Standing Still

 My brother was laughing as he pulled up beside my vehicle

on the shoulder of the road a few hundred feet from my driveway, with my arm out the window 

to snag a photo or ten. "it's just so beautiful I can't help it! I laughed

 and he said "yeah, you almost make me wanna take one!"
 (and all the way to town it was drive, pull over click, drive pull over click!)

We had a stunning sky-buffet all day today!

 Sometimes we just have to stop and look... twice!

Then look, before that subtle door swings shut on hinges with soft ease

The luring sky is pure azure where soundless schooners sail its seas

Its boundless sweep leaps above earth and dwarfs the rolling field and hill

And makes me walk a little slower until I am standing still

Then listen where wind minstrels strum the musky strings of brome and sage

Where sleepless cricket-choirs turn entire earth into a stage

Where something in the air invites us to slow down and take a seat

And make the most where hours drip like flower-petals ‘neath our feet

© Janet Martin

With Hug and Tug

 Happy 25th Birthday, Melissa...

 You are brave, beautiful and strong!

Keep shining in your God-given strengths, my dear

and see where He takes you!

 

With hug and tug of heart and soul

With tick and tock of clock cajole

With learning how to climb and fall

Brush off hurt’s dirt and stand up tall

And dream new dreams and surf Past’s graves

Where seasons surge then break like waves

On shorelines starred with hard-fought dust

That teems with echoes of scarred trust

While we let go yet learn to hold

Hope’s holy hunger, raw and bold

And brave and beautiful and dear

Thankful that God is always near

To hear our prayers; His promises

Will never fail; He unveils 'Yes'

In His own Time in His own way

So, rise and shine and seize the day

God is with us in all we face

Dawn's skyline breaks with lakes of grace

Where Mercy's New enfolds the old

In work to do and hands to hold

With hug and tug of heart and soul

With click and lock of clock-cajole

Where every step-breath-wink and nod

Does not escape the love of God

 with all my love,

Mom

© Janet Martin

Often I just pick out verses 5&6 from this passage for cards but there is

some real beauty before and after those two verses as well!

 Prov.3:1-8 (BSB) Berean Study Bible

My son(daughter), do not forget my teaching,

but let your heart keep my commandments;

for they will add length to your days,

years and peace to your life.

Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart.

Then you will find favor and high regard

in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;

fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

This will bring healing to your body

and refreshment to your bones.

How to Make The Most Of Each Day We Live

 Don't you just love the feeling of accomplishment?! 

even if it's something as common as cucumbers pickled...

...imagine, on the flipside, the horror of realizing how little we accomplished of eternal value

after it is too late to undo, redo or just do...

The one thing none can keep we ought to learn to give away

Life’s little splash of wake and sleep is not a holiday

So in this glove where push and shove leaves chaos in its wake

Let’s live as if life was more than a grand buffet of Take …

A smile, a hug, a gentle word, the slower company

Of very old or young, a listening ear, a cup of tea

The heart to make an altar of each new day’s mercy-tide

(Imagine if we caught a glimpse of this life’s Other Side)

…to share with wild abandon what the hand of grace has lent

To bear each other’s burdens, and with less be more content

To fling wide doors of heart and home in hospitality

And live as if today is love’s last opportunity

To take the hand of God and walk with kind humility

To bear in mind time’s daily grind impacts eternity

So if we want to make the most of each day that we live

Let’s make the grace of God our boast and give and give and give

© Janet Martin

 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; 

and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully…

 
Proverbs 19:17
Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.

Hebrews 6:10
For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

Mark 9:41
Indeed, if anyone gives you even a cup of water because you bear the name of Christ, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.

 
Matthew 25:40
And the King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me

Sweeps of Something...

Bent to the task of Becoming

Tending to Time’s bag of tricks

Leaving behind sweeps of Something

Stippled with kisses and kicks

Nature plays havoc with heartstrings

Taskmaster and dreamer spar

Turning prudence and the art-thing

Into a sweet tug of war

We sense a suave circumvention

While we snare summer in jars

Cricket-song rouses reflection

Seasoned with sequins and stars

Who can afford to stand too long

Staring where earth meets the sky

Time tunes the bars of its love song

With echoes of days gone by

© Janet Martin