Heirs Because...

Before His throne

The Tomb

Before the tomb

The cross

Before the cross

A manger

Before the manger

A throne

© Janet Martin

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 1 Pet. 1:3-4

  

In Search of Christmas Day

 Scott Woods included this poem on his Christmas Album
It is title #16. Check out his tour schedule to see if he is coming to a town near you or treat yourself to a new Christmas Album!



T'was Christmas Eve and all through town the lights blinked red and green,
Snow was softly falling down where naked worlds had been,
Last minute shoppers rushed on home, discarding final lists,
While others packed up and left town to see dear folk they’d missed

Then, as I gazed on up the street I spied a form alone,
He wandered as if searching for something a long time gone,
He paused to view the festive scenes in windows twinkling bright,
Where ‘Merry Xmas’ signs were strung in honor of this night

Then up the silent street He trod, his steps were sad and slow,
Unlike the rush these walks had known a few short hours ago,
Past Santa’s smiling face he walked, past a twinkling Christmas tree,
Up to a window brightly lit where he could stand and see

Inside each person rushed about dreaming of Christmas day,
Dressing up the turkey or tucking last gifts away,
Dreaming of feasts, laughter and gifts, tables o’er-flowing with food
Trees laden down with presents for all, oh, what a holiday mood

Stockings were hung at the fireplace, everything was complete,
The table was set with cookies and milk for Santa’s special treat,
While folk all sang the Christmas carols and talked of Christmas cheer,
The stranger outside the window turned away and wiped a tear

'Tis true, he cried, tis awful truth, I see it all too well,
The reason why they choose to cross out that first syllable,
'Tis Merry Xmas, that is sure, the baby and Bethlehem’s star
Are simply vague traditions from the past, so faint and far

They’ve forgotten the ‘Christ’ is what this day is really all about,
That the true meaning is all gone if they choose to cross Him out,
They’ve forgotten, it is Christ, not Santa, that represents Christmas Day,
And in truth it is Merry Xmas if they choose to put him away

He wiped his tears and whispered, I’m sorry but I cannot stay here,
I simply do not feel at home amidst this festive cheer,
I watched him turn with broken heart and slowly walk away,
Twas then I saw the Man was Christ in search of Christmas Day

Janet Martin

Juxtaposition

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. Isa.40:28

How small our understanding is

How meager our thought

Our visage limps toward a glimpse

Of what we know of God

Last night into the sky I looked

But all that I could see

Was just how small beneath IT all

This little earth must be

How even more then, does the mind

Marvel to grasp at this;

The essence of The Present- love

That God All-Being IS

‘For God so loved the world that He

Sent His begotten Son

So none might perish but believe

And live forever on’

Then, when thought reaches to explain

The reason for it all

We must admit the whole of it

Leaves understanding small

© Janet Martin

To Where Summer Went

Rush hour is over

Save for a few

Scuffling stragglers

On dusk’s avenue

Like husks of a summer

Savored and spent

Fall follows the footpath

To where summer went

Now the umbrellas

That lured us to lie

Like maidens and fellas

Beneath the big sky

Mutely dismantle

While nature’s big broom

Brushes to fence-lines

And hedgerows, its bloom

The big night is hollow

Its halls bleak and bare

Where stark branches wallow

And scratch the dark air

Hear how the wind lurks

In lonesome lament

Scavenging footpaths

To where summer went

Behind shuttered windows

The weather is warm

Wild the wind whimpers

With threats of a storm

Jealous it seems

Of our laughter intent

On following dreams

To where summer went

© Janet Martin

It's Up to Us

PAD Challenge day  13:For today’s prompt, write an optional poem. 

We can compare ourselves to others

Wallow in self-pity, doubt

Or count our many blessings knowing

God is what we’re all about

We can choose to worry, worry

Fret about what we can’t see

Or we can choose to remember

God takes care of you and me

We can choose to ignore God

But if foolish we dare do such

Then all else that we accomplish

Will not really matter much

We can wish for what we have not

Pine for youth when we are old

Or we can be truly thankful

For the moment that we hold

© Janet Martin

Today's YDP:

Count That Day Lost by George Eliot

If you sit down at set of sun And count the acts that you have done, And, counting, find One self-denying deed, one word That eased the heart of him who heard, One glance most kind That fell like sunshine where it went -- Then you may count that day well spent. But if, through all the livelong day, You've cheered no heart, by yea or nay -- If, through it all You've nothing done that you can trace That brought the sunshine to one face-- No act most small That helped some soul and nothing cost -- Then count that day as worse than lost. This poem is in the public domain.

 

What A Day That Will Be!

  

Don't you just LOVE when people use their gifts to God's glory?!

They say something that steals one's breath...'we are only one heartbeat away from eternity'

It might be today, nobody can tell

how near or far is heaven or hell.

It might be before tonight's door to the sky

Closes forever for you or I

We do not know when The Hour befalls

So we should be ready in case God calls

Look up, up, up, heaven is not far

And we cannot see how near we are

Take courage then comrade and fight the good fight

For who knows but God if we'll meet Him tonight

No, we do not know when That Day will befall

So we should never, ever ignore God's call

What a day that will be when we see Him at last

Where eternity has no future, present or past

Time is a vapor, a flicker, a breath

We pass but once through its valley of death

Where now we are poised on the brink of it all

Oh, are we ready if today God should call

Janet~

Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts...Ps.95:6-8

Garden Slumber-song

Slumber, sweet garden in cradles of soil

Long you have borne rose and thorn, fruit and toil

Now let the wind-song sweep over your slope

Lulling the plot that soon cradles new hope

Rock-a-bye, river of umber and sod

Hush-a-bye, haven of summer and God

Lullaby, rest for your best work is done 

Garnered and gathered in jars filled with sun

Sleep ‘til a wisp o’ spring kisses your brow

Sleep, tucked in warm beneath blankets of snow

Sleep, you have earned your furrow-turned repose

Lavishing larders with seed’s sundry rose

Slumber, sweet garden for soon you will wake

Where restless sunbeams tickle bird, bark and brake

Now let the murmur of echoing deep

Wrap you in summer and rock you to sleep

© Janet Martin