On Second Miles

Second miles may cause us to groan

For they tug us from our comfort zone

It is in the second miles we trod

That we touch the hand of God

Second miles are not traveled by obligation, force or fear

But they are the miles that prove

Our testimony, loud and clear

Of love

Love is patient, love is kind

It does not seek its own

And oft its dark and second mile

Is seen by God alone

Second miles in life

Do not further our own causes

But if, in faith we walk them

Their beauty may surprise us

Second miles are not reserved

For either the gifted or the common

But they draw out of mortal crowds

The very best of them

Lift up your chin, take heart and smile

Love begins in the second mile

Walk with the one who needs a hand

Alone we fall, together we stand

Jesus, how thankful I am

You walked that mile for me

And oh, its blood-stains led me to

A place called Calvary

If we would follow Him

In authenticity

Then we will walk those second miles

For His sake, willingly

What blessing we forfeit

What joy we discard

If second miles we forsake

Because they are too hard

Take heart, oh traveler of the second mile

It will all be over in life’s little while

Then oh, how sweet our rest will be

At Jesus feet for eternity

© Janet Martin

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.  If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Matt. 5:38-42

Oh Still the Hastening Bloom

Oh, still the hastening bloom

That crowns the summer’s day

I must hold its tender fold

Before it fades away

Oh, still the ticking clock

That peals the quickened hour

I must pause a bit because

I need to smell the flower

Oh, still the sassy breeze

That steals its fragrant leaf

And tucks to earth arboreal birth

With not one tear of grief

Oh, still the hastening bloom

Too soon its petals weep

For they as I, bud, bloom, then die

Restored to Heaven’s keep

© Janet Martin

Inside a birthday card I received she wrote ‘Bloom where you’re planted’.

On my run yesterday morning I was struck by the beauty in the wildflowers simply ‘blooming where they are planted’.

On Disappointment

 Image Source: quotepictures.net

Disappointment’s not the end

It is just a painful bend

In the road to future’s destiny

Disappointment’s not our fate

It just means we have to wait

God alone knows what must be will be

Disappointment’s not vile spite

To restrain us in our fight

Or to snuff our song is never its intent

But disappointment makes us strong

Though it hurts and feels so wrong

It often leaves us wiser in the end

Disappointment’s hidden good

Is oh, so oft misunderstood

Until miles down the road we turn to see

Forsaken dreams strewn in the dust

No longer near and dear to us

For God alone knew what was meant to be

© Janet Martin

I have a friend who experienced keen disappointment last night as he did not make it to the finals in the local singer/songwriter's competition. It was his first public competition and he learned a lot from it. ...'and you will by okay, my friend, because this was the beginning, not the end:)'

Mother to Mother

Tis a universal bond

We share with each other

A non-scripted empathy

Mother to mother

This bond is tempered

With blood, prayer and tears

It threads across oceans

And borders and years

It clutches our pulses

We know each other

Through the beautiful angst

Of being a mother

Mutual devotion

Bent on love’s greater good

As we share the bond

Of motherhood

Tis a common bond

We understand each other

In a universal kinship

Mother to mother

© Janet Martin

To June

You,

of seamless azure awning

and clover-dappled field

Of wild-flower spawning

in copious yield

You,

of ravishing verdance

in opulent jade

sprawled on a landscape

of sunlight and shade

You,

who rolls out summer’s carpet

in splendor supreme

and ten-thousand textures

And palettes of green

You,

Stage to the a capella

mourning dove minuet

Maestro to the sparrow

and meadow-lark duet

You,

of strawberry indulgence

and bronze, barefoot bliss

Of back-wood rendezvous

and lingering kiss

You,

who flings open

the coveted door

to earth’s glorious garden  

and summer-sweet shore
...we love you

© Janet Martin

Labor-pains

When they tell us it’s over

It’s a girl; it’s a boy

We are about to discover

As virgin joy

Washes our faces

Our new daughter or son

That it will never be over

It has just begun

The labor of love

The ebb and flow

Of white-knuckle clinging

And letting go

Is a sacred experience

Simple word cannot grasp

We teach them to fly

While we cradle and clasp

I close my eyes now

As I strain to recall

The curve of your face

When you were so small

And all those thought pictures

I sealed in my heart

Have somehow grown blurry

In love’s ceaseless art

I trace you again; hungrily

Time is a foe

Pulling you from me

But I’ll never let go

For holding is not

A physical grip

I hold you even

As from my arms you slip

The call of life

Is like no other

It tugs love’s off-spring

From the arms of a mother

And this is the way

It surely must be

We cannot remain

On our mother’s knee

Yes, when they tell us it’s over

Childbirth’s groaning and pain

We are about to discover

It never will be again

For this travail of agony

And heart-wrenching bliss

Is a life-long embrace

Of love’s farewell kiss

© Janet Martin

Elusive Attribute

Image Source:  quotespicture.org
 

If we try to possess it

It is instantly gone

This special attribute

God’s grace shines upon

Those who achieve it

Kindly, gently show it

But the reason they have it

Is because they do not know it

Most beautiful, are they

Of all humanity

Because God’s grace shines upon

Humility

© Janet Martin

But he gives more grace. Therefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. James 4:6

Thursday Thoughts on Prayer

Through valleys

Over mountains

And oceans of air

I reach out

To touch you

With my prayer

Wherever you go

My dear daughter and son

I want you to know

You can never outrun

My prayers for you~

Chase your dream

If you must

Place your will

And your trust

In a prayer

My thoughts keep returning to you today

So I fold you against my heart and I pray

A prayer is more than wishful thinking

More than a fretting tear

A prayer is the stair to the doorway of heaven

Straight to our Father’s ear

These are not just words I say

When I lift my thoughts and pray

These are petitions of trust

Rising from a shell of dust

But in this shell He placed His worth

When I received my second birth

Boldly yet humbly we commune

With He who graces earth with June

How fearful would be

This thing called Day

If God did not hear

Us when we pray

There is no such thing

if we earnestly groan

as a prayer too unworthy

to touch His throne

Yes, no, wait

God’s answers to prayer

Are never late

J~

If you read this...I prayed for you today.

Often I whisper a prayer for you

-those who pause here; and I pray

that whoever and wherever

in life you may be

that God will bless you today

 God bless~

 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you. Isa. 26:3