It Simply Takes a Spark...

 You are the light of the world.

 A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

 Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  

 In the same way, let your light shine before others,

 that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

 Matt 5:14-16

Oh, isn’t it amazing

It simply takes a spark

A tiny candle blazing

To pierce the dark

And eyes turn to its Beacon

However small or large

A lighthouse on life’s ocean

For mortal barge

 Ah, pure and perfect halo

Sweet hope-anointed ray

Like a light in the window

To show the way

Then let Love be within us

A pure and gentle flame  

To shine the light of Jesus

And praise His name

© Janet Martin

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

 He was with God in the beginning.  

 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  

 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  

 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:1-5 

Worth It All...

I commented to someone this morning how the eagerness and excitement
of the Sunday School children 

(looking forward to dressing up like people of old on that First Christmas)

makes 'it' (the extra effort etc.) so worth it all!

My thoughts suddenly flashed to our Heavenly Father looking upon His children,

where many mourn and suffer more than laugh

yet oh, how He knows it was/will be worth it all!

(Now if we are (His) children, then we are heirs--

heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,

 if indeed we share in his sufferings 

in order that we may also share in his glory. Rom.8:17)

click this link for the story behind the above song

Then when we bow our hearts and heads and whisper ‘I believe’

When we say ‘not my will but thine’, His purpose to achieve

When we count it all joy to bear life’s trials for His sake

Knowing that perseverance comes through trying of our faith

When we without miserly bent give more than ‘just enough’

And trust in what-so state we are to be content and love

When hope that does not make ashamed makes worth the tender toll

Where His grace is sufficient for the carriage/courage of the soul

And when He sees trust prove belief until we Hear Him call

And we stand face to face, both weeping ‘it was worth it all’

Then we will touch His scars as He wipes final tears away

As He receives the glory for the price He had to pay

…then, when we do not understand His perfect reasoning

We ought to come to Bethlehem and bow before the King

And there behold the Lamb of God who came to take away

The sins of this world so that we may dwell with Him for aye

© Janet Martin

 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, 

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 23:6

What You Cannot Know (through no fault of your own)

'You didn’t know me then', I sometimes say to my now grown children

 when we talk about something I used to do before they were born, 

such as drive to work at 4:00 a.m. on slippery wintery roads.

 All they know me as is mom who looks after a family’s practical needs!

 (my sis texted me this afternoon about these pages above

and more but you'll have to buy or borrow the book for the rest)😀

The Shape of a Year by Jean Hersey

I think because we have the same mother and we both have daughters

we relate to certain parts of this book on a very mutual level! 

One of my top ten favs ever!

My dear, you cannot understand (by no fault of your own)

How much your mother’s heart expands to hold children full-grown

Or how the girl she was is still a part of who she is

(no matter what changes because Time keeps its promises)

The heart you cannot fathom until you are old as she

Will always still be learning how to hold while setting free

Twixt yester’s child and today’s woman, man her love is torn

Where thankfulness and longing spar in whispers heaven-borne

Yes, she’s been disappointed at love’s disappointments, oh

At how the future is nothing like she dreamed long ago

As God so rich in mercy grants breath-stealing more or less

And teaches her to look closer at ‘what is happiness’

I did not understand back then (through no fault of my own)

How oft my mother’s heart landed before her Father’s throne

Or how once upon long ago my mother used to be

A barefoot maiden filled with dreams foot-loose and fancy-free

Before the call and cares of life joined love and motherhood

And still through all the joy and strife she knew that it is good

How all we did not understand is what waited to be

Sweet thrills of surprise at age-old, newfound discovery

…she waits for passion to become astonished at time’s way

No one can seize the pendulum that dictates night and day

But as the heart expands to hold what soon is left behind

The girl she was will remind her to be patient and kind

© Janet Martin

Vapour Wrapping-Paper

Already today's wrapping has begun to fall away...

in wet, white flakes!

 
Psalm 36:7
How precious is Your loving devotion, O God, 

that the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

Today, wrapped in fresh mercy metes its Unknown breath by breath

The wisp of yester-hopes-and-dreams is wrapped in Bygone’s breadth

The wonders of the world, soft-wrapped in morning’s misted gauze

In seasoned measure is unfurled before our rapt applause

Where whether we are wrapped in faith or fear as on we go

We all are wrapped in tender grace by He who loves us so

Longing, wrapped in the ache and pain of wanting what is not

Is wrapped up in the present loss and gain of what we’ve got

The hour, wrapped in moments sheds imminent mystery

The bloom wrapped in green casing waits until God sets its free

Where we are often wrapped up in what scope of sight unveils

Desire, wrapped in feeling often leaps then weeps and wails

Pity the one wrapped in Self-pity and its darkened gaze

Ah, we are all wrapped in the tender tangle of Time’s ways

Its breath-by-breath unfolding what is wrapped in common cares

Of dawn to dusk firm-molding what was wrapped in morning prayers

…or stares wrapped in the empty ache of Unbelief’s cold boast

Resisting to be wrapped in arms of He who loves us most

© Janet Martin

Preparing For Christmas Prayer

I wrote this before the morning began unfolding
And tidiness was filled with the happy sound of children playing.

Bottom right: It's not everyone that gets a lion-audience while cutting carrot-sticks! lol;-)

 Lord, fill us with Perfect Reason

Not to suffer worry's stress

Let the wonder of the Season

Thrill our hearts with happiness

Lord, turn our gaze this Christmas

From wish-lists that drive us wild

Make our mission one of gladness

Celebrating the Christ Child

Dear Lord, let the hope of Jesus

Crush the demons of despair

Let the joy of that First Christmas

Wake in us love’s living prayer

Lord, make our heart a stable
Welcoming Jesus again

Make our worship fit for angels
Peace on earth, goodwill to men 

© Janet Martin

 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
 "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has told us about."
Luke 2:15

  I love Charlie Pride's Christmas songs!