Impressions of Sand or So It Flows or Patriarchal Sparkle

I couldn't settle on one title today.😏

This morning, as we pick up where we left off last night

may we have a real sense of Whose hands time's sands flow through...

Some summer tendrils snared a bit of autumn on winter's carpet

So it flows, wild woe and wonder 

Rising, falling, wave on wave 

Breakers of beauty and blunder 

Thunder through to Bygone’s grave 

In a sea of seasons sweeping 

Over time’s indulgent sands 

Holding, folding, laughing, weeping 

Dream-castles felled by demands 

Ever rushing and receding 

Over town and countryside

Curtain-fall and rise repeating

 Like an empyrean tide 

Pouring like sand, through our fingers 

While we touch what none can stay 

So it flows; where all that lingers 

Is a sense of Yesterday

What a shoreline lies behind us

Where momentous moments merge

From a Hand of loving kindness

To replenish what we purge

Of its sediment, impartial

To rudiments, vapour-thin

So it flows; a patriarchal

Sparkle pouring through our skin

 

© Janet Martin

Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, 

created in Christ Jesus unto good works, 

which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

In Spite of Bitter-Sweeter or While We Ate Eggs

A few conversations with sisters/friends had me contemplating how much

bitter-sweeter this Christmas seems without the joy of family and friend get-togethers;

how photos in the mail are bittersweet; how keeping the enthusiasm

in much modified plans is bittersweet!

Then, nothing like children to shift our focus...

Why are you listening to this song? asked little Girl 

through mouth full of scrambled egg.

Um, because it talks about Immanuel, I answered...

(I love the words to the song below)

From The Squalor of a Borrowed Stable

 

Matt.1:23

"The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, 

and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us").

...so, while we ate eggs we talked about God; 

God With Us, Immanuel

no matter what, or where or when we are never alone!

God is with us all the time so we don't need to be scared or too sad.

How often as I try to teach children my words preach to me...

Bitter-sweeter ring the anthems of the worship we employ 

Gratitude and longing duel in Hope’s bitter-sweeter joy 

As wonder and hunger mingle in a bitter-sweeter trust 

Where an ocean of emotion rolls through mankind’s Soul-full dust 

From the heart of Love Unfailing to this groaning, broken world 

Hope Immortal keeps its promise in each breath-banner unfurled 

Through the Christ-child, born of Mary, in a stable so forlorn 

Came man’s Scapegoat, our pardon, on that first glad Christmas morn 

Bitter-sweeter bow the branches laden with fresh fallen snow 

Mirroring the heart that gazes on a scene of long ago 

Where still faithful through the ages gleams the Star that cannot dim 

As from bitter-sweeter places we still come to worship Him 

Come, and raise a hymn of gladness to He who came to atone 

Praise Immanuel, God With Us, we are never all alone 

Praise the One whose name is Jesus, come to save people from sin 

So the bitter blight of Eden, by God’s mercy will not win 

Hallelujah, hallelujah, bitter-sweeter flows our hymn 

As we gaze upon the Christ-child who would be torn limb from limb 

Where love, faithful to his Father did not scorn salvation’s plan 

But obeyed salvation’s Author; Son of God born son of man 

Hallelujah, hallelujah, praise He who has overcome 

Greater is the One within us than this world’s most mighty sum 

He, who came to earth to save us with love none can comprehend 

Will not leave us or forsake us but is our most faithful Friend 

© Janet Martin 

Matt 1:21

She will give birth to a son, 

and you are to give him the name Jesus, 

because he will save his people from their sins."

Hallelujah! what a Savior!

Echo-graphs...

For young people everywhere

Don't Give Up!

No child can outgrow their mother's prayers...

I really pray for our young people right now

with everything shut down

school online etc. 

Many are bored, restless and lonely!

Today, as I watched one of my childcare tots 

totter across the yard all bundled up

it reminded me of a (sort of) long ago world 

that seemed so permanent at the time;

when our own children were little.

Now they are young men and women,

and all this isolation is very hard,

esp. for young men who tend to perhaps not have

as many indoor hobbies as girls might.

(esp. if they play sports)

Please pray for our young people, 

that they use this as an opportunity to grow in their faith

and to become upstanding examples of man and womanhood.

Moms and dads, I guess we need to set good examples first, right?

This poem formed in my head as I watched the tot with one eye

and the little girl trying to touch the sky with her toes

from the swing I was pushing, with the other!

Photo Echographs...

They scatter on December's yard 

Like tatters of an old postcard 

And decoupage a mother’s heart 

In a collage of mem’ry-art 

They waft like echoes on the air 

A soft impression of Somewhere 

Entangled in a mother’s sigh 

Those whisper-grins of days gone by 

They sparkle in fresh fallen snow 

Footfalls muffled by come and go 

To mirror in a mother’s tear 

Reflections of sweet yester-year 

They tug and hug and ebb and surge 

Where past, present and future merge 

To urge within a mother’s prayer 

A tender plea for daily care 

© Janet Martin

Taking the Follow, Not The Lead

Christian's song after Faith was persecuted...

Excerpt from the book The Pilgrim's Progress  

Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 23:2-3

He makes me to lie down in [b]green pastures;

He leads me beside the [c]still waters.

3He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

Psalm 61:2

From the end of the earth I will cry to You, 

When my heart is overwhelmed; 

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Matt.6:13

And lead us not into temptation

but delivers us from evil,

***

Who we follow affects everything we do 

and everywhere we go!

***

A leader cannot force the follower.

The follower chooses his or her leader.

***

Dear Lord, a prayer to Thee for we

who seek to follow Thee

Keep us unmoved by reason that seeks to invade meek trust 

Help us, in each new season to surrender to Thy lead 

Remind us, we are mortal and the logic of our dust 

In its most shining hour is most fallible indeed 

Hone love’s steadfast ambition to follow and not to stray 

Shield us from finite vision rather than Your promises 

Lead us in paths of righteousness; let no temptation sway 

Lest we forget your sacrifice, enticed by worldliness 

There is a way that seems right to a man but leads to death 

Oh, let us never trust in it; but in Thy Word instead 

The spirit is so willing but the flesh, ah, but the flesh 

Is easily seduced when by our carnal nature led 

The way is straight and narrow that leads to eternal life 

Let not faith’s footsteps falter or be fooled by what we see 

For though where You lead may seem hard and troubled with much strife 

Tis but the wink ere death is swallowed up in victory 

© Janet Martin

The World is full of ways to go and wiles to follow

There in only One Way to life eternal...

Jesus said to him, 

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 14:6 

Saviour, Lead Me Lest I Stray

Sweet Beulah Land

He Leadeth Me

Lead Me To Calvary

Prov.4:26

Ponder the path of your feet, 

And let all your ways be established.

Following Jesus

Dr. Charles Stanley

Unplumbed Happiness

Life is too short not to cavort 

With friendly sorts, like trees and skies 

The long way home is like a poem 

Whisp'ring in nature’s paradise 

How good to sit and chat a bit 

With friends that flit with twitt’ring laud 

Who do not bear tomorrow’s care 

But leave its Wherefore up to God 

Time flies and soon the afternoon 

Is like a tune we used to know 

So, we should pause sometimes because 

The gauze of moments steals the show 

Don’t wait too long to learn the song 

That wafts upon the lofty breeze 

And softly blends the way that wends 

Through what time lends, to memories 

The wonder-strands from wander-lands 

Of grandiose 'hands-off' finesse

Softly become the glorious sum

Of perfect, unplumbed happiness

© Janet Martin 

This is the lure I couldn't resist...

before it darkened

 

What Joy? and This/His Joy!

The third Advent Candle stands for Joy.

(in spite of sorrow. Prayer request at the end of this post)

Yesterday morning at our service someone reflected on the thought 

that without what the first two candles represent, hope and peace,

the third would be impossible; Joy.

 Hope + Peace = Joy

In order to receive true hope and peace

we must believe in the name of God's one and only Son.

Jesus!

Jesus suffered love's greatest sorrow

to bring mankind love's greatest joy!

What merit fills the songs we sing 

What good the festive hall 

If hearts do not receive the King 

And make Him Lord of all 

What steadfast hope is yours and mine 

What peace, comfort and joy 

If we in our hearts decline 

Bethlehem’s baby Boy 

What joy to the world can there be 

What hope can Christmas bring 

What peace on earth for you and me 

If hearts reject the King 

© Janet Martin

 Joy to the World- King and Country

Love and Joy Perfected

John 15:9-17

9“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

  10If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love,

just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

11“These things I have spoken to you,

  that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 

12This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 

13Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 

14You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 

15No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; 

but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 

16You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, 

and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17These things I command you, that you love one another.

The beginning of Luke is filled with joyful song!

Mary's song; 

Luke 1:46-55

And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is his name.

50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

53 He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he promised our ancestors.”

Zacharias' song:

Luke 1:67-79

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has come to his people and redeemed them.

69 He has raised up a horn[a] of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David

70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),

71 salvation from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us—

72 to show mercy to our ancestors

and to remember his holy covenant,

73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

and to enable us to serve him without fear

75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

78 because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

79 to shine on those living in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

Angel's Song:

Luke 2:13-14

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, 

praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.

Simeon's song:

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you may now dismiss[d] your servant in peace.

30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,

31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel.”

So we who believe also sing with joy

This Joy! His Joy

The joy only Jesus can give!

His joy stays in spite of hurt!

His joy heals the crushed and broken spirit!

His joy is full because He emptied Himself for us!

Hallelujah!

(His) Joy does not shift with circumstance 

Or when our faith is tried 

(His) Joy is the Spiritual Romance 

Between the Groom and Bride 

(His) Joy enters in the heart of hearts 

When faith is genuine 

What intimacy (His) joy imparts 

Twixt mortal and Divine 

(His) Joy binds the wounds beneath our skin 

And brightens darksome days

It overflows heart-founts within 

And spills forth in glad praise 

(His) Joy is the delight of the soul 

As we dwell on the grace 

Of He who came to make us Whole 

By dying in our place 

Then, as we think upon these things 

Recorded in God’s Word 

(His) Joy, is the faith that sings and sings 

As we wait on the Lord 

© Janet Martin 

We have some families in our church family

suffering tremendous sorrow at the death

of their sister's husband, a three-week daddy!

Will you join us in lifting these families

(and the families/friends of another young man 

also killed in the same tragic workplace accident)

up to the God of all comfort?

2 Cor.1:3-5

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 

who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble 

with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 

 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, 

so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

In Case You Wonder

Love is poetry

waiting to be written...

The way of phrases wafts in blush appeal

In plush apparel of fresh-fallen snow

In precious hideaways of think and feel

In surge of seasons as they come and go

What may appear, to critic’s glance 

Quite elementary 

Of lines, winnowed from circumstance 

And tamed to poetry 

What may to some seem a sad waste 

Of Precious Little Time 

Where lines, siphoned from touch and taste 

Are woven into rhyme 

What may, mediocre at best 

Vex finer balladists 

Where lines, snared from the care and test 

Of love and life untwists 

What may to some seem nothing much 

But vain verbosity 

Is to this poet’s humble touch 

Love turned to poetry 

© Janet Martin 

This Life Is Not Carefree

 

It's Not An Easy Road

This life is not carefree 

Its give-and-taking schemes 

Are not always budget-friendly 

Or mindful of our dreams 

The flying colours of 

Accomplishment’s success 

Are cradled in a fragile glove 

Of heartache and distress 

The ‘something very nice’ 

We seized with 'hip-hooray' 

Was but the laud of sacrifice 

On altars of Today 

Reminding us again 

How fundamental, trust 

Without it who could bear the pain 

Of time’s determined dust 

Emphasizing anew

We hold a gifted Strand

And life is but the avenue

Back to the Giver's Hand

Midst high-fives and low-blows 

We traipse time's strafing sod 

While weathering life’s wows and woes 

But by the grace of God 

But by the grace of God 

Easy-street, none can claim 

For if we could who would applaud 

Or call upon His name 

© Janet Martin 

All they asked was that we should 

continue to remember the poor...

Gal.2:10

What God Hath Promised (God Hath Not Promised Skies Always Blue)

You Are Loved (Don't Give Up) by Josh Groban lyrics

HE GIVETH MORE GRACE| THE LIVING STONES QUARTET