Autumn...(or Awe-sum)

This year it seems like everyone is eager to deck the halls with boughs of holly very early!!

Personally, I prefer to revel in the tail-winds of Autumn for just a little longer...😊

Does it not stir within the heart a rush of rare delight

And rouse, with frameless works of art a nameless appetite

Does it not kindle thoughts of quilt-retreats and cups of tea

Where every leaf is like a little lilt of poetry

Where woodland wicks intensify, where wind-wild coursers dash

Until full-colour flickers lie in heaps of russet ash

Does it not bid our feet to slow, to linger by the fence

To revel in the afterglow of amber ambience

Does it not tug soul-strings to breaking points with Farewell’s Show?

Is it not like a hug that always brings the letting go?

Embodiment of Bittersweet, ah, does it not so seem

Where enchantment and want compete where life is but a dream

Ah, tell me are there any two syllables that can impress

Upon us such a surge of blue and brooding happiness

Ah, tell me in this four-season affair of yearly sum

Is there another word that can compare to thee, Autumn

© Janet Martin

Sunrise Supplication...

 

I looked up from my still blank page

where I was waiting to get a 'leading/lead'

on what to write to see This going on!!

So I grabbed some clothes from the hook and shoes sitting inside the door

(which happened to be Matt's parka and Kodiaks)

and I shuffled out to the fence to watch and wonder!

(in case someone saw me and wondered at my strange getup haha)

Lord, calm the tempest in my heart

As dawn draws night away

Where I am about to embark

Upon another day…

Lord, let me not contrive from fear

Dark dread of what might be

But lean upon Thy Word so dear

Like leaning on Thy knee

Lord, like the woman at the well

Open my eyes to see

The gift of God that none can quell

And Thou alone can be

…with Living Water quench my thirst

Let Thy peace intercede

And help me seek Thy kingdom first

Thus, finding all I need

From fathoms of goodness and grace

I draw from faith, not fear

Where, though I cannot see Thy Face

Lord, I know Thou art near

I thank Thee for Thy steadfast care

To help me bear my own

And for Thy whisper through my prayer

That I am not alone

© Janet Martin

I sometimes struggle between making a poem/prayer personal or communal!

First I had we-us-our instead of me-I-my

but it seemed more personal to pray this in first person

and my prayer is that it will uplift and encourage

you as you pray/read it!

John 4:10

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God 

and who it is that asks you for a drink, 

you would have asked him 

and he would have given you living water.”

One of my favourite hymns...

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

(LOVE to hear the next generation singing these beloved hymns!)

Like My (almost) Pet...

Some days.

Seriously!!

 I like to reserve Mondays to climb the

domestic to-do-ladder before another week of childcare starts.

Today required a morning+ away 

for dentists appointment, groceries and other errands

inspiring this rather wry ditty as I tried to get my bearings

when I returned to 'exactly like I left it!

Dear Almost Pet...

You’re always here to greet me

As faithful as can be

I think you think that I would miss

Your loyal company

You’d sit and wait forever

For when I go away

You do not flinch one teeny inch

Or take a holiday

You hide in any corner

And wait in every room

Amused at frantic antics that

Require mop and broom

Sometimes I think you giggle

When, laden, I walk in

With my arms full of groceries

Heaped right up to my chin

You are a little like a pet

That wears me to the bone

If I ignore you, you can bet

You’ll make your presence known

You’re not a playful puppy

No bunny, nor a cat

You’re my faithful trusty housework

Now what do you think of that

© Janet Martin

And what good housewife would leave the kitchen like this??!!!😂

In my defense...Monday morning is Jim's checklist morning

before his leaving for the week which involves Wife...

Let's see!

Do we have

Hat

coat

pills

phone

wallet?

yup...

"hey Janet, where did you put my heel cream?

I need it this time of year!'

um. I think I threw it in the fruit bowl on the table...

okay, where was I??

oh right!

thermos full of coffee

2 foil-wrapped omelets

cheese, sliced

2 sandwiches

meal/meals (dinner leftovers) in a foil tin for his truck oven

foil-wrapped pizza slices

fresh muffins

fruit

yogurt

cereal

bananas

h-m-m-m...

did I miss anything

oh, yes

3 sets of clean clothes

Hug

Kiss

see you Saturday

drive safe!!

headlights out the driveway as he backs up

Sit down 

pray

read devotions

make more coffee.

Make Matt's lunch

start laundry

write poem

look at clock

gasp.

YIKES!!!

I need to get ready for the dentist

That's my excuse😁

Heart-effect

Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;

keep watch over the door of my lips.

Psalm 141:3

Let the words of my mouth, 

and the meditation of my heart, 

be acceptable in thy sight, 

O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

A winter wonderland to set the heart singing this morning (I hope) 😉

Contemplating what comes out of our mouths today

besides breath-clouds on the frosty air!

How cold the heart of spite doth burn

How mean then, mind doth mete

To tongue unlovely words that turn

To sorrow and defeat

How warm the heart of love doth leap

How kind then, mind doth spill

To tongue goodness and mercy’s sweet

-ness of grace and goodwill

How destitute are you and I

Without humility

To turn sharp edges of reply

To tender sympathy

© Janet Martin

All Part and Parcel Of...

I always have mixed feelings about sharing a post like this:

I think about the families/couples who would love to be able to share in

this kind of joy but for some unknown reason

it is withheld or Baby is gathered back to God before it is born, or right after.

We cannot explain these heart-breaking 'whys'.

My heart cries and bleeds for longing-to-be parents and grandparents!

But, on the other hand, as we remember all we have is lent to us from

a God so much bigger that anything we ever can grasp

we owe to Him joyful thanksgiving and praise

for every good and perfect gift that comes from above...

where we are all part and parcel of His Perfect love!

So we are beyond delighted at (Lord willing)

welcoming another little 'parcel/gift' into the family in May 2022!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, 

and comes down from the Father of lights, 

with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

James 1:17

Grandma got the above shot while mommy was getting this one below...

Humbly grateful...

Where weight of want and wonder wars

Where dazzle of moment-mist pours

Where hope and heartache’s breakers roll

Across shorelines heart and soul

Where what is brief binds sacredly

To what is Chief; eternity

Where we all bear the common bond

Of Here hinged to The Great Beyond

Where life, akin to lilt of leaves

Soon slumbers beneath welkin eaves

Where what we hold, we soon entrust

Back to the mold of dust-to-dust

Where we are part and parcel of

God’s heart of Everlasting love

Where unlike leaves our bloom will fall

Back to the Hands that lent it all

Then, though want and wonder may war

We are a part of so much more

Than time’s sparkle of sun and sod

We are part of the heart of God

© Janet Martin

Grand-daughter and gramma matching outfits 😄💖

In Case Joy Should Falter...

Who has a claim against me that I must pay?

 Everything under heaven belongs to me.

Job 41:11

This poem was inspired after reading Job chapters 38 through 41

Stupendous! Wow!

and what can we do but echo Job's reply 

at the beginning of chapter 42

 (if ever we stoop to doubt)

 "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know."

“Have you ever given orders to the morning,
    or shown the dawn its place,

Job 38:12

Hope hoists it hymns on morning’s scrims as love its vow renews...

To place our prayers into the hands that laid earth’s cornerstone

To know He cares and sifts the sands that mete each steppingstone

To see each season’s treasure trove spill into hill and dale

Grants us reason enough to trust the love that cannot fail

To recognize that our eyes see but the fringe of He

Who paints the skies and cuts to size the proud waves of the sea

Who authors birth and tunes the earth’s orbit around the sun

Who puts his worth in human dearth through death’s curse fought and won

To lean on He whose majesty we cannot comprehend

Yet yearns to be to you and me an everlasting Friend

To touch His robe that fills the globe with glory none can dim

Instills earth’s road with Heaven’s goad as time draws us to Him

To have God’s Word, truth undeterred midst mortal fallacies

To guide and gird and keep souls stirred with hope through centuries

To know that He will always be at faith’s meek beck and call

Grants you and me security, whatever may befall

Hope hoists it hymns on morning’s scrims as love its vow renews

Where Mercy brims and nothing dims or thwarts the Giver’s views/dues

Where come what may no hand can sway what His will has decreed

Where when we pray, He leads the way, ah, what more do we need

© Janet Martin

Rejoice in the Lord always,

and again I say, rejoice

Phil.4:4

Who is our fount of joy?

Jesus, Only Jesus!

I Do Not Want To Grow Too Old...

blink-blink and another day is in the books!

My youngest sister hosted our annual Mom's Birthday Tea this morning!

(Photo used with her permission😀)

So, from this...

 to this one below

in a matter of a couple hours

Caramel Apple Dessert Pizza

The highlight; tasting everyone's contribution!

Every day we all have one thing in common; getting older!

I pray I may never get too old to lose the wonder of it all!

I do not want to grow too old to thrill when morning’s rose unfolds...

(or dusk's purple and gold)

I do not want to grow too old to thrill when morning’s rose unfolds

To miss the grace-kissed joy unfurled in a four-season wonder-world

And find no kind delight that sings from life’s most sweet and simple things

Or lose the spark that lights the fire that keens the flame of love’s desire

Or in seasoned consistencies walk blind to fresh discoveries

Where life’s Orchestrator instills and fills each day with miracles

I do not want to grow too old to cherish what no one can hold

But learn to love as if today was the last mile on life’s highway

And treat time’s tip-o’-hat and nod for what it is; a gift from God

That grants no guarantee but one; eternity when life is done

Thus, in this very sacred flit I want to make the most of it

To stand beneath the poetry of God and glimpse His majesty 

I do not want to grow too old to lose the sense of moment-gold

I do not want the circumstance to drown the music in the dance

But, pray each day life’s happiness begins and ends with thankfulness

Where fellowmen are fellow friends weathering whatever life sends

For we are altogether bound for that immortal common ground

And no one knows how near or far to that last steppingstone we are

I do not want to grow too old to marvel at Mercy's 'behold'

Behold the day the Lord has made, behold the debt that he has paid

Behold His everlasting love, His Word's abundant treasure trove

Behold the promises we claim if we have trusted in His name

Behold the beauty He bestows to crown life's thorns with hope's red rose

I do not want to grow too old to grow wonder one-hundred-fold

© Janet Martin

A copy of this Psalm was in one of mom's birthday cards...

I do not want the circumstance to drown the music in the dance...💖

November Bliss

PAD Challenge day 10: For today's prompt, write a nature poem.

To linger in the golden rains of autumn’s falling leaves

To steep in farewell’s fond refrains awash with memories

To wrestle with the afterglow of Glints of Paradise

As November puts on a show that takes us by surprise

To look a little longer where the grove is turning gray

To satisfy soul-hunger from nature’s dwindling buffet

To read between fence and skyline, the kind of poetry

That needs no words to dignify the Author’s mastery

To wear with kinder fervor time’s small dust-stitches of skin

And magnify the Server of each breath that we draw in

To tread upon the rustling hush of woodland’s winnowed song

With something like a lover’s blush beneath Autumn’s ‘so-long’

© Janet Martin

I'd say it like Samuel Taylor Coleridge if I could...