A Very Personal Thing (Life's Labour of Love)

 Happy Labour Day!

Some fruits of labor/harvest are easy to recognize...

like onions!

Some harvests are far more subtle, 

so subtle, in fact, that if we are not careful/prayerful

we might trick ourselves into thinking (for better or worse)

 they will be forgotten!

1 Cor.15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren,

be steadfast, immovable,

always abounding in the work of the Lord,

knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

***

As much as we are able we may encourage and influence each other

as we labor and love side by side, until the Great Divide.

Then, 'each of us will give an account of himself to God.' Rom.14:12

***

2 John 1:8-9

Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for

,a but that you may be fully rewarded.

9Anyone who runs ahead without remaining in the teaching of Christ

does not have God. Whoever remains in His teaching

has both the Father and the Son.

***

None can be and none can do

(Not you for me or me for you)

Though we need each other, none

Can work out our salvation

None can smooth talk into place

The fruit of God’s saving grace

It is personal; the laud

Between living soul and God

None can learn God’s word for me

Nor my prayer’s substitute be

Faith’s relationship maintained

Is not, by default sustained

Each, by thought and deed will prove

Who or what we dearly love

Thus, life's account each will bring

Is a most personal thing

None can thwart what is at stake

Through the choices that we make

For how we influence who

By all that we say and do

Each, in our own hand will bring

(A very personal thing)

Before He who is not mocked

Love-letters of how we walked

© Janet Martin

We'll Work Till Jesus Comes...

 

1. O land of rest, for thee I sigh!
   When will the moment come
   When I shall lay my armor by
   And dwell in peace at home?
   • Refrain:
     We’ll work till Jesus comes,
     We’ll work till Jesus comes,
     We’ll work till Jesus comes,
     And we’ll be gathered home.
2. No tranquil joys on earth I know,
   No peaceful, shelt’ring dome;
   This world’s a wilderness of woe,
   This world is not my home.
3. To Jesus Christ I fled for rest;
   He bade me cease to roam,
   And lean for comfort on His breast
   Till He conduct me home.
4. I sought at once my Savior’s side;
   No more my steps shall roam;
   With Him I’ll brave death’s chilling tide
   And reach my heav’nly home.

Dear September, (A Summer-lover's Entreaty)

Yesterday disappeared before I had a chance to

poem-welcome September💖

These days are a beautiful blur of pick and preserve,

of pausing to delight in the precious pleasure dwindling summer days...

Hold back the mellow, yellow haze seeping through sheen of summer green

And bar the gate where morrows wait to toss echoes from hill to hill

And keep at bay dusk’s blue and gray that draws today to what-has-been

Where farewells waft somewhere aloft but close enough to spark a chill

Delay the woo that will undo the lullaby in woodland tress

Abate the tide that turns the countryside to works of autumn art

And pause the haste that lays to waste summer-wild and chaste happiness

...and strive to slow the letting go that tugs at ties wound through the heart

Postpone the thrill of standing stock-still, stunned by sweeps of gold and rose

Oh, stay the hand that weighs the sand that falls through summer’s sanguine skies

Appease the want for flower-font and garden dirt between our toes

Extend the boon of sunny afternoon regaled with butterflies

Stoke summer’s dying ember, dear September, gild its darling dust

With prolonged trace of Queen Ann’s lace to grace commonplace avenues

Kiss the lament of summer spent with plums, and throes of harvest-lust

Ah, time enough to spill the Stuff that unfurls Autumn’s thund’ring hues

© Janet Martin

now, off to dig potatoes because I discovered they are starting to rot!!

due to all the rain.

Happy September Saturday to you!

And FINALLY, the kind of forecast we have been waiting for all summer!!

Precious Provision

Ps.63:1-8

O God, You are my God.

Earnestly I seek You;

my soul thirsts for You.

My body yearns for You

in a dry and weary land without water.

2So I have seen You in the sanctuary

and beheld Your power and glory.

3Because Your loving devotion is better than life,

my lips will glorify You.

4So I will bless You as long as I live;

in Your name I will lift my hands.

5My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods;

with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.

6When I remember You on my bed,

I think of You through the watches of the night.

7For You are my help;

I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.

8My soul clings to You;

Your right hand upholds me.

 Be Thou My Vision

Thy hand of protection

Thy Voice of conviction

Thy rod of correction

I pray

Thy Word for direction

To gird faith’s subjection

And stir glad reflection

Today

Thy name, a strong tower

Thy love to empower

Thy goodness to shower

My plea

Thy grace for salvation

Thy glory, creation

To kindle elation

In Thee

Thy judgement to fear Thee

Thy promise to cheer me

Thy mercy to hear me

Again

Thy wonder to thrill me

Thy peace to instill me

Thy joy to fulfill me

Amen

© Janet Martin

Ps.139:17-18

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
 If I should count them, 

they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

For His Enduring Mercy...

A Hallelujah Hymn

even if it is the last day of August which makes me kind of sad...

David's hymn of praise for God's enduring mercy in Psalms 136, 

written long before Calvary,

inspired today's hymn, 

written long after Calvary, 

worshiping He whose mercy is everlasting...

Psalm 136:1

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

a few on-the-ground-glimpses of His mercy

before heading back to the garden to harvest

 more mercy-tokens🙏💓

Zinnia-forest...

Caterpillar-study...

Pick of the petal-crop

Wrapping piggy in pastry blankie...m-m-m!

Oh! The excitement when there's a mousie in Janet's housie!!!

I will leave the ending of the tale to your apt imaginations

but it involved a trap😂

To count Thy mercies, Lord, is more than ink can summarize

You woo the light of morn to chase night’s shadows from yon skies

With love that never fails you keep Your promises intact

Happy is the heart that avails itself of this kind fact

Whose will it is, that none should perish, but all would be saved

Forevermore to cherish love’s gift, for the cost you braved

At Calvary, upon a cross, once for all you became

Sin’s final sacrifice, for all who call upon Your name

Mercy for blind accusers, for hearts, hard with unbelief

Mercy for the abusers of love’s brutal, blood-drenched grief

Mercy that spills in flowers to anoint the earth that groans

With the dust that devours the spent hull of skin and bones

But not the Soul; the deathless Soul, whose bearing You decree

And garner, at death’s darksome toll, its holy Entity

Where mercy cannot break its Vow; God is not mocked but keeps

His Word; fulfilling judgment now as Choice its harvest reaps

Beyond the visage of all who approach the solemn goal

That each breath draws us nearer to; the Saviour of the Soul

Whose everlasting mercy pours with comfort and appeal

Whose everlasting love implores with agonizing zeal

Whose will it is that none should die, doomed to the wage of sin

Because He gave Himself to buy the gift of Life, to win

The war, not fought with flesh and blood, but with heart, soul and mind

To love the Lord our God, and leave all other gods behind

Where Mercy meets us where we are with love, not blow for blow

He does not curse, or nurse the scar where once we struck Him, no

But bends to bind hate’s gaping wounds with redemption unmarred/unbarred

He draws us to His bosom with Hands, gentle though nail-scarred

With everlasting mercy, God unfurls before our gaze

A virgin opportunity to honor Him with praise

For His enduring mercy in spite of oft thankless stance

For His enduring mercy that His faithful favor grants

© Janet Martin

Ps,136:26

Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!
For His mercy endures forever.

What Good Is All We Say and Do...

Ps.141:2-4

Let my prayer be set before You as incense,

The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

3Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

4Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, ...

Ps.19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my [h]strength and my Redeemer.

Isa.26:3-4

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
4Trust in the Lord forever,
For in Yah, the Lord, is [b]everlasting strength.

Today's hope-plan-dream includes making salsa!

among other things!

What good is all we say and do, each hope-plan-dream we bide

Where ebb and flow of morning gold turns blue at eventide

Where the suspense of what yet waits is never fully met

Where mercy plunders welkin gates, where man, prone to forget

...who orders our steps, embarks toward what none can see

An invisible Void that marks time’s swift finality

And puts an end to what now wends deftly from here to Where

None can return from, to amend the said-and-done with care

Behooving us to consider the climax of life’s jot

And ask the question that should stir a very serious thought…

What good is all we say and do and love and learn, oh pray

Without devout devotion to He who grants each new day

(The clout of Life’s Momentous Lease authors a Dividend

That once begun will never cease and none can comprehend)

Surely, we ought to pay more earnest heed to what we hear

And measure every word and deed with chaste and holy fear

For we will all appear before the judgement seat of Christ

To give account for what we revered, loved and sacrificed

Behold, the faithful saying of truth that will never dim;

The good in all we say and do, is possible through Him

© Janet Martin

Are we not all inclined to cry with Paul?!...

1 Tim.1:14-16

And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me,

along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

15This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance:

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.

16But for this very reason I was shown mercy,

so that in me, the worst of sinners,

Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience

as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.…

It Gets Me Every Time

 

Although officially it is still summer, 

the end of August often has an 'End of Summer' feel!

This is the time of year when neither days or nights are quite long enough!

As Granddaughter helped me in the kitchen a few days ago

I had a profound sense of 'olden' days renewed; 

she is such a mix of all three of our daughters!

The way that seasons sweep across the countryside with ease

A burst of song released to steep and toss the tress of trees

A lovely leaf and flower happiness enhancing earth

Until life’s brief encounter yields to death, conceived at birth

It gets me every time; each sweet and fleeting season-span

Portraying in its lilt and chime the numbered days of man

The way the bud-loom brims, dazzles and dims; show-stoppers bow

Beneath weaning rhythms and winds that always stun, somehow

Though green of youth has always yielded to the woo of years

(The weathered stance of truth unshaken by century-peers)

It gets me every time; the way moment-silk spins and weaves

Bygone’s gossamer clime with all love celebrates and grieves

The way what may seem small becomes the measure of a life

The way the writing on the wall is always running rife

Where endings and beginnings meld one season to the next

A treasure briefly held then felled; love, gladly, sadly vexed

It gets me every time; the way footfalls compose a song

The tempo of its pantomime, so-long, so-long, so-long

© Janet Martin

Eccles.12:1

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,

 Before the difficult days come, 

And the years draw near when you say,

 “I have no pleasure in them”:

From The First Moment of Waking...

A phrase from the last paragraph of yesterday's devotion seemed to

say, 'pick me, pick me!!' for today's poem...so I did💖

...and because I SO identify with the battle addressed, 

I am sharing the whole devotion

so you may also be encouraged and edified

From My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers

From the first moment of waking

Till the light of day grows dim

May our ‘lifetime in the making’

Be a living worship hymn

As life’s lyrics fill time’s pages

Binding sacred numbered days

May the Author of the ages

Be the purpose of our praise

In the highs and lows of learning

(Something we never outgrow)

May the increase of our yearning

Be for God who loves us so

Then, as we embrace the beauty

Of mercy’s enduring ways

May the common calls of Duty

Compose hymns of thankful praise

From the first moment of waking

Until daylight disappears

May the music we are making

Bring sweet pleasure to God’s ears

From the first moment of waking

May we join the melody

Of a love-song in the making

That will fill eternity

© Janet Martin

Today's devotion continues the sacred topic of prayer...

From the rising of the sun to its going down

 The LORD’s name is to be praised.

Ps.113:3

From The Rising of the Sun...

August Celebration

It was a brooding, gray backdrop kind of day...

Where yon billow broods and breaks,

Where the shower spills its lakes...

Where the flower-bower-toast

Thrills us to the uttermost

Where the planted furrow brims

With fruition’s harvest hymns...

(Farmer-patience is tried this year due to much rain!

The neighbor's were able to salvage the last of the straw just before today's soaker!!)

Where dust, threshed from wheat and rye

Wafts between the earth and sky...

Where cricket-minstrels repeat

Repertoires of tweet-tweet-tweet... 

Where garden has Cook beguiled

With dinner-buffets, run wild...

Last night's supper bottom right corner...grilled zucchini-rounds

topped with browned ground beef-green pepper-red onion medley

Where yon billow broods and breaks,

Where the shower spills its lakes

Where the flower-bower's toast

Thrills us to the uttermost

Where the planted furrow brims

With fruition’s harvest hymns

Where the hand of God anoints

Earth in exclamation points

Where wonder and worship meet

In climaxes, simple-sweet

Where delight and sadness spar

Where hello and farewell are

Where we revel in the bliss

Of the afternoon that is

While the gate to twilight’s star

Waits to swing softly ajar

Where dust, threshed from wheat and rye

Wafts between the earth and sky

Where cricket-minstrels repeat

Repertoires of tweet-tweet-tweet

Where garden has Cook beguiled

With dinner-buffets, run wild

Where bravado cannot stay

What no wish can keep at bay

Where hollyhock bistros buzz

With busy bee biz, because

Where each honeyed moment drips

A sparkle of August slips

From lips, fingertips, and sighs

Where before our very eyes

Heaven lends to earth a hint

Of what waits beyond Time’s stint

Where we cannot comprehend

Awesome August without end

Where goldenrod wicks are lit

Just for the sheer joy of it

Where, beyond four-seasoned tide

Rolls a summer countryside

Where death never enters thought

Mum blooms with forget-me-not

© Janet Martin

Tonight's supper...

Green Bean Casserole

2 of my bean jars didn't seal from canning this year

and because I prefer canned beans for this dish, it was the perfect side!

Comfort food on a very fallish feeling evening!

(I also use milk rather than sour cream)

Zucchini Casserole

I added a bit of ham to make it a one-dish meal

(for a 9X13 pan I used 2 more eggs and added a generous tbsp. of melted butter to the olive oil)

another recent meal fav using Swiss chard

Feta was a splurge extra 😊😋