While My Body Grins and Groans (I want to take nothing for granted)

Recently I have heard more than one person say they don't want to take anything for granted!

I echo this sentiment in today's reflection of birthday celebration weekend.

Ps.90:12

So teach us to number our days, 

That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Thank-you God, for

 Fridge-foragers...

Father and son discussions (on the merits of certain hockey players etc.) 😅

Impromptu Sat. afternoon surprise coffee break... thank-you Emily and fam!

(Missed a pic of the delicious raspberry lemon scones, still oven-warm!)

Precious birthday-celebration dinner-guests...

 (my parents)

and Victoria...

 Dear Husband, May I never take you for granted

(too often, sadly, I do!)

esp. your hat-tossing habits 😐😏 which haven't changed

 since mentioned HERE on last year's anniversary poem...

Special sister time...

even more special in a peony garden !

Whistling Gardens near Brantford, ON

(below, a few of fifty+ pics of peonies)

Sister smelling the 'roses' while her hubby

scouts out ice-cream shops on homeward route 😊😂💖

I want to take nothing for granted in life's little Learn and Teach

Where soon each gifted day is planted in a garden out of reach

I want to wonder at God's grandeur; be mesmerized by His grace,

To be fine-tuned to tender splendour till nothing seems common place

Collecting through life's gains and losses, a much gladder gratitude   

Braving love's charge of shouldered crosses by trusting Mercy Renewed 

Contented in the Steadfast Knowing, come what may God never fails

His love is constantly bestowing winds to test and steer faith's sails

I want to take nothing for granted, where blooms briefly beam and nod 

But to be more humbly enchanted by the handiwork of God 

He, who attends both joy and sorrow maintains nature's threaded loom 

I want to live today without tomorrow's borrowed dread and doom 

I want to manifest His Presence in the peace of Letting Go

Where true happiness is, in essence, this; trusting His yes and no

Confident that the One who began a good work will see it through  

The Author of salvation's plan is faithful, trustworthy and true 

I want to take nothing for granted in life's leap from Him to Him 

Soon morning's newborn ray is slanted westward; soon Today grows dim

While epitaphs that time composes sets gasps in permanent ink

Like a storm of thorns and roses scattered, blood-red and blush-pink 

As breath-by-breath's brimming succession spills life's sacred, fleeting Toll

Wreathed by dust-to-dust's grim profession of death's claim of all but Soul 

So, before my hulled husk is planted in a garden of grave-stones

I want to take nothing for granted while my body grins and groans 

I do not want to take for granted the sheer wonder of it all

Or become dumbly disenchanted just because the petals fall

Or love's smile-and-tear weathered tether snaps; the ties that bind undone

By the Hand that brought us together; nothing new under the sun

Rousing us, Self-heady-prone dreamers to face raw reality

Time's transient flash of  vapour/paper streamers unhinges eternity 

So, while life's precious plot is planted with memories that love makes 

I do not want to take for granted that which God both gives... and takes 

© Janet Martin

I do not want to take for granted the sheer wonder of it all

Or become dumbly disenchanted just because the petals fall...

Thank-you God, for another birthday...

Thank-you for sisters/family and friends

 who showered me with beautiful birthday wishes

and flowers...

I came home yesterday, a bit peony-high

to find a new variety of peony (Dark Eyes) a deep burgundy-red

 at my door, from my friend's garden!

thank-you Kim 💖

I was also sweetly blessed by a begonia-planter 

in memory of the begonias Lucy gave all of us sisters last year,

from my sister Marlene 💗💔

Some flowers in the hue of the flowers Lucy gave us sisters last year

(because the peachy-coloured begonias were sold out)

From my sister Carolyn...we 'watered' them with a few mingled, tender tears;

Love's universal language

I'll admit it was an extra-teary birthday.

I miss Lucy with profound tenderness in times like these

so I took out the book she gave me in place of a card last year...

 

Dear Lucy...Traces

Yesterday I received a pretty card in the mail

from a dear lady Lucy loved, and who loved Lucy

and we met after her death though I felt like I knew her a little

already through Lucy. 

Thank-you M💕

 I have a number of  new

'Lucy-friends' special in ways I could never have imagined;

Priceless traces of a beautiful life!

Job 7:9-10

9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
    so one who goes down to the grave does not return.
10 He will never come to his house again;
    his place will know him no more.

The above verses impress me like never before,

esp. when I drop in at Lucy's place.

Her girls and husband valiantly

perform the domestic duties of home

and things are still neat and tidy

but their place will never again know Lucy's presence

save in tender traces everywhere.

While I was there the other day watching her grandsons while

Granddaughter went to the dentist I puttered about

 sweeping corners where the wind had blown in some debris,

watering planters etc.

'why are you doing this? queried her oldest grandson 

as I swept in front of an ornamental door...

 and I replied

'I'm sweeping the dirt away, just in case Grammy is watching' 

and we waved up, up

to the big yellow and blue sky

 and shouted 'hi'

and he laughed 

and I cried. 

'and' continued her Grandson turning back to the door,

'what is this door even for?!!'

Then I laughed out loud!

How like many males in my life he sounded;

What is the point of a door that doesn't open and leads nowhere 😂😂😂

(It turned out it inspired play-restaurant as he served me

every favourite food I could think of!)

I miss laughing with Lucy till we cried

over things impossible to explain afterward.

I miss sharing prayer-cares, recipes, gardening joys and tips,

a quick 'cuppa' or hearing her rattle off a poem or a quote 

because her memory was amazing!

Her place is filled with traces of loving care

and many have spilled over to my place too.

Last year she brought me a few plants.

Honeysuckle   

and Dipladenia...

 

Beautiful traces of her love for growing things.

This poem was also inspired in  part by something shared

on my friend's FB memory yesterday ...

(the kind of writing Lucy loved and lived)

“There is a beauty in the fragility of life,

a sweetness to be savored in its fleeting moments of joy.

For it is in the rawness of our experiences,

both the joyful and the sorrowful,

that we truly come alive.

We are not meant to shield ourselves from the pain of life,

but to embrace it fully, to let it shape us, to teach us,

to make us more human.

So do not be afraid to love,

to open your heart to the world,

even if it means risking heartbreak.

For the sweetness of love far outweighs the bitterness of loss.

And when the inevitable pain comes,

find solace in the beauty of the world around you,

in the simple pleasures of life,

in the memories of love and laughter.

For even in the midst of sorrow,

there is still beauty to be found.”

—Louise Erdrich

'For the sweetness of love far outweighs the bitterness of loss. '

Yes.

So on we go, cherishing and considering the bittersweet worth of traces

either forever left behind or being forever left behind!

So worth the joy of love

So worth the air we trace

That teems with tender flickers of

A bygone time and face

So worth the letting go

With tears farewell imparts

To trace the sweetness of hello

That echoes in our hearts

So worth the picture book

That wafts upon the breeze

Where oft we pause to trace the crook

Of precious memories

So worth each tender trace

Love scattered in life’s wake

While we discover ‘all is grace’

While our broken hearts ache

So worth the parting kiss

As Time's 'never enough' 

Begins to teach us sorrow is

So worth the joy of love

...so worth the tears that flow

And God gathers in jars

To trace the night with their halo 

(I think we call them stars) 

© Janet Martin

Ps.56:8

You number my wanderings; 

Put my tears into Your bottle; 

Are they not in Your book?

Our Sorrow Comes As No Surprise...

 

The benchmark of obedience reveals the hallmark of faith~

Prov.3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.[a]

Today's post is inspired in part as I am reading the book of Job

and in part by a recent devotion...

Our sorrow comes as no surprise to He who works for our good

What appears is a brief disguise for purposes misunderstood

To trust the Lord with all our heart rather than lean on mortal ken

Requires yielding every part; heart, soul and mind to Him. Amen

God does not fret when faith is vexed with logic stripped of theory

Our well-laid plan is oft perplexed, if but to test humility

Woe’s merit oft veiled at first glance; the pain of loss oft misconstrued

As passion earns faith’s meeker stance and learns love’s deeper gratitude

This world is full of trouble sore; some barely touched, some crushed, it seems

Without fail, death levels the score of life’s temporal field of dreams

It cuts position down to size where no disguise can thwart its ways

And often takes us by surprise but not to God who numbers days

He has prepared a dwelling place for every person that repents

He cheers faith onward as we face the learning/leaning curves of Providence

He helps us as we suffer long, obeying without compromise 

‘When I am weak then am I strong' at last pride's broken spirit cries 

The thoroughfare for faith is forged from broken pieces held to God

When sight is no longer engorged with this world's promiscuous laud

But content with God's no or yes, faith does not fret with futile whys

But focuses on promises no circumstance takes by surprise 

© Janet Martin

Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, 

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 8:37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors

 through Him who loved us.

"By Faith" from Praise and Harmony's Resurrecting God

 Lyrics

By faith we see the hand of God

In the light of creation's grand design

In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness

Who walk by faith and not by sight

By faith our fathers roamed the earth

With the power of His promise in their hearts

Of a holy city built by God's own hand

A place where peace and justice reign

We will stand as children of the promise

We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward

'Til the race is finished and the work is done

We'll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith the prophets saw a day

When the longed-for Messiah would appear

With the pow'r to break the chains of sin and death

And rise triumphant from the grave

By faith the church was called to go

In the pow'r of the Spirit to the lost

To deliver captives and to preach good news

In every corner of the earth

We will stand as children of the promise

We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward

'Til the race is finished and the work is done

We'll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith this mountain shall be moved

And the power of the gospel shall prevail

For we know in Christ all things are possible

For all who call upon His name

We will stand as children of the promise

We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward

'Til the race is finished and the work is done

We'll walk by faith and not by sight

Oh, we will stand as children of the promise

We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward

'Til the race is finished and the work is done

We'll walk by faith and not by sight

We'll walk by faith and not by sight

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Keith Getty / Stuart Townend / Kristyn Getty

An Anniversary Celebration of Sonnets

 37 years...

Thank-you, Lord

 

This photo was taken at my niece's wedding on May 24th,

where we gathered to witness the marriage and celebrate

Newlyweds, 

who were sparkling with visions of marital bliss 

dancing in their heads!

All of us who have been married for

well, really, almost any amount of time know

'till death doth part' takes more than we can successfully

and beautifully accomplish on our own!

But with God nothing is impossible!

Especially faithful love,

which He is the Author of! 

Below is Jim's 'home away from home'

contributing often to the successes and challenges 

of marriage and love's second miles

(pun intended 😅💓 )

He left yesterday morning with plans of picking up a load out west!

On Sunday night after returning home from a family reunion

I cooked and baked a week's worth of supplies

Last night the load got cancelled 😒

He will be returning home tonight if all goes as planned.

And such is life

***

So much of life is out of our hands

But never love; love helps us bear all things

Not with determined and selfish demands

But with the strength that self-surrender brings 

Love, a story that begins in the heart

 Soon finds its feet as blindness starts to see

To pull together lest we drift apart

Takes sacrificing 'I' for 'us' and 'we'

Love never runs out of lessons to teach

No one can outlive its so-much-to-learn 

Then, before one of us is out of reach

Let's make the most of each day's no-return 

Before the solemn sundering of ties

Forever closes doors and lips and eyes 

© Janet Martin

***

1 Cor.13:4-8  (NKJV)

Love suffers long and is kind; 

love does not envy; 

love does not parade itself,

 is not [a]puffed up;

 5 does not behave rudely, 

does not seek its own,

 is not provoked, 

[b]thinks no evil; 

6 does not rejoice in iniquity, 

but rejoices in the truth; 

7 bears all things, 

believes all things, 

hopes all things, 

endures all things.

8 Love never fails...

Darling, in a world mad with lust and spite

Let's make a vow to guard against the trend 

Committing rather to fight love's good fight  

By God's grace to be faithful to the end 

Darling, the world will never sympathize

With altars filled with ash of sacrifice 

Love suffers long and is kind; what a prize

True love esteems the other; what a price 

Darling, to-have-and-hold is no small fete 

To love-and-cherish until death doth part

Is not a vacation on Easy Street

Nor an endeavor for the faint of heart

Darling, let's give love every finest chance

And live life humbly, by the grace God grants

© Janet Martin

Eccles.4:12

... and a three strand cord is not quickly broken.

Armed with a world of wonderful advice

Is not enough to master love's success

Until we learn love's law of sacrifice

Marriage will suffer much unhappiness 

Fond hopes and dreams are lovely to behold 

But life does not cater to Well-laid Plan 

Its highway does not flawlessly unfold

According to the want and wish of man 

The ups and downs of love and life are sure

Marriage takes two people, humanly-flawed

And binds them with ties able to endure

If woven with the third strand who is God

Darling, let's pray through both life's grand and grim 

That our love reflects the love of Him

© Janet Martin

And last but not least, 

after many somber reminders this past year+

through many sudden losses of  Husband or Wife of

neighbours, friends and family,

 a sonnet of solemn awareness/thankfulness...

***

No one can see or guarantee Tonight 

Death often enters/visits where/when we least expect

Sobering us with meek, wiser insight;

Love, both a charge and gift none should neglect 

Each day pulses with opportunity

To love each other better, and God first 

To make the most of little words like 'we'

And weather faithfully life's best and worst 

So when death comes (and it most surely will)

Our deepest sorrow will not be regret

But, as the bitter tears of parting spill

We praise God for the joy of love's vows kept 

 

Darling, while time is still on our side

Let's try our best to live love Self-denied 

© Janet Martin

O Perfect Love - Best Wedding Hymn with Lyrics 

Lyrics-Dorothy F. Gurney

1 O perfect Love, all human thought transcending,

lowly we kneel in prayer before thy throne,

that theirs may be the love which knows no ending,

whom thou in sacred vow dost join in one.

2 O perfect Life, be thou their full assurance

of tender charity and steadfast faith,

of patient hope and quiet, brave endurance,

with childlike trust that fears no pain or death.

3 Grant them the joy which brightens earthly sorrow;

grant them the peace which calms all earthly strife;

grant them the vision of the glorious morrow

that will reveal eternal love and life.

Psalter Hymnal, 1987

May Melody

June happened before I had a chance to complete this May Melody 

started on Saturday...

May never turns its moments back; each hour once and done

In blush of blossom bric-a-brac

... and lilacs kissed by sun

In verdant vistas, velvet green ‘neath vivid, welkin eaves...

In granting planting season, as earth bursts with birth of leaves

And dandelion-dazzle, luring eyes and feet to pause...

Where soon each mane is frazzled into orbs of silver gauze...

May plays its precious pleasures once; of brief, half-leaf festoons...

Of gardens, where glad children bounce like colourful balloons...

Thrilling to feel spring’s awe-filled, fresh-tilled soil...

...between their toes

May grants a dance of joy to joy, tulips and daffodils...

Like regal harbingers deploying fleets of petal-frills

A virtual kaleidoscope of ever-shifting hues...

May never turns its moments back; each hour once and done

In blush of blossom bric-a-brac and lilacs kissed by sun

In verdant vistas, velvet green ‘neath vivid, welkin eaves

In granting planting season, as earth bursts with birth of leaves

And dandelion-dazzle, luring eyes and feet to pause

Where soon each mane is frazzled into orbs of silver gauze

May plays its precious pleasures once; of brief, half-leaf festoons

Of gardens, where glad children bounce like colourful balloons

Thrilling to feel spring’s awe-filled, fresh-tilled soil between their toes

Eager to learn the law of seeds; how ‘one reaps what one sows’

How harvest’s sacred imminence bids us to plant with zeal

Where soon the thief of innocence will bite the carefree heel

May grants a dance of joy to joy, tulips and daffodils

Like regal harbingers deploying fleets of petal-frills

A virtual kaleidoscope of ever-shifting hues

Nature rallies with hymns of hope no skeptic can confuse

Or boast or claim credit or laud for glories on display

Where only a fool denies God, especially in May

May makes us glad to be alive in spite of sorrow's knife

That somehow keens an urgent drive to grow a lovely life 

Because each moment is a gift we hold but cannot keep

And life is too transient to drift through flowers, half-asleep 

Where opportunity abounds in plots we ought not shirk

To plant a seed that soon confounds us with God's handiwork 

© Janet Martin

and last but not least, 

celebrating June with the first fresh from the garden 

simple supper salad of the season!