Life's Learning Curves

Imagine if we had visual signs to warn us 

when we are about to make a bad turn

on the road of  life...

I'd like to think they would make us at least think twice, right?

Dawn always looks so lovely and innocent...

Who knows what waits to rush its gates

and meld into The Road of Life...

No matter who we are, as we travel on the road of life

we are bound to meet them; learning curves.

Sometimes we are kindly spared catastrophe.

Sometimes we are not.

but there is a silver lining if we learn from these curves;

if we become a little slower to leap (to conclusions)

A little more willing to wait (for answers)

A little more like an owl...wiser😔

A wise old owl sat in an oak,
The more he heard, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?

Author: Unknown

I didn't see a wise old owl in an oak yesterday

but I did get a few nice pictures of what I learned today are 

Double-crested Cormorants

Sometimes life’s learning curves can overtake us by surprise

Where oft we underestimate the hurts that make us wise

For better or for worse, want’s hunger is riddled with traps

Where consequence lasts so much longer than good judgement’s lapse

Sometimes life’s learning curves seem to take a quick, cruel twist

But we, by God’s mercies accrue more catastrophes missed

Yet, when the recompense that follows choice is stark and swift

What looks like loss at first allows us to gain wisdom’s gift

Sometimes we owe life’s learning curves a little more respect

Where what we think we know deserves a meeker intellect

God’s goodness bound to overthrow that which hinders His peace

Because the grace whereby we go is earnest in its lease

Sometimes life’s learning curves are blessings in bitter disguise

Because, sometimes scenery blurs discernment’s keener eyes

Then, sometimes Someone tips the cart by foolish impulse led

To turn ‘It’ (us) purer in the heart and wiser in the head

© Janet Martin

James 1:5 - 

If any of you lack wisdom, 

let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, 

and upbraideth not; 

and it shall be given him.

Proverbs 1:7 - 

The fear of the LORD 

is the beginning of knowledge:

but fools despise 

wisdom and instruction.

A Celebration of Thankfulness (in both the bitter and sweet)

Happy Thanksgiving!

(I apologize in advance for the long post,

a few days in the 'making')

This Canada Thanksgiving weekend groans 

with love's bitterest and sweetest tokens...

On Friday morning I visited my sister 

recovering from a surgery ...sweet sister-fellowship💗 

On Friday afternoon I watched grandchildren 

while my daughter and son-in-law went to a visitation 

for a young man who drowned in a boating accident ...bitter😢

When they returned home we tossed all to-do lists to the wind

and made a campfire supper to enjoy the gorgeous autumn evening 

and each other's company...life is precious! ... sweet💖

(the idea came from a pretend fire earlier)

This pretend-fire idea came after delighting in the 'magic beans'/ pole beans

plucked from the vine on the arbor and deciding to make 'bean-soup'...

Saturday was a flurry of food-prep/cleaning 

for Saturday night Thanksgiving dinner ...sweet😘😋

Sunday morning Jim took some of our family to the airport 

only to discover some MUCH needed document was missed.

The decision was made that he would try to get home and back before the flight leaves

or someone would be left behind and need to fly out today.

While he was driving back and every precious minute mattered

he got a text saying the flight was delayed and all turned out well ...sweet!! 🙏

Yesterday, Sunday afternoon my 14 yr. old niece (my brother Lewis's daughter)

was involved in an accident

and she is in a medically induced coma at Sick Kids in TO.

to reduce stress from internal injuries. ...bitter!

Please pray!

But during bitter or sweet God is the same; always good and

we thank Him for His faithfulness.

The song at the end of this post

 was shared at our Church service yesterday morning;

part of  an amazing testimony as a couple shared a recent 

heart-rending, miraculous account

 of God's faithfulness in their lives

You can listen to it here;

click on Sunday Service October 10. 

 the testimony starts at 19:05 mins. in the recording...

It is Autumn and the earth is full of God's glory!

Isa.6:3

... “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; 

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Autumn’s aria escalates in treetop-orchestras

A melody sweeps through landscapes beneath breathless applause

Where humankind is smitten by glimmers of majesty

Who authored earth and heavens at creation's ‘let there be’

Whose divine providence instills the crux of buds and seeds

A wondrous fount that spills to fulfill mortal’s basic needs

The earth and its fullness thereof belongs to He who bends

The land’s four-season treasure-trove with bounty’s dividends

Where, as we contemplate the ways of God’s mercies renewed

This day that He has made overwhelms us with gratitude

For granted humble honour to partake of heaped buffets

Not with indulgent manner but with thankfulness and praise

Creation thunders with the evidence that grace bestows

Where wonder upon wonder’s undercurrent overflows

And steals the show with Master-pieces on public display

Then, leap for joy for none can keep God’s handiwork at bay

And let the colors of the season soothe and percolate

To bind the wounds where mind and reason cannot mediate

The world is full of ways to worry or to trust and pray

Time is in such a hurry to turn into yesterday

Then linger in the bowers where beauty bares nature’s soul

Where autumn’s garden flowers overhead while petals toll

To waft, breath-soft beneath our feet to thrill us once again

Enchanted by the bittersweetness of autumn’s amen

Let’s vow to love each other even if we disagree

Let’s cherish words like sister, brother, mom, dad, family

Let’s count the ways of happiness rather than what we lack

Be filled with praise and thankfulness, not vile, verbal attack

Let’s bow our heads and thank the Lord, who made Heaven and earth

For love and forgiveness outpoured; for salvation’s rebirth

Let’s live a life of gratefulness for God is in control

His everlasting faithfulness to strengthen and console

Then come what may, upon Time’s ever surging-ebbing tide

God is our advocate each day; His mercies will provide

And though our thankfulness may flow from hearts by sorrow torn

God’s loving kindness will bestow hope’s flower to the thorn

Autumn aria crescendos, then dwindles leaf by leaf

Scattering summer’s mementos like tears of joy and grief

Capturing the attentions of we, who identify

With the shifting dimensions of beauty that meets the eye

Aware that we behold but glimpses of God’s mighty ways

We raise our hearts and voices with glad thankfulness and praise

© Janet Martin

Goodness of God

Grand-sonny on a stump-and-tin-pail drum set...sweet💕😘

When Our Prayers Seem But In Vain...

 

How do we explain an Invisible God

with often seemingly invisible answers to prayer?

We can't.

We live by faith

How do we get faith?

By trusting Who we cannot see by believing His Word.

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

John 17:17

See Heb.10 && 11&12 for more encouragement in faith

Without faith it is impossible to please God

Heb.11:6

...consider Him (Jesus) who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself,

lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

Heb.12:3

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,

for He who promised is faithful.

Heb.10:23

Under His Wings

 

When our prayers seem but in vain

In a world so full of pain

Trouble, terror, hunger, grief

Apathy and unbelief

When replies for which we plead

Do not seem to intercede

Dark the night and deep the vale

Where prayer sometimes seems to fail

When we groan, bereft of word

When reasoning’s best is blurred

When like waves that surge and beat

Rock-bound shores, our prayers repeat

God, still help us to believe

When we seem not to receive

When the faithless scorn and jeer

At prayers You seem not to hear

God, lest our faith grows cold

Call to mind those men of old

Examples of faith and love

This world was not worthy of

Help us suffer to obtain

Faith’s better and greater gain

Joining clouds of witnesses

Trusting in Your promises

Trusting, without present proof

Sanctify us with your Truth

Your Word is Truth, come what may

So, we pray and pray and pray

© Janet Martin

Psalm 39:12

Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry;

hold not thy peace at my tears:

for I am a stranger with thee,

and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.

To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

Thomas Aquinas

There is a way that seems right to a man, 

But its end is the way of death.

Prov.14:12

Show-and-Heart Stealer

The first six lines of this poem

I pegged out last night while waiting for the supper crew.

They eventually did come home, 

a little later than normal...

...laughing as they came through the door completely

oblivious to the possibility of steaming cook and

cool food instead of steaming food and cool cook😅

(Actually, one of the great things about being on the lookout for poem-potential is

I am NEVER a steaming cook! I'm an oh-great-A-bit of-unexpected-writing-time-cook!

And yes, this kind of cook sometimes burns over-cooks supper😑

The rest of this poem evolved as today dissolved...

I love the way fall steals the show

While want and wonder ebb and flow

The woodland wick that flares and dims

Cut to the quick by farewell hymns

The brush that highlights bush and bow’r

The hush of twilight’s supper-hour

The glowing benediction of

Rites we have grown to hate and love

Where hearts and hands must learn the art

Of have and hold’s bold counterpart

I love the way a platter snares

The poetry of garden-prayers

Where spoils of toil and mercy meld

In fruit of labor not withheld

Where, as we gather in life’s best

Of hard day’s work and sound night’s rest

We always, first and foremost bring

To Giver, worship’s offering

For health and strength, for harvest yield

From orchard, vineyard, garden, field

I love the way each season spills

A cornucopia of thrills

Where autumn boasts a diadem

Of garnet leaf and berry-gem

But cannot keep for long its crown

From falling-falling-falling down

To ‘splay beneath the barren tree

A picture of mortality

To wake in us need for reply

To so much more than meets the eye

I love the glockenspiel that tolls

And wears fall-fabric full of holes

Where lilt of leaf-song strums until

There is no leaf-song left to spill

Where flowers bloom, but, just like youth

Cannot escape time’s loom of truth

Where cricket-choirs dissipate

Like fires on yon welkin-grate

Where carousel of color twirls

And leaves behind a string of pearls

I love how words like bake and baste

Birth aroma-preludes to taste

Where it is hard to pick and choose

Which favorite recipes to use

But find a few sure to delight

Everyone’s eager appetite

Where cinnamon, ginger and sage

Please palates of most any age

And pumpkin finds its way into

Anything we cook-bake-blend-brew

I love how autumn makes us feel

A little scarlet-umber-teal

A little apple, earth and sea

A trespasser of poetry

A little more aware of how

Swift seasons pirouette and bow

How, in the middle of applause

The scene that Is turns into Was

And new arrangements fill the stage

As subtle as the turn of page

I love when the harvester hums

And gleans the fields of all but crumbs

And even little fellows grin

To see the harvest gathered in

I love autumn on rainy days

Tea-kettle’s hum and candle’s blaze

Content to tackle household chores

Without wishing we were outdoors

I love the way fall steals the heart

With galleries of frameless art 

© Janet Martin

And even little fellows grin

To see the harvest gathered in...

October is the Time of Year/Leaf...

 October Mementos...

NOTHING excites neighbor's pup like a good game of Catch Me If You Can!!

First she finds a stick and taunts me,

...then, round 

...and round

And round we go!

until I say, NAY, pant-pant-pant 'you win!'

(winner was panting pretty hard too😅)

The Prize is!!!! Two puppy pals courtesy of Little Girl

October is the time of year

When we are torn twixt smile and tear

Where paths of summer left behind

Are tucked in, as treetops unwind

Where leaf by leaf and note by note

From splurge to dirge fall-lyrics float

A medley of gladness and gloom

Bends earth with aftermath of bloom

October is the time of year

When Beauty spills its bright veneer

To deck death’s cold and sullen Must

And fleck with gold, its dust to dust

To evoke, in awe’s uttermost

The strange awareness of a ghost

That wafts in curlicues of smoke

In clouds that drape the gaping oak

October is the time of year

When longing duels with good cheer

When gleaming tress is haunted by

Strains of a leafless lullaby

And in the middle of the show

The sense of splendor letting go

Seems to beseechingly endear

Us to the woodland’s falling tear

Where laws of give and take ignite

Grave-stippled grounds with sheer delight

As October’s vistas unfold

A masterpiece of red and gold

And, in the middle of applause

A little teardrop slips because

October is the time of leaf

That bears the brunt of joy and grief

© Janet Martin

Of Lessons Yet To Learn

Between the covers of Dawn-to-dusk,

are pages filled with lessons to learn

and whether the Teacher seems kind or brusque

it's up to us what marks we earn...

***

Dawn draws the gauze of Today's front-cover back 

as today's lessons, yet veiled

 are lowered from love's Hand that knows no lack

and never, ever fails

***

From belfry towers old as time

A golden gong begins to chime...

Beneath our feet and overhead

As night with morning light is wed

A fresh sheaf of work-sheets is spread

To teach and test and hone

Where sometimes it seems all we earn

Midst ups and downs and twist and turn

Are brand new lessons left to learn

Heave-ho, grunt, grin and groan

From belfry towers old as time

A golden gong begins to chime

And ushers in new hills to climb

Of dismay laced with awe

Where study books are full of care

And hope, a hunger full of prayer

Where wonder keeps us from despair

With moments of aha

From dusty tomes of yesteryears

To very present fights and fears

‘Neath tutelage of smiles and tears

In classrooms far and wide

We tackle Today’s no-return

Of lessons yet to live-and-learn

Where by God’s grace we humbly earn

High marks for having tried

© Janet Martin

Psalm 90:12

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 119:12
Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes.

Psalm 119:26
I recounted my ways, and You answered me; teach me Your statutes.

Psalm 119:33
Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I will keep them to the end.

Psalm 119:64
The earth is filled with Your loving devotion, O LORD; teach me Your statutes.

Psalm 119:68
You are good, and You do what is good; teach me Your statutes.

Psalm 119:108
Accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me Your judgments.

Psalm 119:124
Deal with Your servant according to Your loving devotion, and teach me Your statutes.

Psalm 119:135
Make Your face shine upon Your servant, and teach me Your statutes.

Five Senses Smorgasbord or Autumn Accolades

These days earth's Smorgasbord groans with Autumn's abundancy

appealing to all the senses but especially taste and see...

Season where halos overhead...

float leaf by leaf...

to lawn and street...

And so, we muster up excuses fine reason to put indoor chores on pause...

Because we know how soon this season drifts away like milkweed gauze...

Season where halos overhead float leaf by leaf to lawn and street

Where hazy, lazy days turn red and gold and crisp and apple-sweet

Where woodland beauty turns our heads and steals the autumn-lover’s heart

Where nature’s loom weaves lustrous threads that only God’s touch can impart

Season of flower-frond farewells as petal bells, frost-kissed, are stilled

Of fields where harvest homage swells as bins and barns and jars are filled

Of oh, so silent aftermath as hymn of limb and field are doffed

Of foot-fall vacant garden path, save for the frames where echoes waft

Season of epicurean thrills, seasoned with cinnamon and cloves

Where nature is a fount that spills to nutmeg-ginger-tinted groves

That dwindles fall’s pigment from heights like a slow-ebbing color-sea

And rekindles our appetites for books and cozy nooks and tea

Season of comfy sweaters tugged from shelves and boxes long forgot

Where we feel warm and wooly hugged and dance a jig right on the spot

Where thanksgiving is not about the meal of turkey, dressing, pie

But daily living out life’s zeal of gratefulness in rife reply

Season of lingering outdoors because we sense the numbered days

Before the chill of winter roars through corridors where sumacs blaze

And so, we muster up excuses fine reason to put indoor chores on pause

Because we know how soon this season drifts away like milkweed gauze

Season of acorn, butternut squash, pumpkin popularity

Of hearty chowders, succotash, of simmer-steep-knead gaiety

While the wind whinnies like a horse tossing the tress of tree and reed

While nature takes its steady course of bud to bloom to scattered seed

Season where longing mingles with gentle contentment, bittersweet

Where tingle of excitement and lament for what is spent compete

Season of simple wishes like savouring autumn’s melody

And delighting in the delicious smorgasbord of Taste and See

© Janet Martin

And rekindles our appetites for books and cozy nooks...

... and tea