Like Whispers or Hope's Great Passageway...

 Yesterday, (Sunday morning) while together,

 our church-family received the sorrowful news of the sudden passing of another of our members, 

A beloved husband, dad and grandpa!
We will miss you Clayton, but are comforted to know your cares are past!

The song that long spilled from leaf-flowers fair

Is growing softer in its changing keys

As orchestral estrangements ride the breeze

That gallops through the trees like steads of air

To scatter in its wake a lake of leaves

‘There is a time to plant and to uproot’

The husk of dawn to dusk shucked underfoot

Like whispers that love celebrates and grieves

And none retrieves, but like a surging sea

That rolls toward the shore; Time takes its toll

While flust'ring our clear path to the goal

As we are propelled toward what will be

On a forceful, unpredictable tide

Oh, God our help in ages past, abide

The canopy of variegated green

That lured us from heat-rippled field and street

And drew us to its cooler, grassy seat

Is red and gold with blue holes worn between

…and we are at a loss for words it seems

To perfectly and properly express

This tug-of-heart that vexes happiness

And like the frost-kissed tree, undresses dreams

Insisting that we take a closer look

At often quick and easy reasoning

As tick and tock applies its seasoning

Of fallen leaves, like whispers in a book

Where Aftermath and Imminence collide

Oh God, our help in present-tense, abide

The future is a far and foreign world

The past, places and faces we recall

...as tender tears in soft surrender fall

Like whispers into gentler thoughts unfurled

Because as seasons pass we start to see

The subtlety with which a life is spent

Where everything we have is simply lent

And all relinquished in eternity

Breath seized by death; veil lifts at curtain-close

Sod, sea and sky dissolve into a mist

And all that was before does not exist

As we behold the Destiny we chose

Oh God, o’er Hope’s Great Passageway preside

Oh God, our help in days to come, abide

© Janet Martin

 There is a time to weep...

Ecc.3:1-8

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

It's True...

 "I am the vine; you are the branches.

 If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; 

apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5

It’s true; we could be crushed by the weight of dread and despair

We could be victimized by mind-games hindering meek prayer

We could fall captive to the enemy of happiness

And believe the deceiver who is cold and pitiless

It’s true; sometimes the more we try the more we seem to fail

Futile, the sentimental sigh, where hurried moments hail

From all that lies behind us to all that is waiting still

Where we could let fear bind and blind us or let faith fulfill

It’s true; that He will fit us for whatever He will ask

That His grace is sufficient for the trial, test or task

It’s true, though hope and heartache intricately intertwine

These simply form the branches that are clinging to The Vine

© Janet Martin

I attended a ladies event at church today where the theme was;

Who am I?

And the answer hopefully is 'that we let I AM define who I am'
We were both encouraged and challenged to seek and trust/believe God,
especially when we feel we can't do what He is asking of us.

Autumn Supper Hour (or ten minutes ;-)

 It takes a  lot longer to make a meal appear than disappear, huh?!!

I would like to start a what's-for-supper weekly post.

and the plan was to do it last night but that didn't work out

so here it is, the morning after...

I got a Pampered Chef pizza stone recently and finally had a chance to try it out! YUM!!

(google a pizza dough recipe that works into your time-frame) 

Also, had to settle for cheddar cheese instead of mozzerella because I didn't have any on hand. 

(Pizza is one of the most versatile foods I can think of!)

With the leftover pizza dough I made a few cheese rolls so we had the option of rolls or pizza with bean soup I prepared earlier in the day after cooking a ham bone the day before.

Skim fat then to the broth I added in proportion to pot and broth-batch-size,

a lot of thinly sliced onions, thinly sliced cabbage, some chopped celery, 

precooked black beans and navy beans, a handful of chopped parsley, 

a hefty pinch of black pepper and some bay leaves...

(for extra flavour I added a few envelopes of onion soup mix as well.)

I would love to know what extra seasonings would work 

with this combination so that I can keep it 'pure'!

(I added no salt because ham broth and soup mix is salty)

Add water, in proportion to batch size for desired flavour and consistency.

The delight of the supper crowd, (aka Matt and Victoria) was SO worth the effort!

Made supper feel like a simple celebration for a work day completed...well almost. 

(there's always the cleanup after.)

this is what yesterday's day-end felt like...

The rush of rain has eased; the trees bedazzled with its gems

Blue and gray weave a brooding blanket tossed across the day

The colours of October flare and dim on wooden stems

As twilight layers deepen and fold outdoor worlds away

Suppertime, like a simple celebration, warms and cheers

The lights of home beckon and draw our weary loved ones back

The Thing that turns us older as it spins laughter and tears

Is sweeter round a table where dusk trails night’s veil of black

…and makes us count the simple blessings that haste overlooks

It wakes a wordless hymn where time is both tender and brusque

And stirs an ache for pages sealed in fond echo-bound books

Yet makes us more aware of what slips through us dusk by dusk

The day is gathered in; darkness harvests earth's gold and red

We bow our heads in gratitude where swift the seasons roll

Thankful that Time slows down a bit in bowls of soup with bread

As supper’s simple celebration warms body and soul

© Janet Martin

After watching some pizza-dough-tossing videos I decided I'd like to learn to toss it like a pro!

Ha-ha! practice is required if you don't want to look like a snowman! 

Here is one video to teach the art of tossing a pizza crust

(note; some say never use a rolling pin to roll out the crust but rather just press with your hands)

I've tried both ways and the pizza disappears regardless! 😉

  

Perfect Timing

 Sometimes the thing that is most prayer-consuming seems to fall on deaf ears.

My devotions the past few days, in perfect timing 

remind us they do not!

Sometimes we seek but cannot find

We knock but no one opes the door

Then we who are answer-inclined

Wonder what we are praying for

The hardest part, for you and I

When waiting is misunderstood

Is to believe that God’s reply

Is always working for our good

The scope of God we can perceive

Is but a glimpse at very best

Hope is the courage to believe

While faith is enduring the test

Then keep on seeking; knock once more

Yield self to God, then pray and pray

The answer we are waiting for

Is His perfect timing away

© Janet Martin