Approaching Advent...

Your eyes saw my unformed body; 

 all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:16

Is there Room in your Heart?

(one of my favorite advent hymns!)

All the World Awaits...

Miracle of Love

No matter what we dread or fear, crave or anticipate 

Or hate or love, or wish or wonder or doubt or debate 

No matter what we have and hold or lose, bind or set free 

All of our days were written down before one came to be 

Naked we came into this world; naked we will return 

No matter what we boast or brave or crave or learn or earn 

Each morn, like a banner unfurled, advances certainly 

The Doorway to another world beyond the one we see 

No matter what or how or where one thing we cannot change 

The One who saw us ere we were and nothing can estrange 

No matter who we think we are, we are his workmanship 

Created for good works in He who will aid and equip 

He saves us by his grace, not works, lest anyone should boast 

Without faith it is impossible to please Love’s Uttermost 

No matter where life takes us it is no surprise to He 

Who ordained all our days before one of them came to be 

For we who have believed (ah, mortal’s most wonderful state) 

Do not despair but look beyond earth’s grave-studded dirt-gate 

To Bethlehem, to Calvary, to Triumph’s empty tomb 

To He who knew us when we were still in our mother’s womb 

© Janet Martin 

A Picture Hides A Thousand Words

While I was arranging my advent center-piece

the dried black beans I soaked overnight boiled over. 

(every so often I soak a bunch, then cook and freeze them)

It doesn't seem to matter how big a pot I use they will boil over 

into a black mess on the stove!

It's just ridiculous how much foam they create!

So, as serene as the centerpiece appears, all by itself

it sits among the mess and hub-bub of life

and the smell of burnt bean-water in the burner😆

Reminded me of the drama of taking family-photos

which for us is not an annual event!

First there's the, 'what shall I WEAR?!!

To the 'you're not wearing That, are you?! 

to Mom, does this look okay?

 to 'how's my hair?'

 to, mom's hesitant query to the nonchalant one; are you...ready??? 

and the not-hesitant 'yup'!.

SO much more than meets the eye goes into The Family Photo!

But. It . Happened.

Thanks to a nice November Sunday

and super photographer Brittany Ruppert 

for all her amazing farm animal noises which kept

children and adults distracted/relaxed/laughing/smiling!

(the reason Victoria is just about dying of laughter on every photo)😂😂

A picture hides a thousand words 

Behind its tidy guiles 

Is so much more than seen or heard 

In polished, paper smiles 

A picture only snares a glimpse 

We siphon from the mess 

To capture from the chaos, glints 

Of arranged happiness 

Oh, Brant 'Johnny' dear, don’t cross your eyes 

Quick, click the shutter please 

Where, fingers crossed, we snare a prize 

Midst disharmonic ‘c-h-e-e-e-se’ 

A photo (do not be deceived) 

By that which visage meets/metes 

For meek, sweet stance is oft achieved 

Through threats or promised treats 

Now everybody, one-two-three 

Oh no! I laughed-blinked-sneezed 

And ho, he thinks I didn’t see 

What Mister Kissed-her squeezed 

I’m thankful for the memento 

Of precious photograph 

I’m thankful that they only show 

The quiet, composed half 

I’m thankful for the keepsakes of 

Seasons soon turned to Was 

While time steals days but never love 

In spite of all it does 

I’m thankful for the sweet half-lie 

In tidy, pretty pose 

Of so much more than meets the eye 

…unless you are a rose 

I'm thankful for moments that smiled

Midst life's rough-tumble ways 

As we capture for morrow's child

Snapshots of Good Old Days

© Janet Martin 

For Kids and Parents (of all ages)

We make laundry, 

Lots of messes 

Happiness’s 

Finest parts 

We make parents 

Laugh and lament 

We melt popsicles 

And hearts 

We make Ordinary 

Sacred

We make headaches ...

We are loud 

We make parents 

Lose their patience 

We make parents 

Feel so proud 

We make dishes 

And the wishes 

Of mommies 

And daddies come true 

We make noise 

And joys 

And sorrows 

Cause that's what 

Girls and boys do 

We make sticky 

Hugs and kisses 

We make adults 

Children too 

We make everything 

So worth it 

With soft, chubby, 

‘I wuv/love you’ 

Did I mention 

We make messes 

We make parents 

Find their knees 

While we make 

Best Happiness-es 

While we make 

Best Memories 

© Janet Martin 

I wrote this with one on my lap 

Squeezing me with hugs and kisses and one 

Beside me who, after I read 

Part of the poem 

pleaded non-stop 

‘ple-e-e-se may I have a melty popsicle? 

I love melty popsicles, ple-e-e-e-ase! 

Sometimes ya’ just gotta 

Strike while the iron is hot! 

Now let’s see if we have any popsicles! 

Yes!

So they had those while I posted this,

then Little boy climbed back up on my chair

 put his arms around my neck and right now he

is hiccupping loudly in my ear😍😂😇

(must be that popsicle:)

Lessons Easier Said than Done

 

This is nothing new; the uncertainty of the times we are in!

God bless you as we learn together

to trust and lean more completely on Him!

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

2 Cor.6:1-2

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

 For he says,

“In the time of my favor I heard you,

and in the day of salvation I helped you.”[a]

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, 

now is the day of salvation.

Learning to lean longer, stronger through meeker relinquishment 

Learning to let weakness be the catalyst to Super-strength 

Learning to be less of me so that there can be more of You 

Are all lessons that are so much easier to say than do 

Learning to listen rather than pour out my heart’s misery 

Learning to be still and know that you are Graced Sufficiency 

Learning to let go while holding on to You, unfailing One 

Are lessons far easier said than wholly, holy, humbly done 

Learning to trust without knowing what lies near or far ahead 

Learning to rest in the promises You gave to us instead 

Learning to live each day like it could be life’s severing tie 

Are lessons far easier to say than do, but we should try 

© Janet Martin

The Sweetest Flavour in the World

This post is a sequel to the previous post😀

Before...

After

Before...

After

(note; woodpiles appear much larger in real life than on a photo!!)😄

Before...

After...

Before...

After...

I like the taste of maple syrup on most anything 

And honey on plain yogurt is a meal fit for a king 

But no matter what I might name I think we all consent 

Few things taste sweeter than the flavour of accomplishment 

On the grand scale of achievements our triumphs may seem small 

No Nobel Peace Prize winner or Olympic gold medal 

But it is not the size that makes accomplishment so sweet 

Rather, whether we persevered till the task was complete 

Oh, isn’t it delightful, when at last we reach the end 

Of something built, cleaned, picked, packed, piled is there aught sweeter, friend? 

Than the exhilaration after dedication spent 

To savour the fine flavour of sweet, sweet accomplishment 

© Janet Martin

And the Sweetest Accomplishment of all?

even Sweeter than 'after covid?!!'

This; What a Day that Will Be

2 Tim.4:7-8

 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, 

which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—

and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

 

 

 

 

Daily Gift (already in full swing)

By the time we swing our legs over the side of the bed 

to go from horizontal to vertical, 

before our toes touch the floor

we have already been presented with opportunity

to turn our heart/mind earthward or heavenward!

Last night before I went to bed I told Victoria 

I really should write a timetable for today, 

so I don't waste a minute of trying to complete 

a whole bunch of odds-and-ends tasks such as...

wash out and tidy the fridge and freezing compartment

stack wood so we can get more on Saturday,

 

organize pantry again (sometimes I wonder if somewhere the pantry has a sign;

 if you don't know what to do with it pitch it in here) 

tidy fruit cellar because last week I hauled a shelf out of it

when I was fall-cleaning the livingroom that I decided 

would be the perfect size for the back wall and the first

step/shelf toward the dream of creating a little book-nook!

 

now, what to do with everything that was on it before...

(I know how to make a lot of extra work for myself😛)

All this to say, this morning... 

I woke up with a rip-roaring headache and nausea 

so I went back to bed, woke up at 10:30 (thankfully childcare is Thursday and Friday this week)

and feel much better! now I am having a coffee and pretending it's six in the morning

instead of eleven, oops noon!

(lots of pause-and-serve opportunities already!)

Each day is like a gift laden with opportunity

No matter what our circumstance or vocation may be

It tests our best intention with basic matters of fact

Where it is up to us to decide how we will react

The vantage-points from agendas we cannot set in stone

Are always at the mercy of a hand over our own

It moves through plans like a toddler through sibling’s well-laid blocks

And doesn’t mind a mite about the steady pace of clocks

Each day presents a heap of ways to think, then say and do

To learn to bend, not break, with God’s kind grace to help us through

It challenges our patience, tests our words and tries our trust

And offers endless opportunities to readjust

No day, try as hard as we may, is ever quite bespoke

My, my how swift its gift soon drifts like curlicues of smoke

While we are wrangling into practice the fine filigree

Of learning how to make the most of opportunity

© Janet Martin

Gal. 6:10

Therefore, as we have opportunity, 

let us do good to all people, 

especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

 

Mission Manifesto

 

Lord, let the Certainty of what we know

guide us through all we do not!

I love you, Lord

We stand so small beneath the tall outpouring of the sky 

Ah, what is man that God, who spreads yon span knows you and I 

And loves us still, and bids us trust in His unfailing care 

While round about the world seems bound with doubt, hate and despair 

If God is for us who can be against us; hence we go 

In kind humility to bind the wounds of our foe 

For if we simply love our own, we mimic pagan spec 

Ah, who can stay afloat with hate’s millstone tied round the neck 

We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of our God 

And who are we, if God loves us that He should spare the rod 

For a father who loves his child will discipline and chide 

Lest by omission we perceive his blessing on our pride 

We cannot understand the thoughts and ways of He who gave 

His sinless Son to suffer unto death our souls to save 

But by his grace (and only by His grace) we will succeed 

Because His love will be enough to supply our need 

Lord, grant us wisdom through your Word to see through evil’s lies 

Lest, by conceit or folly we fall prey to truth’s disguise 

Lead us not into temptation; deliver us from vice 

And thought’s unrighteousness into love’s law of sacrifice 

© Janet Martin 

Psalm 8

Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory

in the heavens.

2 Through the praise of children and infants

you have established a stronghold against your enemies,

to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?[c]

5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]

and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.

6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

you put everything under their[g] feet:

7 all flocks and herds,

and the animals of the wild,

8 the birds in the sky,

and the fish in the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Does His Name, the Name of Jesus...

It's not too early, is it...

to turn our eyes toward Bethlehem?

Behold Him (Official Lyric Video) - Paul Baloche ft. Kim Walker-Smith

 

Immanuel (From The Squalor of a Borrowed Stable)

Does His name, the name of Jesus stir a love song in Thy soul 

Does He melt the mountain-shadows from landscapes beyond control 

Does He thrill and fill with wonder the eternal child within 

Does He satisfy heart-hunger when we fix our gaze on Him? 

Does His Name, the name of Jesus calm the waves of doubt and fear 

Do You feel Him right beside you in the trench of Now and Here 

When the darkness starts to thicken and threatens to snuff hope’s flame 

Tell me then, does your pulse quicken at the mention of his Name 

Does His name, the name of Jesus draw you back to Bethlehem 

Have you peered into the manger like the shepherds way back when 

Have you followed with the masses through the streets, or climbed a tree 

Have you knelt and wept with sorrow at the cross of Calvary? 

Does His name, the name of Jesus take you to an empty tomb 

Where a Rock would never deter or detain Heaven’s Bridegroom 

Does His name, the name of Jesus as trouble and strife increase 

Fill thy vessel in the tempest with an everlasting peace 

© Janet Martin