune

Gone is the lilt of the doggerel spilt

To budding May and June

Now, the fellow in the yellow on the cello

Draws his bow across the strings

In minor key, its melody

Like fireside evenings

And we pause because he draws our thoughts

To Time's sun-burnished art

for the fellow in the yellow on the cello writes

In whispers of the heart

…and we call this piece September; we remember

Why we love it so

As we linger licking fingers dipped in apple and ginger

And slow, slow letting go

© Janet Martin

...or in our case, tomatoes and icing;))

Ah, Today

...yes, even root-canals are a blessing in disguise! At least that's what I'm telling myself as I prepare to leave for the dentist. ;)

The Past is brushed away

The future lies before

Beneath our touch Time draws Today

And lays it on earth’s floor

The Past has shaped what is

The Future none can claim

But ah, Today; what Awesomeness

Permits its very name

The Past no man can reach

The Future is likewise

But ah, Today; what grace beseeches

Us to recognize

…what soon will spill to Past

From threads no hand yet held

While 'ah, today' slips through our grasp

As moments mutely meld

...to heart-scapes of the Past

The Future threads Time's loom

Where Today's font falls free and fast

...Past is a gaping tomb

© Janet Martin

Today's Exhortation...

 We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.…1 Thess.5:14-15