Tuesday, July 17, 2018

In Case of No Tomorrow


 After yesterday's scare (see here
it causes one to re-evaluate today!
My stress-level has dropped significantly.
My to-do list feels like a Christmas present!

Matthew 6:25
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; 
or about your body, what you will wear. 
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
... then down to verse 33&34;
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 
and all these things will be added unto you.
 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, 
for tomorrow will worry about itself.  
Today has enough trouble of its own.
 
So, in case of no tomorrow...

Mend those bridges that need mending
Spend more time stressing out less
Keep no record of wrong-doing
Fill your face with happiness
Touch today with humble rev’rence
Life is fragile at its best
Hold the hands within your reaching
And trust God to hold the rest
Make a memory worth keeping
Thank the Giver for the chance
If you have two feet, my darling
Then, my love, by all means, dance
Do not put off til tomorrow
That which should be done today
Don’t let imminence of sorrow
Steal your present joy away
Make the most of vital moments
Who knows when death wields its rod
And last but the most important
Make ready to meet your God

© Janet Martin

Glad-Factor


Aren't you SO glad, after nights that feel like this...


 We wake up in the morning feeling like this...?!


Glad for goodness rife with mercy
Glad for hope and strength regained
Overflowing in the morning
Where at night its cup was drained

Glad for more important purpose
Than mere Self to satisfy
Glad this grin-and-bear-it progress
Reaches through both grave and sky

Glad my sentimental musing
Is the gift of ‘having had’
Glad those things not of my choosing
Make me treasure more ‘the glad’

© Janet Martin

...and this morning my foremost thought is
"I'm glad to be alive!!!
after a TERRIBLE choking scare yesterday on a mouthful of Life cereal!
(the irony lost on me (because it shook me up so bad) 
'til I told Jim last night and he said that would have made quite the headline
"woman chokes to death on Life Cereal"
I was here alone with Brantley and had skipped lunch 
so I could finish the garden work while he was asleep.

After he woke up I remembered I didn't eat so I poured a bowl of cereal and I think I likely just put too much in my mouth 'cause I was in a hurry and when Life cereal gets wet it turns into paste
and it would not move up or down. Thankfully it moved just as I thought I was going to black out
(I will spare you the gross details)
so I have researched what to do when you are alone and choking!
The moral of this story; slow down and chew your food!



Monday, July 16, 2018

Gateway to the Getaway...


 "I can't wait til September 'cause then I'll be in grade one", said Little Boy in wide, blue-sky July. "No, wait! I can't wait til October 'cause then I'll be six and in Grade one and I can play hockey again and that will be so fun AND it will be Hallowe'en and I'm going to dress up like a UPS driver like my dad, but oh, I wish the colors were black and red and yellow not brown and yellow...he pauses to chuckle "I really don't like brown and yellow!" All this without hardly taking a breath, as we podded peas...



Now six, now seven, now eight
Can someone kindly bar the gate
where night and day slip through and seal
what none can keep and none can steal
as gently dawn-to-dawn allots
the place where babies turn to tots
and Boy is in a hurry, oh
to have another birthday so
perhaps when he is five or six
he’ll be as big as Brother is
Now eight, now nine, now ten
Time seems in such a hurry to turn boys into grown men
And it will never bar the gate
Where child breaks through and mothers wait
At night with front porch lights left on
Until they’re home,
Until they’re gone

© Janet Martin





Sunday, July 15, 2018

So This Is Summer


 Sometimes when days are a blur of busyness its good to remind ourselves to slow a bit because 
This Is Summer...the days we dream about all winter long!

Where sheen of green turns gold and bronze



So this is summer; clouds float free
Like pontoons on a sky-blue sea
And patchwork panoramas surge
Out to where earth and heavens merge

Garden grants labour and respite
Plants charm senses of taste-smell-sight
Where lark and cricket serenade
Afternoon art of sun and shade

…and lemonade is tart and cold
Where shadow-pools lure young and old
And flowers spill and thrill then wane
And everyone wishes for rain

…to quench the thirst of bloom and beast
Where billows burst with mercy’s feast
And we are all happy to sit
And be immersed in it a bit

…and feel the friendship of hello
Before the grip of sleet and snow
Rouses in us the wanderlust
For days like these of dew and dust

Where sheen of green turns gold and bronze
On skeins that dole out dusky lawns
Where puppies romp and children play
And Time feels like a holiday

…filled with the crack of bats and cheers
With sun-hats, flip-flops, hotdogs, piers
And supper hours, sweet and slow
While twilight-towers grow and grow

So this is summer; soak it in
For soon its canopy grows thin
Where tatters scatter from its crown
In silver glints of thistle-down

© Janet Martin