Sometimes I'm Tempted To Suppose

Sometimes I’m tempted to suppose life lovelier without the rain...

A year ago today was also rainy, 

the day we huddled solemnly beneath umbrellas,

 around a freshly dug grave; the grave of Dear Lucy

while our tears and nature's tears mingled...

Sometimes I’m tempted to suppose the rose sweeter without its thorn...

Sometimes I’m tempted to suppose the rose sweeter without its thorn

Love better without loss or pricks, life kinder without ups and downs

Or battles between wrong and right, or tug-of-wars that leave us torn

Twixt Now and scenes perfected by what we forget of faded frowns

Sometimes I’m tempted to suppose life lovelier without the rain

Happiness fuller without pain of broken bodies, dreams and hearts

Or weariness from tolls of toil and pangs of till-we-meet-again

But then how would we recognize the prize of highs, life's low imparts

Without the hill how would we thrill at views while filled with speechless thanks

Would triumph be as sweet without the test of spirit, strength and limb?

Without the thorn would roses rise to calls reserved for rarer ranks

Without loss, push and shove, could love compose a truly noble hymn?

Sometimes I’m tempted to suppose Plan without interruption best

Hope choicer, without waiting for the timing/answer only God bestows

Easy Street more appealing than the twists and turns of bitter test

But then, without the thorns of life how would we recognize its rose?

Janet Martin

 

Alan Jackson - Sissy's Song lyrics

James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, 

when you encounter trials of many kinds,

 3because you know that the testing of your faith

 develops perseverance.

 4Allow perseverance to finish its work,

 so that you may be mature and complete, 

not lacking anything.

Where? Now and Here

Ps.107:8-9

Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness

and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

For He satisfies the longing soul

and fills the hungry soul with goodness!

The God of our salvation grants,

Where daybreak kindles wicks of grace

The gladness of fresh choice and chance

Where past and future interlace

To make the most of Now and Here

Where holy hope and heartache meld

To help us to be of good cheer

Where God's goodness is not withheld

But bids us see His majesty

Where earth and sky thunder His name

To waken mortal mightily

Where/for we are called to do the same 

Arise, arouse the slumb'ring hymn

Where once more mercy is renewed

Dawn's beckoning attractions brim

Where we are called to gratitude

To He whose help is above all

Where trouble's trying tempests roll 

He hears us when we humbly call

 He satisfies the longing the soul 

He is worthy of all our praise

He makes us valiant in faith's fight

He leads us righteously always

He pierces sin's darkness with light

Oh God, forbid I fail to bring

Where mercy and morn meet again 

Love's humble worship offering

Where all I have is Thine. Amen 

Oh God, hold not Thy peace from me

Where wicked boast while faith counts loss  

Renew the prayer that praises Thee

Where hope is anchored in the cross 

Oh God, before we face the bar 

Where righteous judgment is revealed

May all recognize who You are

And call upon You and be healed 

Janet Martin

Isa.53:5

But He was wounded for our transgressions,

 He was bruised for our iniquities; 

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, 

And by His stripes we are healed.

From a recent devotion from Streams in the Desert Vol. 2

Crowder - Come As You Are (Lyric Video)

Sweet Summer is Over...

“Summer afternoon—

summer afternoon;

 to me those have always been the two

 most beautiful words in the English language.”

― Henry James

Autumn Afternoon,

Autumn Afternoon

To me those have always been the second two

most beautiful words in the English language!

-Janet Martin 😂

Hello, pumpkin lanterns... 

and fronds orange and gold

Sweet summer is over, 

Farewell, fields of clover

Where butterflies hover and honey bees buzz 

Farewell, blue lake splashes 

Popsicle mustaches,

 Farewell, barefoot dashes through Summer That Was

Farewell, sweaty noses

And roses on roses

And dusk's gate that closes Today, late and slow

Farewell, flower-bower

And warm, welcome shower 

And treetops that tower o'er shade-pools below 

...where blithe breezes dally

where leaf-whispers rally

In rivers that sally through meadows of air 

To cheer all who listen

With lyrics that glisten 

With glimpses of Heaven on earth, full of care  

Farewell, garden growing

With seeds overflowing

With mercy bestowing the fruit in its hold  

Farewell, front porch planters

And dew-drop decanters

Hello, pumpkin lanterns and fronds orange and gold 

Hello, season dappled

With reason, red-appled

And gratitude grappled from goodness, profound 

Where summer is over

But hails to the lover

Of autumn, where favours of wonder abound  

Hello, nature's banjo

Hailing the crescendo

Of scarlet and yellow, of harvest's full swing 

As wind-tumbled pleasure

And hope-humbled treasure

 Kindles the fine measure of awed thanksgiving  

 

Janet Martin

....of harvest's full swing

As wind-tumbled pleasure...

...and hope-humbled treasure

 

  

Hope In Spite of Hardship And A Hug for the Hurting...

All the comforts of this world

cannot replace the comforts of the Soul,

wherewith Faith is cheered!

All the wonders of the world

cannot eclipse the wonder of His Word,

whereby Faith is taught!

All the wealth of this world

cannot compare to the riches of His grace;

Faith's inheritance!

***

1 Cor.13:12

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

now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

There is SO much more to this life than what/who meets the eye!

(like potato-diggers or flowers)

Heb.11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God,

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

***

Sometimes, when hardships come some doubt God

and his existence.

In the verses below David reflects, first on Joseph

who was sold as a slave, thrown into prison,

through false allegations,

before eventually being released

and given a place of highest honour!

Until the time that his word came to pass,

The word of the Lord tested him

Ps.105:19

...and then, also on the Israelites 

and God's faithful provision for them

in spite of their complaining and ungratefulness !

But (the Israelites) lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,

And tested God in the desert.

And He gave them their request,

But sent leanness into their soul.

Ps.106:14-15

Yesterday I visited a friend who recently moved into hospice.

She knows her time on this earth is almost over,

Yet,

Her room seemed filled with Hope's Palpable Presence; Peace! 

Through Christ's shed blood and her confession of faith,

when she repented and believed,

'in the valley of the shadow of death she fears no evil

for the Shepherd is with her; His rod and staff comfort her...'

(Still, please pray for her and her family!!)

In spite of this, these are hard days 😭🙏

Dear 'S' 💓

Johnny Cash - If We Never Meet Again This Side Of Heaven

Oh God, help us desire You and trust in You

with all our heart 

and not lean on our own understanding,

lest you satisfy our hands with things we see

and send a leanness of soul! 

What awful dread to live, not led

By He who satisfies the Soul

To think and be, by what we see

Rather than faith that makes us whole

What utter loss, to scorn the cross

And settle for this wicked world

To count for naught, salvation wrought

Through Jesus' blood-bought grace unfurled 

What sad effect if we reject

Glad, Living Hope, through faith in He

Who, in death's hour preempts its pow'r

With life, for all eternity

But oh, what peace and joy increase

As we release the part we brave

To Jesus Christ who sacrificed

Himself to overthrow the grave

Janet Martin 

Leviticus 17:11
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, 

and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; 

for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

Hebrews 9:22
According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, 

and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Matthew 26:28
This is My blood of the covenant, 

which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, 

the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, 

we have fellowship with one another, 

and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

 

Shadow-Forge

I LOVE September mornings, where shadows sprawl, tall across the waking land...

This, along with the memories of Lucy that people share helped inspire today's poem

John 9:4

I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day;

 the night is coming when no one can work.

It is Today; where rooms expand with gleaming opportunity

And grace extends a helping hand, because life is no Easy Street

All that has passed to yester-path is beyond reach; the part we see

(So potent in its aftermath) unfolds fresh favour 'neath our feet

It is today; a fleeting hold soon melded to Eternal Past

As moments, like nuggets of gold, mold all that we cannot undo

While forging with subtle finesse a sort of shadow we all cast

An indelible sacredness we ought to pay attention to

It is Today; nothing we say can un-happen Bygone unfurled

The best we all can do is pray and trust the One who knows/shows the Way

Because the shadow that we weave will follow us beyond this world

Of the Influence that we leave, through how we loved and lived Today

We cannot wish or wash away, or detach ourselves from it

By deeds we do and words we say, shadows of influence soft-fall

For better or for worse; life shapes that which transcends its transient flit 

A shadow sprawled across thought-scapes that those who yet remain, recall  

Janet Martin

It's Been a Year...

Today marks a year of trusting God's purpose

in taking Lucy from this earth...

Thank-you everyone, for your caring and support throughout this year!

God bless you all!

Deut.29:29

 (The verse that Lucy's funeral message was drawn from)

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God,

 but those things which are revealed belong to us 

and to our children forever, 

that we may do all the words of this law.

Dear Lucy...

(Beloved Daughter, sister, wife, sister-in-law,

daughter-in-law, mother, mother-in-law, aunt and Grammy 

and beloved friend, missed by many) 

It's been a year of succumbing to grips

With 'what is', again and again

Of trusting in God when His Sovereignty strips

Sure answers from every 'amen'

It's been a year of  meek joy, sorrow-awed

By loss that has left a huge hole

While finding firsthand, the faithfulness of God

Whose rod and staff comforts the soul

It's been a year of considering oft

This life and what fashions its worth

Before The Intangible is borne aloft

And body returns to the earth

...before the measure of Lifetime is weighed

In a Balance, sacred and just

Before Truth reveals where treasure is laid

Before Soul-to-God, dust-to-dust 

It's been a year of relinquishing 'why?'

To God's higher purpose and will

Until hymns come true, In the Sweet By and By

What a Day That Will be, Peace, Be Still

It's been a year where we felt the full force

Of Hope's/Faith's utter un-commonplace 

Of drinking in moments, more tuned to the Source

Like nectar from fountains of grace

...of four-word love-letters like 'thaw, heat and serve'

'How are you doing', 'I'm praying for you'

While weathering many-a-sharp learning curve

 While suffering love's decreed due  

...while we stuffed our faces into peonies

While we gathered to reminisce 

While we laughed and wept, and made new memories

Honored with , 'Lucy would have loved this!' 

It's been a year of hope's anchor reviewed 

Of love abounding more and more

Why does it take loss to renew gratitude 

For each other, like never before?

It's been a year of hug-warm tender care

Of heartaches no poem can spell 

Of kindness on kindness, of prayer upon prayer

Of tears for the flower that fell 

Of feeling a keen sense of urgency

For all still like sheep, wandering 

 Ignoring impending eternity

As if it were not a sure thing 

 

It's been a year of learning to let go

While holding the part left behind

Of frames filled with pictures and echoes that flow

Through sorrow and joy intertwined 

It's been a year of oft coming to terms

With what we can never undo 

While leaning on the everlasting arms

Of God, who is faithful and true

It's been a year of learning to revere

A law we should never dismiss

Of, 'If the Lord wills we shall live and go here

Or there, and do that or this'  

Janet Martin

James 4:13-15

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, 

spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”

 14You do not even know what will happen tomorrow!

 What is your life? 

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Instead you ought to say,

 “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

Deut.33:27

The eternal God is your refuge,
And underneath are the everlasting arms;

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

Be Still, My Soul

Snatches of September Song...

Happy over halfway-through-September and

the first day of the last week of summer

so, slow down and enjoy!! 

Ps.89:11

The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;
The world and all its fullness, 

You have founded them

The flowers, as if sensing summer’s impending demise

With orchestral-like vim, reach for crescendos, no holds barred...

As asters, at long last release glimpses of paradise

In Masterpieces tossed across landscapes, white-purple-starred...

The flowers, as if sensing summer’s impending demise

With orchestral-like vim, reach for crescendos, no holds barred

As asters, at long last release glimpses of paradise

In Masterpieces tossed across landscapes, white-purple-starred

And orchard throughfares bustle with brief activity

As ballads of ‘kerplunk’ kindle an ageless, pure delight

As crickets serenade all of beloved humanity

For everyone is precious in their Choir-conductor’s sight

Thus, we are all beholden to join in as best we can

To worship The Creator of the heavens and the earth

To echo dear old David as He marveled ‘what is man?

That He is mindful of us, and grants tasks of sacred worth

Goldenrod-tapers gleam along freeways and boulevards

That wander from the beaten path through rural solitude

The silver-poplar shimmers, tugging at heartstrings of bards

Evoking poetry, plumbed from scents of summer subdued

From misty morning meanders, from musky, dusky strolls

From fields farmers denude; from gardens, spilling final spoil

From an emerging aura of autumn, rolling through souls

Where once-upon-sweet-summer’s day we reveled in its toil

Atop the tides that tug beneath in Holy Ground of Now

To-everything-a-season and purpose under the sun

As September keens us more closely, to Time’s Scythe somehow

As trees, once green adapt a sheen of hues, not quite begun

Devotion/emotion chokes on wonder; ‘what is man’ that God should bless

Our neglect of worship, with Beauty’s unplumbed reserves

Meeting bold expectation with pear-plum-kissed happiness

With more to thrill awe’s senses than any of us deserves

While we are drawing nearer to a line we cannot see

For some of us September will draw one last door ajar

For some of us September will unveil eternity

Thus, we should all remember God, no matter who we are

Before Time’s silver cord is loosed and its golden bowl breaks

Before September’s embers dim and yield to He who grants

Each apple-dappled, dewdrop-dazzled frond; who gives and takes

Who founded every favour of Divine Extravagance

Corn-rows arrange a symphony of whispers, like a toast

To butterflies bobbing beneath heaven’s boundless blue swell

Harvest, hope’s culmination humbles calloused, mortal boast

As mercy, new each morning twirls September’s carousel

As nostrils fill with nuances of nature’s fine vermouth

As we consider God, and love’s divine extravagance

As we learn how to worship Him in spirit and in truth

As September unveils a smorgasbord of evidence

As we, agape, witness the One whose Sovereign order rules

Where through worlds clearly seen even a child can understand

As Innocence, immune to the pitiful plight of fools

Catches snatches of music from September’s beaming band

Janet Martin

Meeting bold expectation with pear-plum-kissed happiness...

As nostrils fill with nuances of nature’s fine vermouth...

...like a toast

To butterflies bobbing beneath heaven’s boundless blue swell

Harvest, hope’s culmination humbles calloused, mortal boast...

On Conditional Promises

We all desire a beautiful life,

as glorious as a chocolate-cherry hibiscus in full bloom!

But there are certain conditions necessary for flowers to

bloom profusely, such as adequate sun and rain!

So too,  there are conditions when it comes to a truly, beautiful life

 rich with spiritual blessings; 

the beauty of true hope, joy and peace

Each of the preciously comforting promises below, 

(a few of many)  are conditional;

God's part contingent on our response to Him,

reserved for all who fear God and keep His commandments. (Eccles.12:13)

Ps.145:18

The LORD is near to all who call on Him,

to all who call out to Him in truth.

Ps.103:17-18

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting

On those who fear Him,

And His righteousness to children’s children,

18To such as keep His covenant,

And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

Rom.8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,

who[a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Rom.8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,

to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Matt7:21

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven,

but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

John 14:15-17

“If you love Me, [d]keep My commandments. 

16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another [e]Helper, 

that He may abide with you forever— 

17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,

 because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; 

but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

In light of promises such as these, a prayer,

(because God sees my heart and who/what I most truly worship)

Without His help and righteousness, my faith is impossible to please Him! 

Lord, help me do my part to trust You and obey

Then You will satisfy my heart and hear me when I pray 

The comfort You instill grants joy and peace divine

Impossible to know, until I yield my will to Thine

You are the God of hope; there is none besides Thee

Without You, Want is doomed to grope in faithless misery

But with You, come what may, Your promises abide

To all who trust You and obey You faithfully provide

And satisfy our need beyond our wildest ken

You hear our prayers and intercede with perfect love. Amen  

Janet Martin

Rom15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, 

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

My camera is on its last gasp!

I'm so thankful it worked well enough to capture

this beauty before it fades

Take Time Out For Jesus