Marching Orders and a Good Friday Eve Meditation

Over these past years of doing childcare I think most of the youngsters learn that Janet can be ‘nice’ and silly, turning into a cow, dog, pirate, pioneer, waitress or whatever else the day calls for ,

but that same Janet can also be Sergeant Janet and when she gets that certain look

and gives marching orders, well, you

Just.

 Better.

 March!

Sometimes this reminds me a little of God and us... We want God to be ‘nice’ and He is!

He loves us so much He sent His Son to die for us to break sin’s curse, death;

and to all who believe in Him He grants everlasting life.

But as much as God loves us He hates sin; the thing that separates us from Him!

He never, ever hates the sinner but always the sin!

So, just as we give our children ‘marching orders’ for their good and benefit,

He gives marching orders/laws for our good!
(but He is no Sergeant. He commands but does not demand. He never forces our obedience or love)

Why are we reluctant to yield to One who loves us so?

We live in a broken world. But we have a Healer!
 If we believe in the faithful, loving, holy, kind, merciful, righteous, redemptive God,
the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

who was obedient to death, even death on a cross!

By His stripes we are healed!

Below is the story I read to the kiddos today...
it evoked earnest 3 yr. old declarations of love for Jesus
From The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes...

By His stripes we are healed

Love bore atonement’s rod

Faultless Obedience appealed

On our behalf to God

There is no other name

Whereby man can be saved

Jesus, Jesus, absolves death’s claim

On mortal souls engraved

He bore our wretched shame

As on a cross He hung

Stripped of all but the bloody raim-

-ent from love’s gashes wrung

Obedient, Love came

To fulfill Mercy’s plan

Jesus, Jesus the only name

That offers hope to man

That hope, eternal life 
No fear in death for we
Who, when we leave this world of strife
Know just where we will be

© Janet Martin

 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
Isa.53:5

Have you believed in Him.

Have you confessed that you are sinner to he who is faithful and just to forgive our sins

and cleanse us from all unrighteousness?

If you have then Hallelujah,

If you have not, it’s not too late to call on Him and be saved from His righteous wrath to come!

Have you walked through the Easter Story absorbing the sorrow, the blows, the loneliness, the pain

And then the triumph?!

He didn’t just die!

He rose from the grave and just as He rose from the grave so also will all who believe!

That's Life...

 Everything in life is but a season, 

so let's pull up our socks and enjoy the ride

Soon we'll be looking back to where

We were before the turning of the tide

Sometimes I long for time it once seemed I had
when realistically,

time is not the issue; it has always only held twenty-four hours in each day...

it's the flood-gate of blessing that sometimes washes away one freedom

for another...sometimes we long for more time

for things like strolling Cretan countrysides or other blog-land vistas, or others,

  who were bloggers 'til life simply didn't allow the window of time it took to spill the view,

so they exchanged one joy for another

Wherever we are,let's not miss a drop of what soon is not!

Sometimes we look down

to notice

...we should be looking up!

Life weighs us down and ties us down

And twirls us round, oh, dear

It lifts us up and sits us up

And tips a cup of cheer

Life bakes a cake and makes us wait

To eat it ‘til its cool

It blurs the joy of words like ‘birds’

‘Hello’ and ‘after school’

Life shoots love’s darts where wronged sweethearts

Dry tears and love once more

It lures us to enjoy the view

Then hits us with the door

© Janet Martin

Years ago my Uncle Willie and Aunt Joyce played the song below on their banjos at a Frey reunion.
I think of them every time I sing it or hear it!
Hi Willie and Joyce!
Happy Easter!

p.s. the other song I remember you played that day was... I know an old lady who swallowed a fly😀
(In the weeks to follow Mom listened to her troop of youngsters belt out that song lol!)

The Poet's Blessing/Curse

 Sometimes when fear almost gets the best of me

When it comes to posting poetry

I look at books of 'hearts pieces' bared

And I thank the poets who wrote them, then shared

The poet by a whisper stirred

Endures the stormy swell

Roused by a constant flow of word

And pictures they could spell

The poet hears a melody

It takes her heart by storm

Where ink and authorship must plea

Its essence into form

The poet carves from quiet air

The image of a place

That transports us from here to there

And only thought can trace

© Janet Martin

Anticipating Awe!

Yesterday I read the question, 

What Are You Looking Forward to...?

Isn't anticipation one of life's most fantastic joys?!
(plus, it helps to temper disappointment
and the weight of dread which inevitably at times, must be!)

I can't wait for…

  

The plush plip-plop of lush rain-drop

Studding green leaf with gems like glass

The soft slip-slap as bare feet dash

To splash through dust on garden paths

Where cotton clouds waft aloft, soft

Above the linen-laden line

Of trousers, shirts, towels, summer skirts

Hob-knobbing with warm, gold sunshine

The petal show of red, yellow

Purple, blue, pink and white, oh my,

God’s work of art can steal the heart

And admiration of the eye

And I can’t wait to see the gate

Embellished with jasmine run wild

And kiss the face of Queen Ann’s lace

As well as sun-bronzed summer’s child

The luxury of late day tea

While swallows dart and dip and dive

The brawny buzz of cicadas

The lazy hush (or crazy rush) of half-past five

And I can’t wait to fill my plate

With fresh-picked-from-the-garden hue

Or run my gaze across the trays

Where summer spills old thrills anew

© Janet Martin