Of Face-to-Face

Face-time is great when miles between leave no other option

but oh how far beyond comparison is face-to-face Time.

Our grand-kiddos and their other grandma, who lives miles away

after almost two years of Facetime (thanks to covid) are

cherishing precious face-to-face time at last.

Grandma's/Mimi's face beams with pure joy

in the presence of her loved ones...

This weekend we treasured a short-sweet face-to-face time

and a belated birthday celebration for Melissa!

Meeting with much-missed loved ones makes me think of 

another forever face-to-face place/time waiting for believers

when the One we pour our hearts out to 

over and over again in faith's earnest prayer

dissolves the glass we see through darkly, and then

with faces wreathed with pure joy, face-to-face!

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:

1 Cor.13:12

Technology is quite a thing and grants its precious means

In helping us to keep in touch when miles unfurl between

But, for all that devices do to hold our hearts in place

No screen can ever come close to sweet meeting face-to-face

Technology is wonderful as a second-best choice

For looking loved ones in their eyes and hearing someone's voice

But, even a small child soon feels the emptiness of space

And how delight is driven wild when meeting face to face

(just ask my grand-kiddos)

Technology helps us to see, but cannot master touch

  Images dancing on a screen can only do so much 

To help us toward The Great Day of greeting's sweet embrace

When miles between us melt away and we meet face to face

Janet Martin

Thanks to technology I can create and share this post💖

Our Nova Scotia family can see it as well as Melissa

and Jim (truck-driver hubby) who often checks in at the 'porch'

to see what's new...

Face To Face With Christ My Saviour

While the Clock Is a Spinning Wheel...

 

Here's to today's stitches in time's tapestry...

While the clock is a spinning wheel that weaves future to past

With threads of what we think and feel as stitch to stitch is cast

We cannot keep heartstrings intact; they snag where seasons stream

Leaving behind matters of fact in spite of all we dream

...making us more determined with a less intense approach

To live moment by moment where morrow’s shadows encroach

*And touch time’s twill with hope, not dread, that tumbles from above

Then joy will fill Time’s ether thread with thankfulness and love

© Janet Martin

Today we are attending a memorial service for my mother's only brother.

Somehow time's threads spill more sacredly through our touch 

when Death reminds us of the Door to Forevermore

To touch time's thread with hope, not dread, means we need to find hope's anchor first!

Heb.6:16-20

People swear by someone greater than themselves,

 and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 

17Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear

 to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 

18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie,

 we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.

 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

 It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,

 20where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. 

He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Flower-Power

 

I realized the one mini-rose bush I had

didn't survive last years septic-tank replacement...

I miss it, but bloom-beauty flourished this summer

(even though none are roses)

because of abundant rainfall!

Likewise, whatever kind of flower we are,

May we bloom where we are planted today!

Even if we feel a bit blight-battered and beetle-nibbled...

Our Father who art in Heaven,

With whatever You have granted

With what we are called to do

May we bloom where we are planted

With hearts humble, kind and true

Desiring to honour You

May we, with earnest endeavor

Not serve Want’s indulgent thirst

But renew desire's fervor

To put You and others first

Let life’s bud with Beauty burst

In the dirt of hurt and heartache

Where thorns prick and interpose

Bid we do our part to partake

Of the grace Your hand bestows

So, the thorns may wear a rose

Amen

© Janet Martin

Sing to Me of Heaven

Trustworthy and True

On Sunday morning our message was from

Rev. 21 &22

Mortal minds grappled with unfathomable design and dimension!

But this morning, as mercy ushered in new day

I sensed glimpses of a Holy City, 

a New Jerusalem descending

in incomprehensible glory!!

Beauty rends night’s crepuscule

Mercy steals the show

Ethereal ribbons and tulle

Tint time’s undertow

Longing and fulfillment clash

On earth’s eastward sill

Heaven flings ajar its sash

Molten foretastes spill

To gild worlds of wood and stone

With glints from Yon Clime

Till the veil of the Unknown

Lowers one last time

…beauty rends night’s crepuscule

God hears our cries

Granting to love’s push and pull

Glimpses of The Prize

© Janet Martin

Rev.21:1-5

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”

[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, 

and there was no longer any sea. 

2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 

prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

 “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.

 They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 

4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. 

There will be no more death’[b] 

or mourning 

or crying 

or pain, 

for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said,

 “I am making everything new!”

 Then he said, “Write this down, 

for these words are trustworthy and true.”

(are the words Trustworthy and True not two of the

most wonderful words we can cling to?!!)

Pure Majesty

Another wonder-thunder of a sunset!!

Without a sound heavens thunder

Wonder’s oceanic surge

Rolls through frames of hope and hunger

As sight and faith’s fathoms merge

Where the air without a brushstroke

On a canvas without bounds

Showcases majestic artwork

That always awes and confounds

And draws eyes from earthward viewing

To the heights beneath God’s feet

Waking with His wordless wooing

Wordless worship, pure and sweet

© Janet Martin

Art-Throb

The closing of another chapter in my child-care 'book'...

as tomorrow Little Girl becomes School-girl!

 

"You're so big and I'm so little" She said as she looked at the pictures

And I said 'yes'💕

(why do I feel so small and how has she gotten so big?!)

I wish that I could paint for you

A very lovely work of art

A keep-sake I would give to you

To show the colours of my heart

To paint the perfect shade of joy

And spill with artistic finesse

The preciousness of girl and boy

That fills my heart with happiness

For little tot can teach a lot

To we, weathered by Father Time

And if I could, I’d paint, not jot

The spot that overflows with rhyme

…where poem then, mingled with prayer

My aching art-throb must appease

And ink must etch in frames of air

A Masterpiece of Memories

…for like the bubbles that we blew

An era pops and disappears

Leaving behind for me and you

A gallery of rainbowed spheres

…where laughter lilts and echoes bob

Like butterflies and petal-falls

As pictures waft from love’s art-throb

To hang forever on heart-walls

© Janet Martin

Last week these two left just a few days before becoming proud 

new big sister and brother to a new baby sister!

This 'job' tugs my heart every which way but loose💗💖

(I tried a few times and EVERY time

just as I clicked he looked down😀😘)

...and last but not least Grand-sonny starts school today!

When my daughter sent me the pictures

I told her I don't know whether to laugh or cry💖💖💖

Fringe Benefits

Thought's 

grand landscapes

of desire

cannot compete with

The One

who sets

welkin worlds afire

with the

setting of the sun

Want's 

wildest imagination

Pales 

beneath the

 Breath of He

Who evokes

pure adoration

From fringes of

Majesty

Janet Martin

Psalm 19

I was going to share only the familiar first verse

but couldn't stop reading...Hallelujah!!

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

3They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

4Yet their voice ^b goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

5It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is deprived of its warmth.

7The law of the Lord is perfect,

refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

8The precepts of the Lord are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

9The fear of the Lord is pure,

enduring forever.

The decrees of the Lord are firm,

and all of them are righteous.

10They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the honeycomb.

11By them your servant is warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

12But who can discern their own errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

13Keep your servant also from willful sins;

may they not rule over me.

Then I will be blameless,

innocent of great transgression.

14May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Soaking in September

Sometimes a sweet, leisurely soak in September's tub

is exactly what the doctor ordered (or would if we'd ask!)

Somehow summer slipped by with not quite enough

just-sit-and-soak-it-in siestas!

So I took one today after the tots left 

before tackling a bowl full of tomatoes to preserve.

Soaking in September’s sauna steeps the soul with sheer delight

Ochre summer-embers don a dialect we cannot write

But feel; stealing, reeling through us in a sonnet, bittersweet

Like the wilding winds that woo us when the world is fast asleep

Soaking in September’s beauty is the perfect getaway

Where the darling call of duty makes Prudence time’s constant prey

And we could, if we’re not careful, miss the bliss of Here and Now

Where the tautness of toil’s bridle keeps us tethered to its plow

Soaking in September’s Garden leaves little to be desired

Before autumn begs our pardon as Eden-glints are retired

Buzz of bee in bell of flower, iced mint-tea or lemonade

Garnet orb in orchard-bower, pulsing cricket-serenade

Soaking in September’s glory makes us feel at home-sweet-home

Where each treetop tells a story and each posy spills a poem

Where the pleasure of earth’s treasure that we gather gratefully

Fills fruit-cellars with its measure and hearts with pure ecstasy

Soaking in September’s splendor wakes a worship-song within

As our spirits grow more tender where summer is wearing thin

Where the gleaming goldenrod, like tapers streams through field and dell

And, where we all become neighbours in the limelight of farewell

© Janet Martin

Garnet orb in orchard-bower, 

pulsing cricket-serenade (well, kind of...

and after-work rush-hour 😐)