A Priceless Presence...

What waits today to spill and fill its shell

We cannot see...

But He who feeds the birds knows it full-well

He cares for you and me

Savior, Lead Me

God is our refuge and strength, 

a very present help in trouble.

Psalm 46:1

Lord, take the lead, our need is great and we are prone to dread

Help us to trust, not be afraid; you know what lies ahead

Draw nearer than the fears that be, sustain us through Your Word

Through eyes of faith help us to see Your Presence undergird

Lord, take our hands, You love us so and know that we are dust

By Your command cast out the foe that heckles hope and trust

And help us humbly fix our gaze on Your unfailing care

Fill our hearts with holy praise and fully yielded prayer

Lord, take us not from our cross but let the cross endear

The bond of fellowship that draws Your flawless favors near

To cheer us on toward the joy this world cannot afford

Lead us with grace and truth’s alloy into Your Presence, Lord

© Janet Martin

December Doggerel

A few snared mementos that helped to inspire today's poem...

The deep of dark dawns early, drawn across dusk’s stark tableau

It nestles over daybreak like a slowly waning throw

Unveiling sweet December’s day, a gift of old made new

Wrapped in thin scarves of blush and gray and frosty baby blue

It weaves its welkin ribbons though trees doffed of leafy sigh

And lavishes the landscape with the color of the sky

It revels in the frigid thrill of tinsel countryside

It dazzles us where diamonds spill to leave us starry eyed

...and mesmerized, where nature’s never-ceasing hallelu

Leave us breathless with wonder at what only God can do

His beauty breaks all barriers to kindle humble awe

On hearths of heart and soul as we behold time’s seasoned law

…and thank God for tea-kettles pouring fresh-steeped luxury

For hats, mittens and slippers, for fat books of poetry

For home-sweet home, a poem that transcends the scope of ink

For children filling sleds with laughter and cheeks rosy pink

For pots of hot and hearty soup for hungry girl and boy

For Christmas carols tuning lips with glad tidings of joy

For stars that fall and frill each sprig with sparkle-dust run wild

For toil that turns to worship as we ponder the Christ-child

There's something so nostalgic in the fluff of fresh snowfalls  

Something still so old-fashioned in the way it decks earth's halls

Reminding us that, though so much in this old world seems strange

Beneath the kind Creator's touch still much will never change 

December is the perfect way to close another year

A white rose on a volume of echoes of smile and tear

Cacophony of blue jay scolding nuthatch and junco

A symphony of footsteps muffled by fresh-fallen snow

© Janet Martin

The Joyous Bells of Poem-time

 

Well, what have we to lose, my dear

Save, a silver shimmer of time

To pause upon parchment veneer

And drink a bit of ink-spun rhyme

And then to find within the swell

Of consonant and vowel lease

Something akin to Yuletide’s bell

Ringing with hope and joy and peace

Well, what have we to gain, my friend

To tame time’s unrelenting zeal

Enough to feel the warp and wend

Of pirouettes in pink and teal

But a fine merge with ink and page

And a renewed awareness of

What matters most from age to age

As would-be longing turns to love

Well, what have we in common but

The constant Thus of live and learn

Where in this grin-and-groan gamut

Wisdom is a crown we must earn

And oft, amidst hard knocks and such

We turn to seek the soft reply

Where once a bard took time to touch

The page with ink wrung from a sigh

Well, what have we to do but look

And listen where lost worlds/words live on

Between the covers of a book

Waiting for us to hap upon

Then, what have we to lose my dear

Save minutes that clock towers chime

While we dance to the songs we hear

In joyous bells of Poem-time

© Janet Martin

Be Careful/Prayerful

'Be Careful we don't want your toes too close!'

  I cautioned Tot yesterday as he got as close as he could

to watch Janet cut up a massive pumpkin on the floor

because it was too heavy to lift to the counter-top.

Due to a bumper pumpkin-canning crop I welcome any favorite pumpkin recipes

(preferably not rich desserts) those recipes are easy to find😅

From little tots to adulthood...a mother's most-oft repeated caution must surely be 'be careful'!!

I find myself saying it countless times to the children in my childcare 

and many times to my grown children!

As we mature we realize there is only one way to be truly careful 

and that is to be duly prayerful!

The best way then, to say 'be careful'

is to say, 'be prayerful'!

Be careful/prayerful then, lest unaware

In what appears as harmless fun

We miss the deathly hazards where

The tempter's web of lies is spun 

Be careful/prayerful then, so when we we meet

The Wolf, dressed in sheep-like disguise 

We will recognize and defeat

With truth, the mastermind of lies

Be careful/prayerful then, and do not wink

At God's Word, man's authority

Where what He says, not what we think

Is what our conduct ought to be

Be careful/prayerful then, and by God's grace

Commit to Him, heart, soul and mind

Lest careless, prayer-less, we embrace

Hands of the blind leading the blind

Janet Martin 

Eph.5:15 NIV

Be very careful, then, how you live—

not as unwise but as wise,

Pumpkin can be turned into Bundt Cake, muffins

and all sorts of goodies!

We mix, stir and bake...and voila!! 

within the hour, results!

Some results for choices we make, take far longer 

with far more serious and far-reaching effects! 

Be careful/prayerful!!

By Tender Means of Poetry (or, To My Gentle Reader)

So sorry, sweet little birdies, but filling the feeders needs to wait!

A sudden day off due to wild weather has opened the rather rare (ice-embossed)

window of opportunity to 'wax poetic' 😅💓

This book, rescued from the garbage bin by a truly caring friend

 who dropped it off at my door last week, 

Stole my heart with the first page!...

and inspired today's poem 'to my gentle reader'...

Of that which kindly comes to be

By tender means of poetry

To cheer us gently on, dear friend

Upon life’s careworn twist and bend

Where face to face we may not meet

To trace the bond of friendships sweet

I thank God for love’s ink-wrought font

To gently bind the wounds of want

And keep each other company

By tender means of poetry

To know, though we are far apart

The timeless tug of heart to heart

To share the very sacred touch

Of tears and smiles and prayers and such

And help us realize anew

The preciousness of me-and-you

And to gladden regions of thought

With refreshed awareness of God

To make us feel like family

By tender means of poetry

To tune us to the creature cry

Of hope; to hold love’s candle high

Where often dreams do not come true

And carefully laid plans fall through

To teach us to not cling too fast

-ly to what soon augments the past

To remind us, through lilt of rhyme

What does not change, in spite of time

And taste life’s sweet comradery

By tender means of poetry

To catch midst winter’s frigid fling

A sense of everlasting spring

To find a plot where tulips grow

To brighten thought while wild winds blow

To rouse an unexpected thrill

Where pages birth a bloom-tossed hill

And suddenly we bow the head

And thank God for the bit o' bread

Through that which kindly comes to be

By tender means of poetry

© Janet Martin

For All The World To See

 

From divine providence

And unplumbed majesty

God spills unrivaled excellence

For all the world to see

The wonder that yet waits

Evades our eyes and ears

Save, through a gap in pearly gates

Where glory’s glimpse appears

Before dumbfounded gaze

God flings His artistry

The firmaments declare His praise

For all the world to see

     Let's pause, because the earth

And sky profusely brim

With creation's marvelous mirth

In evidence of Him

...and it would be a shame

To rush negligently

Where all creation shouts His Name

For all the world to see

© Janet Martin

Psalm 148:13

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is lifted up;
        his majesty transcends earth and heaven.

A Prayer-Poem of Hope and Praise

The magnitude of this morning's sunrise 

was impossible to capture in the lens of a camera...

A little like God's goodness and love 

are impossible to capture in

the lines of a poem!

Dear Heavenly Father,

A prayer-poem of hope and praise!

From strength to strength in You

Sweet consolation this

Whatever valley we pass through

Whatever grief afflicts

Whatever tries joy’s cup

Whatever storm we face

From strength to strength, You bear us up

By your sufficient grace

Where nothing in this world

Transcends Your love so true

Like a majestic Light unfurled

To guide us home to You

© Janet Martin

Psalm 84:5-7

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[d]
7 They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.

A Get-Rich-Quick-Forever Gift!

 

Inspired by the riches of Ephesians 1&2, Phil. 2, and so many more scriptures

All hinged to the Reason for the Christmas Season

Oh may we desire the wealth of spiritual blessing

possible only if we receive The Gift. God's Gift of grace

(Note: this is not a wealth of ease and material opulence,

because this wealth was bought with a great price!

But the price gives us access to all the priceless promises of God)

One Still Night

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

who has blessed us in the heavenly realms 

with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Eph.1:3

God’s gift of glorious grace

In meanest cradle lies

The riches of redemption veiled

In baby’s newborn cries

The hope of humankind

Descends from Heaven’s throne

To mercy’s masterpiece designed

Death’s sentence to atone

Through the shed blood of Christ

God trumps Lucifer’s schemes

From His Own Offspring sacrificed

Pardon’s profusion streams

…to lowly sons of earth

The holy Son of God

Suffered the pains of human birth

To bear rejection’s rod

…and suffer unto death

Even death on a cross

The King of kings offered Himself

To be a Lamb for us

The Son of God became

The Name believer’s hail

He suffered crucifixion’s shame

To rend the temple’s veil

So, all may freely come

Hope’s riches to embrace

The Cornerstone of Christendom

God’s gift of glorious grace

No more to be enslaved

By doubt, greed, pride and fear

But through faith, by grace we are saved

We, once far off brought near

To taste death's sweet release

Where Jesus took our place

His blood, the purchase price of peace

God’s gift of glorious grace

Ah, here all praise begins

Death falls like shackles spliced

We, who were dead in our sins

Are made alive with Christ

God, who is rich in love

Forgives this sinful race

Through the exceeding riches of

Jesus, God’s gift of grace

That in ages to come

His kindness might be known

Through we who benefited from

The kindness Christ has shown

© Janet Martin