Let's Not Keep Love A Secret

The worst secret to keep

is our struggles in love!

'Because love is the fight of all fights, all right'!!

And its success depends on you and me

Yesterday's Post, Betrayal, The Chief of Grief

 has hit closer to home in the past year than ever before

Making me wonder perhaps if we should be better acquainted

with Love Himself!

Photo below taken a year ago when life was still 'normal'

(this would be our annual getaway weekend)

I will be the first to admit I/Jim and I could plaster a massive wall with mistakes made,

and mementos of 'failure' BUT we commit to never quit forgiving each other

to keep our marriage vows and remain faithful to the finish!

Maybe all women should be asking this poem of our Lifelong-Love-to-be

Love flows like fire in a pen 

It tugs heartstrings with mute amen 

Where farewell often steals the show 

And love must learn how to let go 

While ever honing the fine art 

Of keeping motive pure in heart 

Love is more than ‘my happiness’ 

Or a costume worn to impress 

Love suffers much and bears in mind 

That to be strong love must be kind 

It does not harbour for itself 

Some idol on a secret shelf 

Love is a weapon and a shield 

A mountain and an open field 

It weathers, tethers and equips 

With iron will, and gentle lips 

And in its sacred ties that bind 

We leave words like ‘my, me’ behind 

Love intertwines with its cohort 

For love is not a solo-sport 

But cleaves to its betrothed ally 

To keep vigil with watchful eye 

For when love lets its guard grow lax 

It invites enemy attacks 

Love seems to be the favoured prey 

Of dreams and lies and cunning sway 

Then our greatest goal should be 

To protect it ferociously 

And defend love’s holy ought 

Lest we fail it, for love does not 

Love is far more than meets the gaze 

Of those who wonder at its ways 

Love is a front-line, prayer-immersed 

The aftermath of ‘others first’ 

It does not covet, does not steal 

It does not trust the dust of ‘feel’ 

Love is a God-begotten tryst 

Without Him, love does not exist 

For God is love, in Him we trust 

All else is hate’s accomplice; lust 

And whether we believe or not 

All who have loved have witnessed God 

Love never fails; lust desecrates 

What havoc Selfish Yes creates 

When it is seduced by the lies 

That masquerade as love’s disguise 

Behooving us to reassess 

Who and what brings True Happiness 

Darling, let’s commit to the fight 

For This is what love is, all right 

White knuckled grit to hold on so 

While we submit to letting go

Of all that does not benefit 

Love’s long and short and whole of it 

Love has no trophy wall or shelf 

It never succeeds by itself 

But exceeds all else, above all 

Though its accolades may seem small 

When weighed with the success Fame hails 

Where love commits, love never fails 

Love, let it be our sole/soul intent 

Let it be the humble cement 

That binds the mason-work of days 

With devoted, trustworthy ways 

So that when death our last breath drains 

The legacy of love remains 

© Janet Martin 

In this community, recently Death has drained so many, suddenly

of Last Breath, leaving behind Love/life's permanent legacy

which is why, in these very troubled times

 I am choosing this simple song by Don Williams to remind us

of what really matters!

We Should Only Have Time For Love

Betrayal; The Chief of Grief

This week-end many will celebrate love on Valentine's Day.

I am so thankful for all the faithful love in my life

but this year I feel an unutterable sorrow for so much brokenness!💔

And while the word Betrayal renews reverence for the word Faithful 

it also leaves us grief-stricken with a sometimes-feels-helpless heartache, 

to witness the ruins of shattered lives!

Is there any hurt more bitter and brutal than betrayal; When trust is broken?! 

When spouses, friends, preachers, teachers, apologists, priests 

betray those who trusted their love, 

their counsel, their ‘wisdom’, their vows, their office. 

One of Jesus’ twelve disciples betrayed Him, (with a kiss!) 

Surely there is a sorrow more bitter than death! 

That of betrayal! 

When trust is shattered, love besot, 

When what we thought was so, is not 

When lie and liar are unveiled 

When it seems, alas, love has failed 

God, who, still trustworthy and true 

(With Whom we all will have to do) 

Abides, resides, provides; He knows 

The pain of thorns that pierced the Rose 

He wept, while his beloved slept 

Betrayed by a friend’s kiss, no less

He reaches down with hands nail-scarred

He understands; his brow thorn-marred

Who plumbed the depths of pain and grief 

In suffering, ah, He is Chief 

So then, whatever bitter lot 

We can trust Him, no matter what 

© Janet Martin 

Heb.4:13

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. 

Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes 

of him to whom we must give account.

So we pray and pray for the broken, the betrayed, 

and the betrayer, just as Jesus, Son of God though He was, did. 

Heb.5:7-9

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions 

with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, 

and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

 8Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered

 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation 

for all who obey him...

Changeless Chancellor...

Dawn broke gray today,

rather than the spectacular radiance we raved over, morning

after morning,

after morning,

this week!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, 

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, 

who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

He does not change, like shadows shift

Who grants each good and perfect gift...

He does not change like shadows shift 

Who grants each good and perfect gift 

His grace sufficient day by day 

Whether windows frame gold or gray 

From founts that refine faith with test 

He counts us worthy of His best 

He does not change, while all else does 

HE IS, while This soon turns to Was 

Then pray that awe and love commence 

To adjure meek obedience 

Lest we confuse the order of 

Desire’s Want with Perfect Love 

He does not change; His Word transcends 

The leap of faith that time extends 

Where surely the Love we embrace 

Behooves recipients of grace 

To consider with reverence 

Our duty of obedience 

He does not change; where you and me 

Bear great response-ability 

As seasons pass and shadows shift 

But not the Giver of the gift 

Who charges mankind with the call 

To love Him, Lord God, most of all 

Forbid we settle for far less 

Citing reasons like ‘happiness’ 

Brushing off sin like flecks of dust 

Winking at God, worthy of trust 

Because He does not change or shift 

As love pours out gift upon gift 

© Janet Martin

For the obedient and faithful a great day is coming!

Today's Daily Bread Devotion Bible reading

Rev.19:1-9

After these things I [a]heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to [b]the Lord our God! 2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” 3 Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” 5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both[c] small and great!”

6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the[d] Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

Ravished, Raptured, Dazzled...

Another stunner!!

How much more wonder we are lavished with

than we ever deserve!

Thank-you, Lord!

After taking these photos I took the truck to the mechanic just up the road

and walked a long, loveliest way home!

Ravished and raptured by sun up and down 

Lavished with laughter at nature’s renown 

Wonderstruck by weightless shadows, blue-bent 

Dazzled by diamonds that don’t cost a cent 

Wooed by a woodland begging to be trekked 

Stunned by its branches and bloom-hulls, star-flecked 

Awed by God’s goodness that reckons no bounds 

Resolute mercy beckons and confounds 

Ravishing, rapturing, lavishing oh 

Dazzling and wooing and stunning us so 

© Janet Martin 

I had just returned home, brewed a fresh pot of coffee

when the door was flung open

and 'what to my wondering eyes should appear

but my darling daughter and two grandchildren dear!'

With camera still in hand I said wait and let me get a picture,

because, in spite of all the beauty I've seen so far today,

this tops it all!

Needless to say, my heart over-floweth with wonder and gratitude!

Psalm 24:1
The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof, 

the world and all who dwell therein.

Each Divinely Different...

Psalm 113:3

From the rising of the sun to its going down 

The LORD’s name is to be praised.

Each divinely different; 

Heaven’s claim to fame 

Flows for all to witness 

He who stays the Same 

Spilling ether pigment 

To refreshed façade 

Filling frameless fathoms 

With Glimpses of God

Each divinely different

Time will never drain 

Master-pieced arrangements

Man cannot attain

Kindling adoration

With pure majesty

Author of creation

Awes humanity

© Janet Martin

I enjoy posting these for those who do not have access to

eastward horizons and sunrises.

Where we live we cannot see the western skyline so I am thankful to take full

advantage of the east!

Embrace Pure Joy

 James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,

[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds,

3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, 

not lacking anything.

He Hideth My Soul 

Embrace pure joy 

Ahoy, ahoy 

God’s grace is not 

Some moot decoy 

But rends the dark 

As we embark 

And press toward 

Victory’s mark 

His hope, 

The anchor of the soul 

While waves of want 

And wonder roll 

Beneath the toll 

Of day-to-day 

That draws Time’s 

Fleeting charge away 

In little barges 

on a sea 

that pours into 

eternity 

© Janet Martin 

 

From Here to There

 

Embrace the chase; the grace, the grit 

The very human race of it. The highs and lows 

that ebb and flow across the shores 

of come and go and want and woe 

as love and loss compose the sacred 

albatross of care and prayer 

and cross to bear 

as we press on 

from here 

to There 

💗

© Janet Martin

1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, 

but only one receives the prize? 

Run in such a way as to take the prize.

A Most Majestic Madrigal

It's very hard to choose only a few shots

from a sunrise that fills the skies with

the outer fringes of Heaven's Majesty!

This winter we have been treated again and again 

to second-to-none sunrises!

We, weighed with love and duty's call

Are not without reasons to sing

A most majestic madrigal

Is rising from time's hidden spring

 It hails to people far and wide

Age-old originality

Regales the town and countryside

Anointed with God's 'let there be'

We watch heaven's staircase unfurl

An all-encompassing 'hello'

Where Someone climbs its rungs of pearl

His golden train trails on the snow

 © Janet Martin