The Real Covid-test

This 'Covid-test' we are all caught in

is certainly showing us what happens 

when Fear takes the reign/reins!

God help us!

When Fear governs
Havoc ensues!
When Faith anchors
Hope renews

 My Faith Looks Up To Thee

 

I Need Thee Every Hour

 

Fear wreaks havoc
Faith grants peace
Fear takes captive
While Faith frees

Fear clings wildly
Faith lets go
Faith yields wonder
Fear yields woe

Faith is God-fixed
Fear, a noose
Faith or fear
Which will we choose?

Fear will hobble
Faith IS shod
Fear seeks reasons
Faith trusts God

© Janet Martin

 

What is the worst/best thing that can happen

to the household of faith?!!

Death then Heaven

 

 “I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.  

He freed me from all my fears.”

 ~ Psalm 34:4

 

  “Humble yourselves, then, under God’s mighty hand, 

so that he will lift you up in his own good time.  

Leave all your worries with him, 

because he cares for you.” 

~ 1 Peter 5:6-7

 

 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

 I will fear no evil, for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

 ~ Psalm 23:4

 

 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear,

 but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

 ~ 2 Timothy 1:7

 

 

Before We Seek Solutions...

 

 

 

 

Before we seek solutions, may we be careful to seek Him first.
Our Daily Bread


Before we rush headlong into the nearest ‘next’ from Mercy’s throne
Before we try to bear the care that vexes visage with Unknown
Before the door to Evermore swings open once then shut for aye
Before we seek solutions to all this and more, may we first pray

Before the bloom that flourishes is stooped and withered with old age
Before our ways are set like stones cemented into Bygone’s stage
Before we waste our precious time lamenting what none can undo
May we with humble heart seek Him; each morning His mercies are new

Before we see God's promises fulfilled we must first yield and trust
Before the silver cord is severed and Soul’s husk returns to dust
Remember Your Creator, Mediator between He and man
Before the evil days draw nigh and tricks perception with a plan


© Janet Martin

 

Our Daily Bread Devotion and the devotion from the book

Springs in the Valley shared the same topic today; trust!

 

Something About August

There's something about August in a garden
that thrills me almost as much as Christmas!" I said to Victoria yesterday as we picked
beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers...
beneath a moody, cloudy-heavy awning of mulled blue
fringed with sunflowers.

This after an impromptu picnic at a neighboring woodlot
that we have permission to enjoy whenever we wish!

 

Something ‘bout August noon yawning
Wind song strumming rows of corn
Cricket concertos, cloud awning
Makes me glad that I was born

Something ‘bout an August garden
Burgeoning with ripened fruit
Sends a rush of satisfaction
From joy’s tassel to its root

There is something so enchanting
‘Bout its morning dipped in dew
With the tarnished past augmenting
Something unsullied and new

Something ‘bout cicada droning
Births soul-billows, bittersweet
For we sense a subtle honing
In the gold and groaning heat

Something ‘bout August ensembles
Plays heart-strings with bows of air
Rise and falling music trembles
Over garnered thoroughfare

Something ‘bout the bees that bumble
From one flower to the next
Something ‘bout the leaves that tumble
Harbours autumnal pretext

Something ‘bout canning pots bubbling
Pickling spice and vinegar
Makes the world feel more un-troubling
Slice, chop, measure, pour and stir

Something about August thrills me
Feels like heaven-realms capsized
Something ‘bout August fulfills me
And undoes me, synchronized 

© Janet Martin 

 

Fellowmen...

" Oh no!" I texted Matt yesterday morning,
"you got a box of brownies in your lunch instead of a ham sandwich.
They were in the same type of container!"
Thankfully the route of the job he was going to
passed through not far from our home
and he could drop in and exchange it!
Our oopses are not always this easily fixed!
How do we respond?!

 

We all fall; all make mistakes
Thus I’d think we should be
A very understanding race
Of kindest sympathy

We all trip and we all slip
And need to try again
Therefore the bottom line is this;
We are all fellowmen 

We all fall, all drop the ball

All hurt and hope and fear

Therefore I'd think that we would all

Be a bit kinder, dear 

We all yearn and we all earn

Wisdom in ways not grand

Therefore I'd think (for all we learn)

That we would understand

© Janet Martin

Wonder-full, Wonderful Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonder-full wonderful Time
A gift to treasure well
As seasons chime and flowers climb
From deep to pinnacle

Wonder-full wonderful Now
Burgeoning boulevard
Hand to the plow lest when-and-how
Leaves fields fallow and hard

Wonder-full, wonderful Here
Pied possibility
Of smile and tear, of faith and fear’s
Accountability

Wonder-full, wonderful Day
A showcase of God’s heart
As gold and gray unfold His say
Where we see but in part

Wonder-full, wonderful Time
A gift we daily spend
On Joy sublime, on peace divine
If the Giver is our Friend

Wonder-full, wonderful friend
He who supplies our need
Who stoops to mend and gently fend
The bent and broken reed

Wonder-full, wonderful time
What is to be must be
While seasons climb and flowers chime
In august luxury

© Janet Martin

 

 this poem was inspired by a garden stroll

and this message.

In The Midst of the Storm Dr. Charles Stanley

 

 

Morning Flower

Hello, the halo of new day unfolds earth’s ebbs and flows
Beneath the beaming countenance of heaven’s golden rose
Where petals of its former bloom have fallen in farewell
And no amount of wishful thinking can exhume its shell

Oh, ho, the yes and no of One much mightier than men
(Where all things work together for our good, if we love Him)
His is the hand that ushers in and opens up each hour
And breathes upon earth’s eastward brim the golden morning flow’r

Then rise and shine, His divine love will strengthen and sustain
And if we fix our hope in Him no flower falls in vain
But behooves us before Today decorates dusk’s headstone
To try to make the most of petals falling one by one

© Janet Martin

 

 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, 

who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28