Of Un-Self-Discovery or Joy-Quest #1

Self-discovery can be a brutal awakening!

The journey of learning to truly love, 

a lifelong undertaking...

unlike the delight of a child on a swing💖

Instant and pure!

Little children, because they live in the moment

are unaware of what a gift it is to truly taste pure joy!

(the aim of the swing-game is to tickle the leaves with toes 

(she did it and her smile is one of pure joy!!)

Little children also soon start to show 

the self-centered nature of humans.

But because innocence has not yet

fallen prey to ulterior motive/selfish ambition

they are quick to love and be loved,

and move on to the next moment!

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

 Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.

Philippians 2:3

Self when absorbed with self is blind

No heritage for humankind

When Self is spent, is left behind

For future benefit

Soul’s carriage, formed of skin and bone

When intent on itself alone

Worships idols of wood and stone

Atonement’s deficit

Self-joy relies on circumstance

The short-lived pleasure of the dance

Is a most pitiful romance

Devoid of love or skill

The drive to thrive in vain excess

Indulging self with yes, yes, yes

Will never lead to happiness

Self cannot self fulfill

How wanting are the riches of

The one who never learns to love

Where enough is never enough

To quench desire’s thirst

But, disillusioned bitterness

Will crown the summit of success

Epitome of emptiness

The life of self put first

For joy is not a purchased thing

No dancing puppet on a string

It is found in truly loving

God first, then fellowman

Then pray, this little life of mine

Will be a light to shine, shine, shine

As Self, engrafted to The Vine

Fulfills the Master's Plan

© Janet Martin

By ourselves we will always fall short of the mark

but by the grace of God and for His glory

even a cup of cold water 

given in his name is enough!

Hallelujah!

 

September Soul-string Tug-of-War

 Happy Half-way through September!

September is the season that tugs the hardest on soul-strings, methinks...

Summer flowers and freedoms fade...

New grades greet scholars,

New scholars greet grades

and we moms/grammas? 

Well, we just need to 

wax nostalgic 

now and then...

(What's the stump with the board nailed to it in the pic below?!!

Why, an outdoor writing desk/coffee table, of course!😊)

The annual angst 

of cutting back flower gardens

has begun...

And veggie gardens

Before....

 

After...

Beet harvest is on next week's to-do 'hopes'!

This week's hope-to-do list is full

1 Peter 1:24
For, "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; 

the grass withers and the flowers fall,

Inspired by yesterday and today's chores

A September Song

All blooms lead to farewell

First blossom’s bright ‘hello’

Begets the tolling of a bell

That leads to letting go

Of petal-mettle drained

Of felled flower of youth

For posies lead to plumes unchained

And farewell’s timeless truth

We cannot keep for long

The song of bud to bloom

Where petals fuel farewell’s gong

And Bygone’s boundless tomb

Then savor with intent

The flavour of today

The favor of each moment lent

Sparkles and fades away

Summer shakes out its quilt

After picnics and such

Strewing behind a patchwork lilt

Of petals lost to touch

Where the crumbs in our hold

Look quite common enough

But are more valuable than gold

Because their wealth is love

September is a sea

That rolls across heart-shores

Joy and grief’s synchronicity

Embraces and implores

Where, with each cricket tweet

We feel time’s trembling knell

In laws no wishes can defeat

All blooms lead to farewell

© Janet Martin

Yesterday's harvest was the last of the jalapeños ...

From this

to this...

to this!

and tomatoes!

From this...

...to this

to the potential of 

365 homemade tomato soup lunches!

It's SO good

September is the epitome of delight and resignation💔

September sum;

Veggies + prep = yum!

Tonight's supper

Spaghetti, 

homemade sauce

roasted veg and salad

included these veggies

proving again, it's the most wonderful time of the year...

green, red and jalapeño peppers,

beets,

butternut squash,

red and white onion,

zucchini,

potatoes,

garlic,

tomatoes,

carrots,

radishes,

parsley,

celery,

romaine lettuce

😋

Crux of Compulsion...

 

Whether to the beat of a city street...

or beneath blue-eyed smile of a country mile

...something compels us to keep trying!

What compels us to keep trying

What propels us on and up

On front-lines of selfless dying

What refurbishes life’s cup

What makes sacred, duty’s mission

And its yoke of common task

What kindles renewed ambition

As morn pours from mercy’s flask

What brings purpose and devotion

To life’s daily grind and fuss

What adds music to the motion

Pray, is it Christ’s love in us?

He, who makes us new, while living

He who died then rose again

Does His love, kind and forgiving

Compel us to follow Him

© Janet Martin

For the love of Christ compels us…

2 Cor.5:14

Through highs and lows

God's grace bestows

all that we need,

My dear,

to succeed!

Whether to the beat

of a city street

or beneath blue-eyed smile

of a

 country mile

Whether street-light bright

or star-light dim

All walks of life 

eventually

lead to Him

Janet~

On Persuasion Rekindled

Therefore, by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God,

 that is, the fruit of our lips, [b]giving thanks to His name.

 But do not forget to do good and to share, 

for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Heb.13:15-16

Persuasion rekindles routines where morning melts the dark

Hope holds the Hand of the Unseen as mercy meets its mark

Where faith and trust hold sway or doubt and disbelief confuse

Where choice spreads out a vast buffet and consequence ensues

Soon we vacate this fading habitat of skin and bone

This day the Lord has made like a most sacred stepping stone

Where each breath bears us nearer to the Saviour of the soul

Where faith makes ever dearer the approaching of the goal

We ought to give more earnest heed to that which we have heard

And seek to live in word and deed according to God’s Word

Lest we let slip the fellowship that keeps our judgment sound

For no other love can equip us for faith’s battleground

Be careful then, to make the most of opportunity

For who knows when the ending of this glove we host will be

And we go on to meet He who has numbered all our days

Then pray our legacy will be a sacrifice of praise

We yield to who we worship with humility or pride

Pray we revere the courtship twixt the Bridegroom and the Bride

And yield not to temptation for its glazed trenches are cursed

But rekindle persuasion from the Fount that quenches thirst

And live as if today could be the last drop in life's fount

When time yields to eternity and we will give account

Yield to God's gentle whisper, oh pray, do not disregard

Love's pleading, lest the pasture of our hearts grows cold and hard

© Janet Martin

There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood

In our community a 23 year old man 

who became a husband last summer

and was looking forward to becoming a dad in November

passed away unexpectedly in his sleep a few nights ago!

We never know when our final numbered day will be!

May we live as if we could be next!

Expressions of compassion can be made here

GoFundMe

 

 

Of Face-to-Face

Face-time is great when miles between leave no other option

but oh how far beyond comparison is face-to-face Time.

Our grand-kiddos and their other grandma, who lives miles away

after almost two years of Facetime (thanks to covid) are

cherishing precious face-to-face time at last.

Grandma's/Mimi's face beams with pure joy

in the presence of her loved ones...

This weekend we treasured a short-sweet face-to-face time

and a belated birthday celebration for Melissa!

Meeting with much-missed loved ones makes me think of 

another forever face-to-face place/time waiting for believers

when the One we pour our hearts out to 

over and over again in faith's earnest prayer

dissolves the glass we see through darkly, and then

with faces wreathed with pure joy, face-to-face!

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:

1 Cor.13:12

Technology is quite a thing and grants its precious means

In helping us to keep in touch when miles unfurl between

But, for all that devices do to hold our hearts in place

No screen can ever come close to sweet meeting face-to-face

Technology is wonderful as a second-best choice

For looking loved ones in their eyes and hearing someone's voice

But, even a small child soon feels the emptiness of space

And how delight is driven wild when meeting face to face

(just ask my grand-kiddos)

Technology helps us to see, but cannot master touch

  Images dancing on a screen can only do so much 

To help us toward The Great Day of greeting's sweet embrace

When miles between us melt away and we meet face to face

Janet Martin

Thanks to technology I can create and share this post💖

Our Nova Scotia family can see it as well as Melissa

and Jim (truck-driver hubby) who often checks in at the 'porch'

to see what's new...

Face To Face With Christ My Saviour

While the Clock Is a Spinning Wheel...

 

Here's to today's stitches in time's tapestry...

While the clock is a spinning wheel that weaves future to past

With threads of what we think and feel as stitch to stitch is cast

We cannot keep heartstrings intact; they snag where seasons stream

Leaving behind matters of fact in spite of all we dream

...making us more determined with a less intense approach

To live moment by moment where morrow’s shadows encroach

*And touch time’s twill with hope, not dread, that tumbles from above

Then joy will fill Time’s ether thread with thankfulness and love

© Janet Martin

Today we are attending a memorial service for my mother's only brother.

Somehow time's threads spill more sacredly through our touch 

when Death reminds us of the Door to Forevermore

To touch time's thread with hope, not dread, means we need to find hope's anchor first!

Heb.6:16-20

People swear by someone greater than themselves,

 and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 

17Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear

 to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 

18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie,

 we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.

 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

 It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,

 20where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. 

He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Flower-Power

 

I realized the one mini-rose bush I had

didn't survive last years septic-tank replacement...

I miss it, but bloom-beauty flourished this summer

(even though none are roses)

because of abundant rainfall!

Likewise, whatever kind of flower we are,

May we bloom where we are planted today!

Even if we feel a bit blight-battered and beetle-nibbled...

Our Father who art in Heaven,

With whatever You have granted

With what we are called to do

May we bloom where we are planted

With hearts humble, kind and true

Desiring to honour You

May we, with earnest endeavor

Not serve Want’s indulgent thirst

But renew desire's fervor

To put You and others first

Let life’s bud with Beauty burst

In the dirt of hurt and heartache

Where thorns prick and interpose

Bid we do our part to partake

Of the grace Your hand bestows

So, the thorns may wear a rose

Amen

© Janet Martin

Sing to Me of Heaven

Trustworthy and True

On Sunday morning our message was from

Rev. 21 &22

Mortal minds grappled with unfathomable design and dimension!

But this morning, as mercy ushered in new day

I sensed glimpses of a Holy City, 

a New Jerusalem descending

in incomprehensible glory!!

Beauty rends night’s crepuscule

Mercy steals the show

Ethereal ribbons and tulle

Tint time’s undertow

Longing and fulfillment clash

On earth’s eastward sill

Heaven flings ajar its sash

Molten foretastes spill

To gild worlds of wood and stone

With glints from Yon Clime

Till the veil of the Unknown

Lowers one last time

…beauty rends night’s crepuscule

God hears our cries

Granting to love’s push and pull

Glimpses of The Prize

© Janet Martin

Rev.21:1-5

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”

[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, 

and there was no longer any sea. 

2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 

prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

 “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.

 They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 

4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. 

There will be no more death’[b] 

or mourning 

or crying 

or pain, 

for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said,

 “I am making everything new!”

 Then he said, “Write this down, 

for these words are trustworthy and true.”

(are the words Trustworthy and True not two of the

most wonderful words we can cling to?!!)