No Score-keeping In Love (because love is not a sport)

 Love...never fails.

1 Cor.13.8

When we keep score, nobody wins 

The more we measure that for this 

The more we miss of hug and kiss 

And the sweet bliss of ‘love-you’ grins 

When we keep score, we leave behind 

Words like goodness, mercy and love 

Better to count more than enough 

Reasons to be thankfully kind 

When we keep score, how we lose out 

On wondrous would-be happiness 

And life’s most valuable success 

Of what true love is all about 

© Janet Martin

A Wild Winter Morning Poem

 

Gone is yesterday morning's pristine perfection!

This morning the world is wild and wooly!!

Today dawn does not slip her feet into slippers, soft-misted gold 

She roars across the eastern ridge and shakes a snowflake-frenzied wold 

And bids us bundle up to brave her biting notoriety 

Or keep home-sweet-home fires stoked, and kettles readied to pour tea 

This morning mettle meets with might of swirling, seething, white-star storm 

It seems the east released a wild beast of fury in finest form 

She seizes tree-tops, eaves and sashes, shaking earth with howling rage 

While blazing trails of sweet nostalgia through the smiles/isles of middle-age 

Gone is the crystal gallery showcasing Jack Frost’s feather-strokes 

Where we all stood agog and gazed with amazed hearts caught in our throats 

Now parkas, mitts, scarves, hats and boots put on their puffy fashion-show 

As bundled ‘models’ trundle, shovel, forge their way through drifts of snow 

Good Morning, Old Man Winter, making your boreal presence known 

As cold and cozy duel in a boxing ring of skin and bone 

As we become more thankful for the four walls, we call home sweet home 

And cherish joys like buttered toast, a cup of tea, a winter poem 

© Janet Martin 

Is it tomorrow now? asked little Girl

Yes! I said. It is yesterday's tomorrow!

Yesterday seemed to her to be full of promises of what is happening 'tomorrow'.

such as, on Friday we always have a popcorn party,

and today is extra special because if the weather allows two little girls 

soon joining the childcare routine, are coming for a visit!

As much as we are able let us remember to be glad and rejoice

in this day the Lord has made.

Ps.118:24

While The Rest of Heaven Waits...

Good Evening! 

It's been a busy day starting with a most stunning sunrise and sparkle-world...

When the world is washed with sparkles

And the morn is like a cloak

Softly draped in misty purple

Over hemlock, birch and oak

We feel like a bit of heaven

Somehow spilled through pearly gates

Making life so worth the livin’

While the rest of Heaven waits

© Janet Martin

...and ending with my very first attempt at 

Chicken Pot Pie.

It was a hit! 

My version was loosely based on the above link;

 

Of Ribbons and Veils, or Of Rivers and Vales

 

The reason I enjoy photographing January sunrises so much is because the sun comes up

straight out from our property at the end of a pristine sweep of snow-covered fields.

Now, in February it has shifted past this perfect vantage-point!

A ribbon rises from the east like a river of gold 

And spreads before our eyes a feast of wonder to behold 

Dawn’s river overflows its banks as heaven’s high seas brim 

The Giver fills hope’s cup with thanks as we lift it to Him 

The shoreline of the earth is etched upon yon thoroughfare 

The spectrum of day’s birth is stretched and fanned upon the air 

Where from the depths of grace unfurled His mercy makes amends 

As from the breadth of groaning worlds incense of prayer ascends 

The earth and its fulness thereof belongs to God, not man 

His truth is not a fickle glove we tickle with our plan 

Where, just as plainly as the dawn is set on eastward scrim 

We, as dust’s veil of days is drawn will surely behold Him

The ribbon soon runs ragged on life’s jagged edge of death 

The veil that hides Jehovah’s face is thinning with each breath 

Dawn’s river that is pouring morn to morn from sea to sea 

Is but the vapour mooring on shores of eternity 

© Janet Martin

Isaiah 11:4
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, 

and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: 

and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, 

and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

There is so much trouble in those old world!

But

All the Way My Saviour Leads Me

 

 

 

 

Because Of The Lord's Mercies...(You and I were Not Aborted)

When we think of the millions and millions of unborn babies

killed and sucked from what should be their safest haven; their mother's womb SURELY,

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not all consumed, why?

 because his compassions fail not..."

Lam.3:22

Because of the Lord's mercies every single one of us was conceived in a womb 

where our mothers chose life!

Have we prayed, spoken out in the defense of the unborn?!

How are we helping our most helpless?!!

Here is the link to the video that partly inspired this poem

Senator Lankford asks; 'Is That a Baby?'

Because of His mercies our breath is stolen by wonder,

hearts leap with joy and break with love,

We get to choose...what we want to eat for breakfast,

what we will wear, what we say;

'Look at the gorgeous sunrise,

Wow, you like nice today!'

Because of the Lord mercies here I am and here are you...

Man may take life but only God gives it!

What an awesome charge and privilege then, this life is;

What an account we will owe.

Because of our Good Lord’s kind mercies, we are not consumed 

Because his compassions fail not, faith is not void or doomed 

Because his promises are sure, enduring to the end 

We have above all else a true and everlasting friend 

Because of His kind mercies flowers bloom and morning breaks 

Each winter wends its weathered way to summer’s sparkling lakes 

Babies still make us meek and kinder, puppies make us grin 

And Hope is like a sky wide window letting sunlight in 

And love, though scarred with life’s hard knocks and rocks flung from word-gates 

Still suffers long and returns good though hate retaliates 

And we wake up with strength renewed according to His will 

And though we do not always thank Him He blesses us still 

And does not hold against all the judgements we deserve 

Because of His compassion grace extends Time’s vim and verve 

And composes a hymn of praise from stones when we do not 

The brook still brims with babble-song by nature’s Maestro taught 

And little lambs still leap in spring and longing still inspires 

A little girl with her grandma still kindles joy’s home-fires 

A book-nook and a cup of tea, a young lad with his dad 

Are mementos of His mercy that make us humbly glad 

Because His compassions fail not; they are new every morn 

We might have second bites of bread and butter for our corn 

We might have friends drop by or be the friend that says ‘hello’ 

And be blessed with dear Holds we find quite painful to let go 

Where seasons leave their footprints in the garden of the heart 

And wonder weaves a tapestry from God’s master-pieced art 

Where sorrow is not without joy, because of Mercy’s Stay 

And morrow is not without hope, for Mercy leads the way 

Because of our Good Lord’s kind mercies, we are not consumed 

But without faith in He who IS our little life is doomed 

Because His promises are sure, His compassion is just 

He holds ajar Salvation’s door and beckons us to trust 

© Janet Martin

So, so much brokenness, the result of sin:

where we have not heeded the whole duty of man...

Eccles.12:13

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: 

Fear God and keep his commandments, 

for this is the duty of all mankind.

Deuteronomy 6:2
so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the LORD your God

 all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, 

and so that your days may be prolonged.

Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O man, what is good. 

And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, 

to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Analyzing Investments

Nobody knows what will have come to pass by the time the clock's hands pass this way again 

(or if they will!!)

Touch, taste and treasure humbly then, its mien of moment-measure 

as they but once softly spill

And look around to count the ways God's mercy makes 

His Presence known

And thank Him that because He Is 

nobody is ever all alone

Deuteronomy 31:8
The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. 

He will never leave you nor forsake you. 

Do not be afraid or discouraged."

Because we cannot see what waits, soon spilled and strewn behind 

Nobody can afford to be ungrateful or unkind 

Because we cannot tell what farewell will ever enfold 

Nobody ought to not live well the moment that we hold 

Because we cannot know what lies ahead each hour, each day 

Nobody is equipped to forego He who knows/IS The Way

Because we cannot bid what is still hidden to unveil

Nobody has enough without His love that will not fail  

Because we cannot understand all that we wish we could

Nobody ought to shun the Hand held out for our good

Because we cannot see what waits ere gates of dusk descend

Nobody can afford to be anything but a friend

© Janet Martin 

Investing in some laundry, tidy to-do lists today

while listening to this...

How are you making the most of today?

My heart is full of thoughts of my sister-in-law Karen today, 

suffering from ongoing infections and side-effects of them. 

Can you pray for her encouragement and some effective treatment for them?! 

So far what is being tried is not working. 

Today, no matter who, what we do, or where we are,

 it is a gift from the Hand who works for our good!

 May we all take encouragement in this as we work with our own Broken

.

Prayer for the Church

1 Thess.3:11-13

11 Now may our God and Father Himself, 

and our Lord Jesus Christ, 

direct our way to you.

 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound 

in love to one another and to all, 

just as we do to you, 

13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness 

before our God and Father at the coming 

of our Lord Jesus Christ 

with all His saints.

February's Gardens

 

We are continuously wowed with wonderful sunrises this winter!

as God 'breaks the bud of night with heaven’s hardy, hearty Majesty'

See! February’s gardens beam from dirt where dream-seeds start to stir 

To fill the scope of hope renewed with visions of spring and summer 

To touch the page of pictures pressed to winter’s laughing aftermath 

Where sunbeams dance and bare feet prance upon earth’s posy-pulsing path 

Look! February’s gardens bloom as spent plumes bedeck pristine halls 

To steal the eye a second time with tinsel soft as cotton balls 

To burst the hub of happiness into smile-storms from heart to ears 

Where nature spreads Her empty arms and gathers Old Man Winter’s tears 

Ah! February’s gardens brim from sunny south-faced window-sills 

To fill sweet home with friendly hints of field and fallow-harboured thrills 

To wake in weary winter-worlds a sudden, sacred sense of He 

Who breaks the bud of night with heaven’s hardy, hearty Majesty 

Come! February’s gardens brood and throb beneath heath, snow-veneered 

Where frigid noon will soon drip like ice-cream from Old Man Winter’s beard 

And hands a little softer now, not pushing plows of plant and reap 

Will be filled with forget-me-nots and other 'tots' roused from their sleep 

© Janet Martin 

ah! February's gardens brim from sunny, south-faced windowsills...

(my NOT very green thumb embarrasses houseplants...poor things!)

but they bring me sweet pleasure, all the same😊

 Jeri Landers from Hop-along Hollow got my garden-fingers itching with yesterday's video, 

but alas, in Ontario we are still bundled in blankets/banquets/bank-ets of white

Jeri Lander's Winter-sowing/Gardener's Hot Lunch/name the new duck

A Little 'Light' Reading

A little 'Light' reading to begin a new week and a new month!

Happy February; 

the month we celebrate and hopefully examine love

Let your light so shine before men, 

that they may see your good works 

and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matt.5:16

Because this morning is flat gray and at first glance, not particularly striking

I am sharing a few Saturday morning stunners

Lord, be the hope within our tear 

Let your strength be our joy 

Bid faith to cast away dark fear 

Oust doubt’s deadly decoy 

Lord, fix and fill and still our hearts 

With everlasting Truth 

And let the light Your love imparts 

Shine through in living proof 

Amen

© Janet Martin