Smiles of Grace

A gorgeous morning...

The winds that wear us through and through

And tear down high noon’s avenue

And force us to come face to face

With words like trust, surrender, grace

Makes what we muster not in vain

If we get up and try again

And reconcile wonder and woe

As smiles of grace whereby we go

These vessels scarred by fetes of loss

Where gain oft veils its albatross

Of cross to bear and lay down where

We meet with foes head-on in prayer

And lift the shapeless torch of faith

Aware of He who grants each breath

And introduces high and low

As smiles of grace whereby we go

God hides His face save where we see

The essence of his Majesty

As the Presence of Something More

Than sight and sound touches our core

And stirs us onward in the charge

Where moments muscle through this barge

Of flesh and blood with yes and no

In smiles of grace whereby we go

© Janet Martin

Yes, it was a gorgeous morning
followed by a gorgeous evening...

For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
John 1:16

Worth Earth's Here-To -There

 The past few mornings dawn's halo flares 

but is soon snuffed by Old Man's Winter's huffy gray stare!

Heaven’s halo, pink and yellow

Beams across earth’s stalwart piers

Rouses drowsy maid and fellow

To the dirt of dreams and fears

Hurt and hunger hone their hollows

Trust’s brave valor clings to hope

Future fizzles; present follows

Before dusting Bygone’s slope

Work and worry’s constant cargo

Keeps us pressing to a Goal

Where faith will trade its embargo

In exchange for Living Soul

Lift those heavy feet, my darling

Fold those hands in humble prayer

Heaven’s halo hints at Something

That makes worth earth’s Here-to-There

© Janet Martin

 And let us not grow weary of doing good, 

for in due season we will reap, 

if we do not give up.

 Gal.6:9

Quite an Undertaking; This

Moments, breaths, steps, all seem rather small when isolated

but my what an undertaking they are when looking back at the legacy they weave/leave ... 

Breath by breath and step by step

Day to week to month to year

What we are makes who we were

Who we were fills farewell’s tear

Quite an undertaking; this

What we fashion with What Is

Best we live with holy mien

Lest we miss what could/should have been

© Janet Martin

More Monday-(Everyday) Reasons To Sing...#2

This is a second go-round of reasons to sing

 because when we start focusing on Blessing instead of Burden

it's a song that never ends! 

For a kind word

For the song bird

For spring soft-bursting budded seams

For mastered goals

When twilight tolls

From belfries of unfulfilled dreams

For time’s untried

Where dawn runs wide

For Hope in spite of trouble’s ‘yet’

For time-out ‘joys’

For naughty boys

Who try to be good, but forget

For laughter’s lilt

For nature’s quilt

Of white before bright green-bronze-gold

For a Good Book

For meals to cook

For fond memories to enfold

For dinner-hour

Summer-shower

Autumn-bower’s beauty-tide

For birthday cakes

And turquoise lakes

For friendliness of fireside

For comfy clothes

And freckled nose

Crinkled and begging for a kiss

For innocence

For bloom-lined fence

For the first-dance of this; What Is

For happiness

Of blue-sky tress

For tender tug of letting go

Where what we held

Begins to meld

With Reminiscence' Picture Show

For ripe bananas

Red bandanas

Rocking chairs for lullabies

For baby’s coo

For nature’s woo

-ing ways to vex domestic ties

For motherhood

And God is good

And Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

For little girls

With bouncy curls

For hands to hold and floors to sweep

For strength and health

And simple wealth

Of family we love so much

For living large

And free of charge

When it comes to sunsets and such

For work to do

For hopes come true

And some, still faith’s fodder for prayer

For keeping on

Though seasons pawn

Our youth for Truth’s unyielding stare

For things to learn

And wings to earn

For flying if but to crash-land

To sit and fit

The grit of it

Into a Higher Helping Hand

For friends that cheer

Through smile or tear

For rows to hoe and miles to go

For bloom-filled crocks

For sky-wide clocks

That force our work shod feet to slow

For front rows seats

Where night competes

With the beginning of Today

For poetry

Waiting to be

Before dusk folds its page away

For God’s kind grace

To help us face

What waits within Time’s veiled facade

For roads that twist

Through mud and mist

But ultimately lead to God

© Janet Martin

Sing to the LORD a new song;

sing to the LORD, all the earth.

2Sing to the LORD, praise His name;

proclaim His salvation day after day.

3Declare His glory among the nations,

His wonderful deeds among all peoples.

4For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;

He is to be feared above all gods.

5For all the gods of the nations are idols,

but it is the LORD who made the heavens.

6Splendor and majesty are before Him;

strength and beauty fill His sanctuary. 

Psalm 96:1-6

Reasons To Sing...

Sometimes on Mondays, singing for the love of life's Giver is not my foremost thought...

Sometimes I focus on long to-do lists a little before I ought

Sometimes, to inspire glad Reason to sing for the love of more than I planned

I need let go of want-woe-worrying, so He can hold my hand

 A little while ago I shared Reasons I Write Poetry

and Reasons I Pray.

Today I'm focusing on Reasons to Sing 

(partly because singing was not my first impulse this morning, 

until I read Ann Voskamp's devotional where she encouraged us 

instead of trying to 'do it all' this week to focus on letting Christ 'be it all'!

(the first stanza works as a single poem which was my original plan but the words kept coming:)

If we let go we start to see

The One who holds us faithfully

If we unclench our fists of greed

We start to see another’s need

If we stare pride straight in the face

We die to self and live by grace

If we choose faith in place of fear

We hush the demons that we hear

And if we want to know life’s best

We love; then trust God for the rest

His hierarchy exceeds time’s graph

His mercy pleads on our behalf

His Excellence, earth’s hills exalt

His Example, no one can fault

His Holiness, eclipses awe

His love, life’s pure and perfect law

His Way, pursued through humble prayer 

Leads to Reward beyond compare

His Word is Truth and without end

The Presence of a faithful Friend

His Law, a universal rule

His blood shed for both wise and fool

His Righteousness our sole Soul-boast

His sacrifice, our uttermost

His death so we may live, our hope

His promises so we may cope

His Resurrection so that we

May also share death’s victory

His Strength for time-length’s push and pull

Till faith-turned-sight makes half-joy full

© Janet Martin