Monday, September 6, 2021

Of the Wonderful Worth of Work

Happy Labour Day!

Every good and perfect gift is from above..
James 1:17
even the humble spud!
Which was the fruit/gift of Saturday's toil!

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

All over our country we can find Help Wanted Ads and Signs! 
Some today, prefer a government cheque and idleness to
the incomparable worth of work!
If we are blessed with health and strength we are fitted for toil!

Some today strongly push an agenda where hard-working
labourers should give the government power over the proceeds
to dole and divvy, with discretion that seems to have rejected God's Word
and is devoid of His pinnacle of wisdom!

There is much in scripture to condemn idleness/laziness
and praise hard work!
Below is only the tip of the iceberg on 
what God's Word teaches about working and idleness.

Eccles.2:24-25 NIV
A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink
and find satisfaction in their own toil.
This too, I see, is from the hand of God,
25for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?


Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.

Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.

She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
 that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness 
and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command:
If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
For we hear that some among you walk in idleness,
not busy at work, but busybodies.

And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, 
and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 
so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold,
 it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles,
 and its stone wall was broken down. 
Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction.
 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. 
All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.

Col.3:23
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

Colossians 3:17
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, 
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

The high calling of labour is a call we dare not shirk
To toil for God and 'neighbor' is life's greatest, worthwhile work
For the spoil of our toil, as we try to do our good part 
Will satisfy us with the joyful wealth of thankful heart
Where if we are so able by the health that God so grants
We ought to set the table through the work of our own hands
And give to those who have not because they are sick and poor
And live with the awareness of who we are working for
Then, with glad gratitude work hard and give the Giver laud
A servant in a vineyard whose Master is Holy God

Janet Martin

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Dear Almost-Autumn...The Way I Fall In Love


The way a red and orange leaf caught our attention last night
as my friend and I strolled through her yard
The way each butterfly in flight is a sun-catcher
The way fading flowers begin to number summer days
The way sedums begin to blush...
The way September steals in then sweeps us off our feet
Is all part of the way we begin to condition our heart to embrace the art of autumn...

The way that sunshine turns translucent, wings of butterflies

The way one’s breath is stolen by September’s sanguine skies...

The way that jars snare summer after its Season is through...

Is the way, Almost-Autumn, that we fall in love with you...


The way that sunshine turns translucent, wings of butterflies
The way one’s breath is stolen by September’s sanguine skies
The way that jars snare summer after its Season is through
Is the way, Almost-Autumn, that I fall in love with you

The way farewell’s suggestions start to seep through woodland tress
The way it tweaks soul-strings still thrilled with petal-happiness
The way The Inevitable presents its points of view
Is how I start to tell my heart to fall in love with you

The way bloom’s fringe turns brittle but Beauty remains intact
The way earth’s tinge showcases established matters of fact
The way no coaxing can revoke what is constant and true
Is the way, almost-Autumn, I yield to the touch of you

The way we cannot stay the heavy hand of come and go
The way wild asters spill to hill and field like purple snow
The way time’s give and take can make a heart ache with desire
The way late day starts earlier to stoke dusk’s shadow-spire/fire

The way goldenrod lamps gleam from creekbank, fencerow and woods  
The way each milkweed plume is primed with silver parachutes
The way the air begins to wear a chill we nigh forgot 
Is the way, Almost Autumn that I can forget-you-not   

The way the world is twirled on a four-season carousel
The way we straddle tides saddled to hello and farewell
The way we start to cherish clock-shaped treasure, moment-spun
Is the way that I always fall in love with You, Autumn

Dear almost-autumn, bear with me while I learn to begin
To undo summer’s tendrils tangled somewhere ‘neath my skin
Somehow, the way you wait while I grapple with gold and blue
Becomes the way, almost-Autumn, I fall in love with you

© Janet Martin






Believer's Blessing


Psalm 56:3-4

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?



No matter what befalls
Where trouble's thralls increase
You answer the believer's calls
With hope and joy and peace

This world is full of woe
Fear's forces never cease
But no power can overthrow
Your hope and joy and peace

The soul that trusts in You
From worry, finds release
As you run the believer through
With hope and joy and peace

Janet Martin




Saturday, September 4, 2021

September Skin...

Happy September Saturday!
SO much is happening to remind us
of the preciousness of Time...
Let's cherish moments with our loved ones because
we never know what a day holds!





Each morning is set free from a fresh flask of moment-dust
Then seize its opportunity and raise thy glass to Trust




The colours of the countryside have lost their lustrous sheen
The timbre of time’s telling tide shucks cornfields of lush green
Deception’s furtive favours, for a small while may appease
The heart with summer-flavours steeped in ling’ring fantasies
But cannot keep at bay for long the truth that will be told
Where September tolls welkin gong and turns the pear tree gold

…and tips yon cruet, spilling bluest awning overhead
Where sweet time as we knew it runs a sentimental thread
Through you and I as we grapple with subtle season-shifts
While comforted by apple-orchard orb’s enticing gifts
As we count down last days of summer with awed gratitude
For who can tally the vast ways of God’s goodness renewed 

Each morning is set free from a fresh flask of moment-dust
Then seize its opportunity and raise thy glass to Trust
For everyone can ill afford to pine for yester-years
But taste time’s vintage being poured, before it disappears
We have an obligation, nay, a privilege to give
To God pure adoration for each single day we live

September stokes in us an ache for Season almost spent
Where we are beholden to make the most of Mercy’s ‘lent’
And learn to love the colours that are slowly seeping in
For glove of youth and valour will soon don September skin
Where the fool mourns what once was, but the wise remain content
Time is too precious to fritter in bittersweet lament

© Janet Martin

Eccles.3:1
To everything there is a season, 
A time for every purpose under heaven:

It is also still very much canning season;
Off to make some salsa!


(I got up at 6:00 to start the canning 
but then the sun was rising 
and then a poem begged!)
And such is always the poet's quandary/dilemma
...to heed domestic duties or to poem-a 😏😊






Friday, September 3, 2021

Perfect Stewardship


The Greatest Command;
 Matt 22:34-40
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.
  35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 
36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart 
and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
  c 38This is the first and greatest commandment
. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
  d 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”


Easier said than done because
human nature is pesky and persistent, but
with God all things are possible! 

No matter what we hold
may we remember we are given, 
not to indulge ourselves, 
but to share...
even toasty marshmallows💗😊



To love God first and neighbour next
Takes care of all the rest
Then we will live, far less perplexed
As we give God our best

If Self is where we ought to be
Life will be a success
Because we hold the joyous key
To finding holiness

‘To love God first and neighbour next’
Though struggles may increase
Transforms a heart, troubled and vexed
With hope, purpose and peace

© Janet Martin

Thursday, September 2, 2021

It Takes Time (to make a flower)


Yesterday's Daily Bread Devotion included this needful reminder;
Even though trusting Jesus as Savior makes us a new creation,
there’s still some ongoing work the Spirit needs to do.
And it takes time and work 
for Him to accomplish “true righteousness and holiness”
(Ephesians 4:24).

True righteousness and holiness=true beauty!



Do you ever weary of the work and waiting
for the needful hidden heart-art 
before the flower flourishes?

I needed to dust the dahlias.
Something is eating out the bud before it blooms!


The pest-control-pruning-process is vital 
to producing a healthy plume
(earwigs love a good dahlia-feast)


The tendrils of this flower vine needed constant intervention
until they learned to climb



Oh, it takes time to become who, in Christ, we ought to be
The road is riddled with potholes, to true humility
The stumble and the faceplant, though unpleasant helps God turn
A stubborn heart into submission; it takes time to learn

We cannot rush the Hand that wove us in our mother’s womb
Just as it takes time for a bud to break to bare its bloom
So too, it takes time to become the masterpiece of He
Who understands that we are dust and loves us patiently

It takes time to eradicate the nature of the beast
We tend to do the things we hate the most, rather than least
And were it not for God’s compassion for humanity
And His boundless redemption how desolate we would be

How pitiful and futile then would be man’s days like grass
But because Christ has risen from the dead, we too shall rise
Thus, we revere the time it takes to prepare for the Prize

…for it takes time to learn to love, to let Beauty unfold
To purify the motive of, and crucify the old
So when we feel discouraged by hope’s hurdles and mistakes
Remember, this is just the heart-art/heart-part before the bud breaks

© Janet Martin

Psalm 103:13-18

As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14For He [a]knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
15As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16For the wind passes over it, and it is [b]gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
17But the mercy of the Lord
 is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
18To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Time's Phoenix


September's kick-off was lively and lovely
in spite of the fact that I was mourning August's exodus.









Today is like an invitation, lovely as can be
To turn moments still in motion, into memory

Sculptor, poet, painter, potter; we are one of these
Turning morning’s latest offer into memories

Heartstrings tangle with the angle of shadow and breeze
As we wrangle threads that dangle, into memories

Today brims with perfect reasons to do all we dare
To make memories from seasons slipping to thin air

For all that remains tomorrow of today, you see
From fragments of joy or sorrow is its memory

Make the most of moment-tinder’s sparkling cuppa tea
Because time transcends its cinders in a memory

© Janet Martin


Make the most of moment-tinder’s sparkling cuppa tea...


Because time transcends its cinders in a memory

from this...


to this...

I  turned my back to take a 'memory-shot...

and when I turned around two more had wiggled beneath the quilt ...

It wasn't long before another joined them...

(tiniest tot was tucked into bed in the house)

Welcome, Sweet September!




Cinderella Story


Today I wear the ache only
inevitable change can evoke...

Happy September!

Like a teapot
tipped and drained of

its last drop of tea...
Wondering what the tea-flavour is?
It's fresh-picked mint, lavender and anise!
Inspired in large part by the cooks on this YouTube channel;

Each day unraveled
Like a petal
Rainbow run awry
Like a water-color
painting
Like a
Butterfly
Like a tea-pot
Tipped and
drained of
Its last
drop of tea
Like a page
Used and
perused
To taste its
poetry
Like a carriage
Grand and gleaming
Going to
the ball
Like modern-day
Cinderellas
Glass slippers
And all
Like a garden
Celebration
Pick and dig
and delve
August turned into
a pumpkin
When the
clock struck
Twelve

© Janet Martin


Trying to capture August in perfect poem
is a bit like trying to get a picture of a butterfly in perfect form;
You better be quick because it won't stay still for long
before it flits away...

The butterfly bush is a-flutter with colourful wings these days!