Divine 'Do Nots'

 We grew up singing a capella shaped-note four part harmony like the song below

My mother put a photo in my birthday card this week, from days gone by before voices grew rusty...

  'an after-supper-dishes-are-done sister sing-song' 

Those age-old words in scripture and hymn are as relevant now as when they were written! Praise the Lord!

Soft zephyr serenades the break of day

Where we are always never far away

From what; who knows, but mercy’s smile and tear

Are shod with God’s kind bidding, ‘do not fear’

The flower of the hour falls away

Today is always almost yesterday

Tomorrow, none can borrow save in prayer

To heed hope’s creed of trust, ‘do not despair’

Time’s four-season sun-and-shadow quadrille

Is never always only good or ill

Still, many do not know what they believe

Deaf to admonition 'do not deceive’

The prophecies of old unfold, few awed

But they who are can feel the hand of God

As He replenishes man’s mortal cup

With whispers deep within ‘do not give up’

© Janet Martin

The photo below will give you an opportunity to enjoy as well,

 these beautiful birthday-gift blooms!

Today, If We Should Pass Away...

A grim reminder of the ephemeral tent of time...

Today, a memorial is being held for a mother of seven killed in a traffic accident on her way to picking up her daughter at piano lessons. 

Tributes of praise for her kind and generous character pour in...

Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,
Eph.5:15

 

Today, if we should pass away

From all that we would leave behind

With nothing left to do or say

Would our legacy be kind?

Today its full abundance pours

In glorious opportunity

An inkwell filled with hope and chores

And God-allotted poetry

Today is like a sacred pen

And Now, a page that God imparts

Whereon we write, before Amen

Seals our legacy in hearts

Today, oh pray we bear in mind

How important ‘the time we took’

And, would our legacy be kind

If today God should close its book

© Janet Martin

 Live, laugh, love.

For who knows; tomorrow

Might spill its trove

In death's tears and sorrow

As Time Goes By...

Photo by lianarhodenizerphotography.com

As Time goes by it teaches us

How swift each gifted leap

Ah, subtle, soft, the lullaby

That rocks a year to sleep

As Time goes by it touches us

With hands no one can still

And makes us wiser ‘neath The Must

That moves against our will

As time goes by we learn to live

With kinder, meeker Take

Because Time, as it gives and gives

Leaves echoes in its wake

As time goes by we realize

How smooth it ebbs away

And humbly hold the holy prize

Of simple day to day

© Janet Martin

Happy quarter-century birthday, dear daughter!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And lean not on your own understanding

Prov.3:5

Going With Flow

Cool, said Matt, you got a nice sunset for your birthday!

 I did get a sunset, and because it was almost dark when I got home last night
I didn't find a birthday surprise left on my front porch, until this morning...
Thank-you, Lucy!Tthe gift was so thoughtful and perfect! I have a new favourite mug:)
but mostly I am disappointed that I was not home when you dropped by...

 

A gift from afar...thank-you, Sasha:)

A Hibiscus plant I received a year ago (thank-you Dar:) popped its first bloom in quite a while

Futile to fret and push against 

The forward flow of Time 

Better to live and give kind thanks 

To He who grants its chime

Lest we forget while we break bread 

And drink life's brimming cup

To give the praise for all our days 

To He who fills it up

(last stanza optional)

For, far too soon, morn turns to noon

And noon to twilight's toll

Futile to fret lest we forget

Life's greatest Yet; the soul

Janet Martin~

Thankful...

Well, sort of 'after'. We didn't have time to finish it but maybe by the end of the week!

The before picture doesn't really show all the dead and overgrown-ness, but

the landscaping is due for an overhaul. 

Tomorrow we want to add color!

Brantley could not understand what grandma was doing NOT holding and playing with him all day

Thankful...

Sometimes the heart, so full of love
Cannot put into word
The height and depth and breadth thereof
That leaves it humbly stirred

Sometimes the joy of gratitude 
Finds speech impossible
To utter with exactitude
What makes a heart so full
 
Sometimes the humble tears we weep
Are all we have to say
Lord, thank-you for what none can keep
Yet fills our every day

© Janet Martin

...very weary, old woman hitting the sack.
G'night all:)

Contemplating Clocks

 My, but that clock is a smooth-tocker, oh  

Melting a year like a starlet of snow

The offspring of a clock yields more than

days turned into years. The grant of

 morning’s open door swings

 wide and disappears. Then

laid before mortal survey

To choice’s aptitude

Tick-tock 

spreads 

forth

 a 

grand 

buffet to

Test our attitude

Where gratitude and 

circumstance are ever 

intertwined And everybody   

has the chance to be patient and kind.    

So when we look back to replay not  merely 

days  and years. The offspring of a clock will

splay fond scenes through thankful tears

© Janet Martin

Reaffirming an attitude of gratitude

as the years tally up and park a new number in the 'age' slot of Janet:) 

Hopefully I can share pics later of how I spent my birthday!

...and thank-you Sasha, for a beautiful poem-gift.
What a poignant last line!

Weighing the Balance

The ballad of time's live-laugh-love

Flows in the undertow

Through ether tent of seasons spent 

In living's high and low

Oh, I could sigh for days gone by

And wishes not come true

And I could weep for Yester’s keep

But what good would it do?

That begging bin beneath my skin

Though love pours out its gold

Is hollow still, against my will

And I am growing old

Inhale, exhale, a sacred grail

Filled with fresh vim and verve

Pours through love’s ache of give and take

Much more than I deserve

…though I could cry for days gone by

And dream’s futility

Life is too swift to miss the gift

Of what yet waits to be

© Janet Martin