Thursday, January 6, 2011

The Purpose of Memories.....


God uses our memories to shape who we are
And what we will thence become
We remember when we were a lad or wee gal
We remember a childhood at home…….
We remember our youth with its pleasure and fear
We remember our victories and woe
Ah yes….we remember with a smile and a tear
Tender lessons life has to bestow

God uses our memories to teach and to guide
As we learn what and what not to do
As we recall tears that we bitterly cried
When the reaping was finally due
We remember life’s sorrow when joy was dim
And the comforting touch of His hand
As we bowed our knee and yielded to Him
Even though we did not understand

God uses our memories so we will not forget
The battles, the victories and loss
He uses the memories of harsh regret
To remind us of grace at the cross
God uses our memories to bring close to us
The presence of loved ones afar
God lets us keep our memories because
They make us who we are

Janet~

The New Year seems to evoke ‘looking back’……

My kids, from Emily to Victoria LOVE
‘Adventures in Odyssey’!!!!

One of those stories inspired this poem……

I believe ‘odyssey’ is to my kids
what Uncle Arthur was to my family
when I was a kid………

The Way We Were....


We will never be the way we were.....
There is no short-cut back to before
Before the after.......
Before we spoke....or didn't
And even if we could go back....
We wouldn't.......
Because there is no guarantee
That things would turn out differently....
We will never be the way we were
But we can be what we are
And will be.........
We cannot return to the beginning
Or see the end......
But with each new day
We can begin again......

This is Life.....


The high, the low
The ebb and flow
The giving and the taking
The calm, the storm
Chill wind and warm
The molding and the breaking
A smile, a tear
A day, a year
A dance of song and weeping
The joy, the strife….
….ah, this is life
Held in the Giver’s keeping

Janet~

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Thank-you.....


You were my little 'extra-ordinary'
In my day today
Not so much by what you said
As what you didn't say...


J~

From My Window....


The air is still and yet intense
From my wee sill night seems immense
Grave, the blue and purple sigh
Emanating from the sky
Yet, He who walked upon the sea
Holds in His palm...….eternity
I look up, up and feel so small
Amazed that He sees me at all……….

Janet~

Victoria and I discovered that we share the same
‘favorite verse’……

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us
that we should be called children of God. 1 John 3:1

Wishes.........


I do not ask for understanding……
Only patience
I do not ask for knowledge…..
Only wisdom
I do not ask for healing……
Only strength
I do not ask for answers…..
Only trust
I do not ask for trophies……
Only vision
I do not ask for beauty……
Only Heaven
I do not ask for riches…..
Only enough
I do not ask for power…..
Only love

Janet~

The Unlovely..........


Mankind may love earth’s beauty
The oak, the river flowing
The towering peak, the wooded hill
The mellow breezes blowing
The fragile bud on hearths of spring
The passion of the thunder
Each single ecstasy may bring
A sigh of awe and wonder……….

Mankind may love the hand it clasps
The comfort of the moment
As he sees lights of home at last
His haven from life’s torment
Within the arms of love’s embrace
There is no realm of wanting
Gazing at each child’s wee face
Earnest, fearless, trusting

The crimson glow of twilight’s snow
The murmur of the ocean
The sacred calm after a storm
Arouses pure devotion
To love life’s gifts of excellence
Seems to come naturally
But only God can help us love
Life’s truly unlovely……….

Janet~

Hierarchy......


In dulcet tones the soft wind moans
Through dark and pine-brushed awning
The deep blue eye of yonder sky
A-thousand memories spawning
From somber lips a whisper slips
Into the midnight bower
It sirs in me a melody
Of one fair, faded hour

The sanguine lay of summer’s day
Grows faint, but not forever
The gilded kiss of August bliss
Lies just beyond the river
It seems to me that I can see
The shimmer of its splendor
In dulcet tones the soft wind moans
A love song, warm and tender

It drifts to me from distant sea
A sonnet with no pardon
Falling upon the argent lawn
And memory-gilded garden
With silvered wings its cadence rings
Across this tranquil hour
As I resign this will of mine
To its hierarchal power

Its strains portend imminent end
To winter’s frigid sorrow
The bright bloom lies in cold disguise
Beyond some near tomorrow
In dulcet tones the soft wind moans
And wraps its arms around me
A melody of reverie
I let its pain surround me

Janet~