So Thankful!

Finally, a Thanksgiving post!

Life is keeping me hopping!!

Phil.4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication 

with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, 

shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Psalm 107:15,21,31

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

A Few Thankfulness collages

Family

Food

Flowers

Fall...

We thank You God, for Your love story nothing can erase

Your un-surpassing goodness, glory, faithfulness and grace

We thank you for the masterpieces of sky, sea and sod

Where wonder never ceases as You keep us humbly awed

We thank you for the beauty of the earth, the broken too

(For, oft it is the brokenness that births true want of you)

We thank you for your healing through the faith that makes us whole

Where hope is not a feeling but the anchor of the soul

We thank you for your promises nothing can nullify

Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus; you hear our heart’s cry

You know our secret struggles of temptation and dismay

In triumph and in troubles You are our Strength and Stay

We thank you for loved ones so dear, some near, some far away

For eyes to see and ears to hear what earth and heavens say

For teachers/preachers to advise, reprove, encourage, edify

Lest, wise in our own eyes we turn Your truth into a lie

We thank you for the lure of back roads off the beaten path

Where pure joy feasts on beauty goading praise where woodlands laugh

For friendly little faces, baby-precious, childhood sweet

For the echo that traces places swept with summer’s feet

We thank you for the way that daybreak’s debut steals the show

So thankful that come-what-so-may, You will not let us go

So thankful that your handiwork unfolds for all to see

Both rich and poor and young and old behold Your majesty

So thankful that each day is new, no two ever the same

So thankful for our work to do, lest sloth puts us to shame

So thankful for the ups and downs to make us more aware

Of gladness in the joy that crowns the sadness-es we bear

So thankful that in Heaven there will be no grief or pain

That when we are forgiven, we suffer nothing in vain

So thankful for a table that groans with Divine Delight

For Self, inept, unable to appease want’s appetite

So thankful for the cornucopia of harvest hymns

For all we learn through letting go that holding always brings

For holes we fill with happiness too delicate to clench

For nature’s seasoned friendliness no season can quite quench

So thankful for the simple things we dare not overlook

Small hands that make us feel as rich as kings, for a good book

For cups of milk or tea, for hugs so warm and wee, oh my

To melt our hearts and make life sweet as honeysuckle sigh

For supper-soup, and twilight strolls; for season tides we brave

Where goldenrod and aster tolls in countdowns to fall’s grave

Where roguish winds romance and winnow more than leaf from tree

Where we, not mere creatures of chance cradle eternity

Where, by the grace of God we need not grieve death’s grievous pall

If we receive (if we believe) what Christ achieved for all

The pardon for our sins; a gift so that no one can boast

The victory repentance wins through Mercy’s uttermost

We thank you for your Word, undeterred from age unto age

For how spirits are stirred as You speak from its ancient page

Your Word is our defense in a world rife with ruthless change

We thank-you for Your Presence that no power can estrange

We thank You that it is enough, Your love forevermore

That no amount of stuff can grant what we are searching for

Where each new day is like a love letter, fresh from Your hand

Where nothing could be better than whatever you command

With renewed gratitude we count our blessings, humbly awed

Dumbfoundedly confessing ‘there is no one like You, God’

Ah, You are so much more than pen can pour to poetry

With reverence we touch the hemline of Your Majesty

© Janet Martin

Wondrous Wellspring

Of all the countless things we give thanks for

One transcends them all!

Psalm 23:1

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

How Great Thou Art-Chris Rice

Not for boast or laud from mortals

Not for fame or vain success

Let me be a humble vessel

Yielded to Thy holiness

Tuned to the tender persuasion

Of Thy wisdom through Thy Word

For Thy counsel thwarts temptation

Quenches evil passions stirred

Pours me through and through with wonder

As grace and repentance wed

Satisfies want’s thirst and hunger

With living water and bread

Write in me Thy Great Love Story

Let goodness and mercy’s sea

Stun/run me through and through with glory

Only ever all for Thee

Fashion from the cares of living

And from meditation’s heart

A wellspring of pure thanksgiving

Singing God, how great Thou art

© Janet Martin

We Thank Thee-Jim Reeves

Long Live The Mess!

 Beauty is a messy business, isn't it?!

Fresh bouquets from gardens and fields

 spill petals and bugs.

Food prep spills, splashes and drops

before the delight of dining!

(hopefully LOTS of food prep happening today 

for thanksgiving dinner tomorrow...

In Canda we celebrate thanks-living in October)

And wow! the mess that we can make while enjoying dinner!

(esp. when children are present. ahem.

We love blaming messes on children, don't we? 😅💖)

And in the daily course of chores and joys,

From indoor to outdoor we go,

and even though we kick off shoes 

on the mat inside the door

we still somehow trail lots of outdoor in.

In the summer road dust,

 (Because our windows are big

and we live in farming country with lots of tractor traffic!)
in the winter, furnace dust

and wood stove ashes, but we are cozy!

Isn't it great?!!

The whole mess of a full life aka happiness!

coffee spills and all!

Before we can enjoy this...

This....

Before we can enjoy this... (recipe below)

This...

Midst lots of eager, curious, happy helpers/tasters!

And one MIGHTY mess!!

Oh! isn’t beauty worth its mess

Or joy its price of grief

Is not the bloom of happiness

So worth the tattered leaf?

The petal that falls from the stem

The crumbs from bit o’ cake

Are they not worth the diadem

Of stars strewn in their wake

Like teardrop, bittersweet, unfurled

Upon the cheek, soft kissed

Before the door shuts on a world

Of mayhem turned to mist

© Janet Martin

Veg Soup recipe...

I tweaked this recipe to my liking

omitting corn and adding black beans.

Also besides precooking the black beans

I mixed everything raw and water bath canned it,

steaming each canner full for 3 hours

(in case you would like to try it!)

From the old Mennonite Community Cookbook

Because You Can't Have One Without the Other

(I apologize to you who read, sometimes before I've found 

some editing flaws I missed previously...

These poems generally get penned and posted amidst 

MUCH more than merely writing)

Wow! going from 23C yesterday to 6C this morning gets one's attention!

There's no denying it: another garden-year is drawing to a close!

But the flowers are not going to fade without a fight!

They've shrugged off a few frosty kisses already!

Maple trees toss their fiery tresses, as if daring Father Time!

He just smiles because he knows who always wins in the end.

October's to-do list is bittersweet!

-cut back or pull out spent glory.

-Harvest final fare

-Dig out flower bulbs that can't withstand winter-brr!

-plant flower bulbs for spring tulips etc.

-Collect seeds for gardens not planted yet

-Tuck leaf-duvets over slumbering flowerbeds

-Plan for next year's growing season/gardens

The folding always follows the holding💞

Sometimes I tend to rue the shadows of longing’s despair

Forgetting that it is the sun that puts the shadows there

How quick the readiness of thorns beneath love’s lovely rose

Can prick the headiness of holding with soft curtain close

The hellos that fill hugs/mugs with happiness ignites the knell

That trembles in the offing that assembles fond farewell

The wind that woos the lover to the darling of his heart

Is the same wind that hovers, to dearly draw them apart

Oh look! The baby smiles and coos and sits, walks, runs, then flies

Time’s book full of spent centuries still takes love by surprise

Thus, I cannot afford to stand too long with mournful stare

To gaze upon a world that fell to pirates of the air

Where waves that roll across the shore and thrill children at play

Are followed by the waves that wash their sandcastles away

And the breath-taking beauty of life’s garden in full wreath

The prelude to the duty of the grave that lies beneath

Sometimes, I tend to rue the letting go of seasons felled

Until I look back, humbly glad for all I had and held

Sometimes, I tend to rue the rending ache for seasons spent

Until, with awe I thank God for the loveliness He lent

© Janet Martin

Sometimes, I tend to rue the letting go of seasons felled

Until, with awe I thank God for the loveliness I held...

With Mercy Renewed

 

Once more we hoist hope's painful glory, taut with testing gales

Aren't you thankful God is greater?! His love never fails!

Into the mist of circumstance hope hoists a stalwart sail

With Mercy Renewed we advance to face today’s fresh gale

Where Faith bids us to forge ahead in spite of Unknown’s haze

As highs and lows of joy and dread author protest and praise

Where touch and taste enhance what it cannot quite satisfy

Where we can choose to dance or shake a fist in mean reply

Where what we stand or fall for is of vital gravity

The tempted and the tempter look a lot like you and me

And nothing is too commonplace to slip between the cracks

Of giants that we have to face and enemy attacks

Thus, we cannot afford to rush into the day at hand

Until we beckon to the Lord to be First in Command

For many perils lurk and many vices wait to snare

And many upsets irk us in this life so full of care

Where everything we strive for is worth nothing much at all

If everything we live for is so very temporal

Where both beauty and broken play a painful, precious part

In shaping natures human into ‘blessed pure in heart’

Where we would grow so weary doing the good, that we (should) do

Without trusting a dear and faithful God/Guide to help us through

For life is not a game of chance and love/God will never fail

Into the mist of circumstance hope hoists a stalwart sail

With Mercy Renewed, we embark once more into the fray

The God of Moses parts the dark and we are on our way

© Janet Martin

Abide With Me

Isa.40:28-31

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

An Enveloping Grandeur

 This day flew by in a flurry of beauty and duty...

spending as much time as possible outside on a perfect fall day!

Romans 1:20

 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—

his eternal power and divine nature—

have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, 

so that people are without excuse.

Neighbours cutting corn...

The hum of a harvester is one of my favorite fall tunes!

First grape harvest...at last!

(After years of waiting, eight grapes😅!!)

A striking chord of color takes the countryside by storm

Like an autumnal orchestra delighted to perform

What a terrific montage nature’s conductor untwists

Generous virtuoso of choirs and soloists

As planting season’s hope rings with harvest hymn’s crescendo

And fills heights, deeps and slopes with visual arpeggio

An enchanting ensemble of crimson, scarlet and gold

Ignites each woodland candle before it turns dark and cold

Where glory-hallelujah meets us from The Hand that gives

With beauty that depletes the poet’s pen of adjectives

And thankfulness is at a loss for words; the creature knows

That we are so unworthy of the goodness God bestows

A sacred exaltation is unfurled in autumn’s blaze

The wonders of creation never ceasing to amaze

Ah, how can we be quiet when the whole earth shouts His name

In an unrivaled riot of panoramas aflame

Where only fools do not join in, declaring ‘it is good’

God’s divine nature clearly seen and clearly understood

…where aspen halos shimmer like lampposts along the lane

Where silver poplars glimmer against backdrops blue with rain

Where hemlock, oak and mountain ash, willow and maple tree

Spill green and bronze and garnet splash to autumn’s symphony

Evoking in its splendor a most tender beckoning

An enveloping grandeur bidding everyone to sing

© Janet Martin

...and last but not least a big pan full of black beans!

I hope to try the above recipe tomorrow

substituting black beans for corn

Of Something Very Personal

I seem to be on a bit of a better-late-than-never routine these days!

partly because recently I'm really struggling with last lines, 

so sometimes it is taking a little longer to complete the poems!

But all by the grace of God and for His glory, go/write I!

Away, away night’s crepuscule recedes; earth reappears

To set time’s stage of hopes and needs with wage of smiles and tears

A sash of marbled splendor, charged with God’s glory and grace

He lavishes time’s spender with love, never commonplace

Where once more to the holy beck and call of life we press

To give its Author all we can, or something far, far less

Where what may seem A Little Poof of moments, as they fall

Becomes the Living Proof of Something Very Personal

Kind of like a love letter by our deeds and choices penned

Then signed, sealed and delivered to God at life’s sacred end

…with no room to edit, omit, excuse, explain and such

It will be very evident who we loved, and how much

© Janet Martin

Psalm 63

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, 

my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches.

Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.

But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone that sweareth by him shall glory:

but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

I'm Glad That Time is Full of Days

No matter what, for better or worse,

tomorrow today will be over!

(Forever After)

Let's do all we can to make it a good one,

All for the glory of its Giver, God!

I’m glad that Time is full of days

Still waiting to unfurl

Between hurt’s hurdles and dismays

An oyster with a pearl

Between summer and winter’s snow

An autumn ode to grief

A world of woodland-wicks aglow

Then winnowed leaf by leaf

Between the dolor of farewell

The color of surprise

Of sun gold where blue shadows fell

O’er hello’s laughing eyes

Between trails blazed and settled dust

The bittersweet finesse

Of trials teaching us to trust

And treasure/define happiness

Between desire and despair

The opportunity

To take a leap of faith to where

Tomorrow used to be

To walk to years beyond our reach

With little girl and boy

And hold the small hands bound to teach

Old teachers about joy

I’m glad that time is full of days

Still waiting to become

New melodies of thankful praise

To He, whom days come from

I’m glad that time is full of days

With nights tucked in between

Like phantom, featherdown duvets

On Bygone’s evergreen

© Janet Martin

Col.3:17

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, 

do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks to God the Father through him.