Prayer of Faith

Oh Lord, you know

What we cannot see

And see what

We cannot know

The comfort of

Your love for us

The hope whereby we go

Help us, oh Lord

As we help those

You place within

Our care

For oh, we know

What sight won't show

That You are 

Everywhere

© Janet Martin

So many people to pray for

...to such a capable God !

Hallelujah, He is able

for all we are not.

I love the Lord, because He hears
My voice and my supplications.
² Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

Psalm 116:1-2

Better Than This

PAD Challenge day 18: Somehow we’re already on our third Two-for-Tuesday of the month; 

time is flying.

Here are the two prompts for today:

• Write a life poem. The poem could be about the miracle of life, the complexity of life, the game of Life, or anything else that means life for you. Or…
• Write a death poem. For most organisms, life leads to death. So this should be as full of possibility as the life poem.

Written in memory of Eileen Bowman

From urns of earth, spring’s verdant birth returns

With mist of violets purpling dormant slope

And robins chirping chiralees of hope

And silver brook-song sparkling through new ferns

…in bellies of lost love a fire burns

Morning is polished with a sheen of green

And limb embellished with bud’s ruby gem

And mud a flood of floral diadem

Where long the cold hold of winter had been

Before warmth stirred to sight, faith’s fond Unseen

Before the daffodil leaped from its bed

To bob like sunbeams on hills rain-drop pearled

Before time’s topaz color-wheel unfurled

A world of wonder; pink-gold-purple-red

Before love's heart in full surrender bled

…and love was torn between sorrow and bliss

Her body sleeps in graves beneath the sod

Her soul is in the keeps of Loving God

…but still, we think about what she will miss

Until Someone reminds us;
Heaven is better than this

© Janet Martin

Artiste Incognito

PAD Challenge day 18: Somehow we’re already on our third Two-for-Tuesday of the month; 

time is flying.

Here are the two prompts for today:

• Write a life poem. The poem could be about the miracle of life, the complexity of life, the game of Life, or anything else that means life for you. Or…
• Write a death poem. For most organisms, life leads to death. So this should be as full of possibility as the life poem.

We pretend not to mind

The way you turn a page

Like season-flickers on the wind

Of youth to middle-age

The mementos you make

Then take, ache in love’s sigh

The oceans you leave in your wake

Shimmer in days gone by

Where quivers on the air

Rush to finality

The resonance of here-to-there

A string of memory

How soundless are your feet

Your touch, a subtle knife

That sculpts from hours bittersweet

The echo of a life

© Janet Martin

I attended my friend's mother's funeral yesterday...

Nothing like a funeral to remind one of

life's brevity and death's finality

Dancing With A Star

PAD Challenge day 17: For today’s prompt, write a dance poem

You always lead;

How lithe your feet

I do the best I can

To twirl and dip

But often trip

Then you say ‘try again’

Your eyes hold fire

Your touch, desire

Who can resist your glance?

Where outstretched arms

And hunger charms

My heart to take a chance

Around the floor

We glide, once more

How sure and strong you are

We waltz and whirl

Me, just a girl

And you, a super-star

Your steady gaze

Unravels days

As seasons lilt and chime

My want and need

Follow your lead

Dancing with Father Time

© Janet Martin

So Man May Die With Soul Secure, He is Alive

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. 

Matt.28:6

My dear friend's mother passed away on Friday. She could go peacefully knowing Her Lord through His resurrection secured hers. Therefore the family mourns their loss but rejoices in her gain! 

No more pain in Heaven!

When Heaven lent to earth 

A Babe in manger bed

Father and Son knew, before birth

The road that lay ahead

The pain They would endure

To see the vict'ry won

So man may die with soul secure

In Jesus Christ, God's Son

For death could never chain

I AM in graves of sod

Oh, Jesus is alive again

Exalt the Lamb of God

Janet Martin

Wishing you a joyous Easter Day as we celebrate Jesus' resurrection!
 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:14

  

Love's Perfected Art

Well worth the while, the smile, the mile

We think we cannot take

Well worth the share of care we bear

When suffered for love’s sake

When suffered for love’s sake, the ache

Of hands and feet and heart

Is but the price where sacrifice

Is love’s perfected art

© Janet Martin

Well worth the while,   the smile, the mile

We think we cannot take  Well worth the share of 

care we bear When suffered for love’s sake

When suffered for love’s sake, the ache

Of hands and feet and heart

Is but the price where

 sacrifice is

love’s per

-fected 

art

© Janet Martin

Well 

worth 

the while, 

the smile, 

the mile

We think 

we cannot take Well worth the share of care we bear

When suffered for love’s sake; When suffered for love’s sake, 

the ache

Of hands 

and feet 

and heart

Is but 

the price 

where 

sacrifice

Is love’s 

perfect

-ed art

© Janet Martin