Tuesday, October 1, 2019

As We Trust And Obey...

Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority,
because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.
Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden,
for that would be of no benefit to you.
Heb.13:17

This verse was mentioned as we prayed for our church leaders in Sunday School and I thought 
about how leaders watch over/parent their church family in a way like moms and dads watch and pray and are vigilant about their son's and daughter's health...physical, emotional and spiritual!

My nephew was baptized on Sunday. 
We rejoice on such occasions and thank God!
But we also know the master of temptation is still on the prowl
 seeking those he may devour and the real fight has just begun!
May we all be faithfully prayerful for each other
that we may be godly in an ungodly world! 

I wrote the first two stanzas of the poem below before the kiddos arrived,


Sometimes its hard to pick up on the same train of thought 6 hours
and a morning of work and play between ...
...as I try to re-collect my thoughts while they nap😊
 Lord willing it is still close to what it started out to be...

Now on the verge of day a splurge of gold and blush emerge
To rush the height of heavens through and brush the night away
The mercies we depend upon renew love’s tender urge
No matter what today may hold to trust God, and obey

For we are in a fight against dark princes of the air
Soul-thirsty demons wait to take captive mind, heart and hand
Ah, without God to help us who the enemy could bear
And without His full armour who can evil’s war withstand

“Come all you who are heavy-laden. I will give you rest”
Compassion’s invitation is extended to us all
And if our God is for us we can overcome the test
Fear will not have dominion no matter what may befall

…where on the verge of dawn a splurge of color melts the dark
To rush the heights of heaven through and usher in new day
The mercies we depend upon renewed as we embark
To run the race, armed with God’s grace as we trust and obey

© Janet Martin


...and on this note I better skedaddle!
We are having a 'last summer-like day on this first day of October so I better
make good use of it and dig out the rest of those spuds!
I hope your are having a special Happy October 1st!

Monday, September 30, 2019

Somehow A Heart...


 Cleaning out vegetable and flower gardens
is always bittersweet...
and part of my heart always seems to go with it.


 ...but I'm not pulling out all the veggies yet, until the threat of killer-frost
 so we can keep on enjoying fresh-from the garden rainbow-suppers!


oops, I was so excited to eat it when it was cooked I forgot to take a picture...
so picture a plate with chicken and veggie stir-fry, 
red tomato slices, green and red lettuce, 
white feta cheese and bits of wholewheat wrap.
Yum!

Somehow a heart repairs its wounds
And makes the bearer of it smile
When bud has borne its parting blooms
We mourn its plumes a little while
Then bind the season that we had
With brand new reasons to be glad

Somehow a heart restores its loss
With more of what first made it sing
For sorrow is love’s albatross
But love runs rife with life’s fresh fling
Where hearts hold threads that interlace
Both launching pad and resting place

Somehow a heart resists farewell
Where moments like links in a chain
Hinge to a fringe that tolls a bell
That tugs somewhere hard to explain
And yet, we cannot be too sad
Because of the good times we had

Somehow a heart resigns its ache
To burst with both bitter and sweet
Where the mercies of give and take
Will sometimes make it skip a beat
And wonder as its pieces fall
That there is a heart left at all

 (repeat first stanza at the end, optional)

Somehow a heart repairs its wounds
And makes the bearer of it smile
When bud has borne its parting blooms
We mourn its plumes a little while
Then bind the season that we had
With brand new reasons to be glad


© Janet Martin

oh!  you're still feeling a little peckish?
 how about one of the Apple-oatmeal muffins that Victoria made!


A Prayer and A Humourous Parable


 It's a busy life isn't it?!
Hopefully never so busy that we forget what truly matters!

Building for Eternity!
Our church is adding onto its building because we are running over with
the future church aka young families/children!
We are all invited to be part of the donators Big Picture
in these exciting times of growth!

I was convicted humorously yesterday in my Sunday School class of grades one-to-three girls...
One big sister was so delighted because
she earned four mini chocolate bars after finding the verse first in a Bible sword-drill.
Her little sister, quite envious was sobbing quietly.
Big sister put her arm around her and whispered, 
"don't worry! Jesus is still your friend and you can still pray to Him"
...cold comfort to the one who looked at the chocolate tucked securely in her big sister's pocket!
How often are we guilty of the same kind of response!
'praying' for the 'needs/needy' while our pockets bulge?!

Giving is the one thing with a guaranteed return!




 Then Lord, I pray...

That greed should never bid me turn from need, unfeeling, bold and cold
That love would walk the second mile where no one but You will behold
And Lord, that whereas I am able I would give with meek intent
Remembering You set the table heaped with what Your mercy lent

That leer of fear won’t render fruitless the labourer of Your field
That far, far more than duty bids me to be mindful of the yield
That the purpose of loves' endeavor would never be self-apprised
And Lord, if I should spurn Your whisper that I would return, chastised

That the ever-dwindling measure of my numbered days on earth
Would not be spent seeking pleasure but bent on far greater worth
That a kind, careful awareness would keep mind and conscience keened
Lest seared by the repetition of love’s perfect law demeaned

That, when my time on earth is finished and the final battle won
That then full joy will be accomplished when I hear these words ‘well done’
And that the Substance of Things hoped for, evidence of things not seen
Will instill in me such a hunger that nothing can come between

© Janet Martin


Of The 'Commonplace'...


 Many are the times, whether as a young mother or a middle-aged mother and grandmother
I have gazed at loved ones and thought,
"I want to remember you exactly like this"
but I never do...
Time always replaces the old with the new
reminding me that what may seem like a common Monday morning mess really isn't at all!



I want to remember you
How you are right here, right now
But I know I never do
Time erases you somehow
Lending to love's subtle chase
New and precious commonplace

I, with all my best intent
Cannot seal upon fond gaze
Images of endearment
For Time cannot change its ways
Kissing to each form and face
Whole new frames of commonplace

I have dared to shake the cage
That insists upon its due
Futile to grapple with age
Time insists upon the new
Turning into treasured space
That which seemed so commonplace

Then, with kind humility
I will love with tender heart
This small part of you and me
Where the brush that grants its art
Leaves me breathless by the grace
Of ‘no such thing as commonplace’

© Janet Martin