Thumbs Up (face to face or screen to screen)

We, the more mature students in the School of Life have learned or are learning 

not to base self-worth on how many likes or thumbs-up we get, 

but it doesn't mean a little 'thumbs up' isn't kind of like a big cyber

 (or face-to-face) smile/hug/ pat on the back.

Sometimes when I'm tempted to think that someone really couldn't care less

whether I 'like' it or not I think about the big boost of courage

some of those little thumbs-up have given me over the years💗

Our love/hate relationship with social-media, like it or not,

for better or worse, carries a weight of response-ability with it.

So whether to the people we meet on the street, in our homes,

or on social media, let's spread some high-five, smiley-face, thumbs-up love!

1 Thess.5:11

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up,

just as in fact you are doing.

Thumbs up can give someone a lift when they are feeling low 

A boost of confidence perhaps, a little ‘way-to-go’ 

A ‘you are not invisible but worth a smile, a prayer 

A kind nod of approval to fend off fiends of despair’ 

Thumbs up can say ‘hey, you’re okay and worth the while God grants’ 

Thumbs up can put a bounce in steps that somehow lost their ‘dance’ 

So, whether face to face or screen to screen, let’s do our part 

To spill some ‘thumbs-up-happiness’ into somebody’s heart 

Thumbs up is so much better than an emoji to vent 

To satisfy our anger in that spurt of resentment 

Better to walk away than say something we will regret 

Better to give a thumbs up and leave scowls and slurs unsaid 

Time is a tireless teacher; age does not deter him much 

We never outgrow needing someone’s time or tender touch 

A teeny, weeny thumbs up might be all somebody needs 

To fan the flame of courage to wherever Today leads 

© Janet Martin

The Impact of a Whisper

 

When we behold the One at last

On Whom we cast our cares

Then we will stand where Time is past

and thus our need for prayers

Did You Think To Pray Charlie Pride

Years ago I was at a Charlie Pride Concert.

When he asked for favorites someone requested this song.

He couldn't completely remember it so he asked for the help

of the audience and we sang this song together.

We’ll never know how far they go 

Who they will touch, or where 

Or ever see entirely 

The impact of a prayer 

With trust we plead for humble need 

For love like He portrayed 

For faith, not fear to commandeer 

And be doubt’s barricade 

We pray for those who never chose 

To serve Christ as their Lord 

Oh, how we pray in case today 

Death seals Choice’s reward 

We pray for eyes to realize 

More than first glance can prove 

For strength and health and want for wealth 

Of treasures stored above 

We lift to Him the hearts that brim 

With sorrow and despair 

We ask God for hope to restore 

Joy in spite of life’s care 

We pray for the sick and those quick

To scorn Hope's Only Way

We pray for the poor who need more

From we with more than they

We pray for grace to help us face 

The enemy of God 

To help us bear another’s care 

And thus fulfill love’s law 

The warpath of faith, hope and love

Is stained with suffering

Where warriors wept while Mercy kept

Them sheltered 'neath His wing

We pray that He would help us be

A reflection of Him

And not put first desires cursed

With selfish wish and whim

We whisper pleas to He who sees

Each hard and hidden part

Where groaning bleeds He intercedes

For He beholds the heart

We pray, for oh we’ll never know 

Who they will touch, when, where 

Or see in full the miracle 

That always starts with prayer 

© Janet Martin 

One among many examples of the miracles wrought through prayer!

Acts 12:1-19

Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison

1It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. 

Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

5So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

6The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

8Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. 

It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. 

When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches 

and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

12When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

15“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. 

When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

16But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, 

and then he left for another place.

18In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him,

 he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

December Dusk

December dusk such as tonight

deserves a little tribute

Where blue and gold 

like sea and sand,

wash through a mold 

Of day in hand 

and folds the land 

and sky into 

A world that slip, 

Slip-

Slips from view

Where stubble gleams 

like golden studs... 

that stipple reams 

of frozen mud 

while dusky pink 

to black ink drains

until only 

a moon remains 

© Janet Martin 

Of Reaching Our Prime

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

Never in a million years did I imagine when I was younger

 that a person's prime might be later in life!

Oh, the fantastic joy of discovery!

Finding in fumbles, not failure, but grace!

 Finding in dreams never come true

those we never dreamed!

Finding in relinquishment

love's meeker joy

Yesterday when the youngsters yelled 'go! go! faster! faster!!!'

...after a bit of trying to heed their  'faster, faster' 

I turned around and sang this song to them😅

The Old Gray Mare (aint what she used to be)

But in everything lost there is something found!

I am too old to be carefree 

The years have got the best of me 

The silhouette of leafless tress 

Is like a mirror, more or less 

I am too old to waste a day 

Wishing for what has passed away 

The penmanship of ‘how time flies’ 

Has etched its friendship in my eyes 

I am too old to make-believe 

About what time will not achieve 

Where gain and loss are like two vines 

As pain and pleasure intertwines 

I am too old to not look twice 

First at the cost and then the price 

Lest bites that seem so sweet at first 

Blind us to seeds, destruction-cursed 

I am too old to merely wink 

At the control tower of ‘Think’ 

For thought is the precursor to 

The Very All-important Do 

I may be too old for cartwheels 

To put much faith in how ‘one feels’ 

Rather than in the love of He 

Who calls to all ‘come unto Me’ 

...and I am not too old for joy 

To pray for growing girl and boy 

Or tune the common march of days 

With melodies of thankful praise 

Aha, the more I have of time 

The more I have to reach the Prime 

Of what Objective ought to be 

Love’s kindness and humility 

Love's kindness and humility

Will then in turn begin to be

True worship to the One who gives

True value to each day one lives

© Janet Martin

Take Time to Be Holy

The ties that bind grow dearer

as the clock of life unwinds

Where each day draws us nearer

to the life we leave behind

December's Fleeting Greeting

The final month that makes a year greets us as we awake 

Where tides of tick-tock disappear like ripples on a lake 

And makes us take a longer look where leaf-song bursts and fades 

And sweeps up youngsters in a book of childhood’s yesterdays 

The door that gapes beneath the tolling of a shapeless bell 

Invites us through; hearty handshakes always precede farewell 

Where ‘hello dear December’ like a twinkle in time’s eye 

Is soon snuffed like an ember on a hearth of years gone by 

We all start off so small in the Wherewithal of Today 

The Hand of time soon draws us all from carefree hours at play 

As January soon gives way to June and June to fall 

Until we too are stooped and gray that started off so small 

Hope lights the candlestick that sits in windows of the soul 

Without it we are all quick to lose sight of Goodnight’s Goal 

December carves through ages, turns back pages of thin air 

Until we find the manger and the Christ-child lying there 

© Janet Martin

Found an oldie wee Sing Christmas cassette when I was fall cleaning the other week

Love this song! 

Wind Through The Olive Trees

And one more brand new song for your listening/worshipping wonder/pleasure

How Low Was Our Redeemer Brought

November's Exodus (a farewell mosaic)

November exits like a white frosted cake!

Oops! wrong photo!

This is the cake Victoria baked on Saturday!

THIS is November's exodus!

Tonight, the wind raids woodlands stripping leaves that hung aloof 

Ice-pebbles dash black windowpanes and tap-dance on the roof 

And where we had commiserated with earth's brooding bars 

We sense the lowering of lintels laden with white stars 

As if nature was waiting for November’s cheerio 

To deck the halls of hills and fields and boulevards with snow 

Tonight, we sense a keener, meaner tone to After Dark 

We shiver. Gone the melody of leaf-laughter and lark 

The maniacs that hide and bide their time in lofty meads 

Crawl from their sanctuaries and shake out their featherbeds 

They rattle sky-high rafters over countryside and town 

Until earth’s sweeps are swaddled in sheets of soft eiderdown 

The river, a black sateen serpent slithers through the dell 

December holds the door and bids November fond farewell 

Adios until next year; may the days till your return 

Unfold and spill like flowers into Bygone’s phantom urn 

And may the echoes wafting in the wake of morrows met 

Be as pure as the snowflake’s swirling, twirling pirouette 

Tonight we put the kettle on and sip sweet, minty tea

We set sail on book-schooners to lands far, across the sea

We snuggle beneath blankets and count cozy blessings, oh

And thank God for each beauty that earth can never outgrow

Tonight the poet duels with the fuel of a poem 

Tonight the tug of farewell tangles with the hug of home

© Janet Martin 

Tonight we set sail on book-schooners...

The R&R of Prayer (Replenishing Relationship or Request-Result?)

Be still and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10

sunset and moonrise happened simultaneously the other night...

This past Sunday morning our speaker challenged us 

to consider what our motive is when we pray; 

Is it result-driven or relationship-driven? 

(confession!! I was thoroughly convicted!)

I Will wait for You-Praise and Harmony

In Need-Praise and Harmony

Oh God, I must confess my sin of emptiness and woe 

When Your reply frustrates my ‘I’ with 'why' or 'when' or 'no' 

Sometimes my prayer is more about results rather than You 

When I allow despair and doubt to dictate Point of View 

Help me to learn to be more still and know that You are God 

Forgive me; my interpretation of Your will is flawed 

How deceitful and wicked is my heart; You fully know 

I grasp a microscopic part of the grace You bestow

The hollows and the holes of human nature gape and plead 

Where only fellowship with God consoles our greatest need 

God, help me to be meeker in my effort to depend 

And be a humble seeker not of answers, but a Friend

Oh glorious Creator, we see but a glimpse of You

Greater than rolling sea, four-season-lea and yonder blue 

The universe is but the outer fringe of who You are

How faint the whisper that we hear, hinged to Your thund'ring pow'r

Then help me Lord, to trust in You with all my heart and mind

My understanding is confused by perception, sight-blind

Forgive me when I put stock in matters seized by my hands

Forgive me when I balk at what obedience demands 

God, you are not a God who lives in temples mortal-made

How often I forget who gives us Invisible aid 

Then teach me how to pray through so much more than words I speak

And let relationship with You be the first thing I seek

 

© Janet Martin 

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 

and all these things shall be added to you.

Matt. 6:33

Down the Road, So Thankful Then...

Inspired by my friend's comment about the effort it takes to get a family photo done!

She said' Surely we'll be thankful to have them, down the road!'

Her words impacted me with the thought of how often struggle and effort is

for something 'down the road we will be thankful for'!

For all the times we didn’t take the easy way, for where it led 

And suffered loss for Jesus’ sake to look after the poor instead 

And did not follow after what indulges pleasure’s endless thirst 

Because it did not imitate the example that Christ set first 

For all the ways we failed, yet did not fall prey to the doubter’s lies 

But confessed our sin and then once more pursued the Runner’s Prize 

And threw off all that hindered us; the sin that easily besets 

Fixing our eyes on faith’s Author and Perfecter, and not regrets 

For all the times ‘Thy will be done’ required surrender’s hard parts 

And sacrifices no one knew but He who knows our heart of hearts 

Way down the road (or near at hand, ah, who can tell) when we look back 

So thankful then, for all the times He kept us through the foe’s attack 

So thankful then for hope that did not make ashamed the love whereby 

God poured his Holy Spirit into us in trustworthy supply 

So thankful then to hear Him say ‘well done’ as humbly, joyfully 

We worship evermore the One who said, I draw all men to Me 

© Janet Martin 

(this next little poem also inspired by another friend's remark a few days ago

about trusting the Author and Perfecter of our faith...

and I realized often

The author is easy to accept/trust, but oh, 

the Perfecter; we cannot begin to fathom His ways!

The Author of our faith we gladly acknowledge is God 

But the Perfecter, this is where He tests the faith we laud 

The Author we embrace and hail the grace whereby we go 

The Perfecter; His ways we do not understand or know 

The Author gave His Son to save us from just judgment’s wrath 

The Perfecter (or finisher) tries words with Real Life’s path 

Where both blessing and hardship play a very vital part 

In proving through response who is the Lord God of the heart 

© Janet Martin 

Does our faith dare to utter the prayer of Habakkuk in Habakkuk 3? 

v.2  Lord, I have heard of your fame; 

 I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.

Repeat them in our day,

in our time make them known;

in wrath remember mercy...

v 16 I heard and my heart pounded, 

my lips quivered at the sound; 

decay crept into my bones, 

and my legs trembled. 

Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity 

to come on the nation invading us. 

17 Though the fig tree does not bud 

and there are no grapes on the vines, 

though the olive crop fails 

and the fields produce no food, 

though there are no sheep in the pen 

and no cattle in the stalls, 

18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, 

I will be joyful in God my Savior. 

19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength; 

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, 

he enables me to tread on the heights.