Crook of Joy

Making muffins...simple joy!

Sometimes, out of the blue, a wave of sympathy rolls through me 

as I wave at grandchildren leaving,

 or as son comes home for visit and fridge-forage, 

or as the word 'home' slips from my lips without second thought, 

until suddenly I am smitten with utter grief 

for the millions of refugees who had to flee their home-sweet-homes...

Sometimes then, the Simple Sacred steals my breath

with a fresh and humble thankfulness

for the beauty of our beloved crook of joy...home!

Yes, with all of love's foibles and flaws, home, sweet home!!

Enjoying the final bowl full of 

plush, pink peony-pom-poms for this year!

Where child and garden flourishes in fleet simplicity

Where more than supper nourishes its precious company

Where comforts are not fancy but are priceless, nonetheless

And nothing on earth quite compares to its fair happiness

Where flower bouquets bring beauty to duty’s dear mundane

Where nobody outgrows the open arms of its domain

Where heartaches are confided, where we learn to give and take

Where tasks are oft divided but then, so is tea and cake

Where wonderful aromas waft through open kitchen door

And suddenly our burdens weigh less than they had before

Where the brunt of life's blessings overflows our tender hearts

With thankfulness for home sweet home and all that it imparts

Where prayers and cares soft-mingle in medleys of smiles and tears

Where summer always flies too fast into Past’s cast of years

Where patience is a virtue of great benefit and cheer

To safeguard joy and peace while youngsters learn to persevere

Where we are always welcome to forage the cookie jar

Or fridge or pantry no matter how older-now we are

Where no matter the weather or how far away we roam

No place on earth is better than the berth of home-sweet-home

Oh Lord, we grieve for those whose homes they had to swiftly flee

And leave behind rooms filled with mementos of family

How oft we mourn the war-torn town and countryside bereft

Of happiness of home sweet home and only rubble left

Then, we with meeker labor, repent of some selfish ploy

And become humbly gladder for our home-sweet crook of joy

Where there is nothing commonplace about its grace of chores

Or laughter round its tables or mothers waving from doors

© Janet Martin

So what's today's 'grace of chores'? 

Weeding!

The rain makes everything grow!

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.

(distracting baby with a coffee-tin drum

because he wanted to mix muffins too!!)😂💗

The Depth of Man's Depravity (when fear of God has died)

There are no words for the depth

of aghast horror, pity, and sorrow we feel over

exploitation and applause of gross evil!

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. 

Who can understand it?

Matthew 13:15

For this people's heart has grown callous;

they hardly hear with their ears, 

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts,

and turn,

and I would heal them.'

Rom.1:24-25

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts

 to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, 

and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—

who is forever praised. 

Amen.

Psalm 19:9

The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever;

the judgments of the LORD are true, being altogether righteous.

Revelation 19:2

For His judgments are true and just.

He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality.

He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand."

Nothing but the Blood of Jesus

The depth of man’s depravity when fear of God has died

When Self becomes the deity worshipped and gratified

When Ignorance is mired in the sludge of disregard

For God, the righteous Judge; when sin becomes master and lord

How piteous and dire are the depths of man’s demise

When lust feasts on desire and yet nothing satisfies

How holy is the God of love, of salvation and grace

His workmanship, without words, proves what infidels debase

The fear of God is pure, altogether righteous and true

His judgements will endure; nothing can His purpose undo

Incomprehensible the thoughts and ways of God’s control

All who believe adore and praise the Saviour of the soul

How ruthless the depravity of darkness of the mind

How heinous, the grim gravity of hellbent humankind

That we all are until by faith the soul’s curse is undone

Belief receives God’s gift of grace through Jesus Christ, His Son

Who died Once and For all sinners, to crush the serpent’s head

So all who, through faith, call on Him are saved from death’s/hell’s dark dread

The depth of man’s depravity when fear of God departs

Exposes vile desperately deceitful, wicked hearts

When Indolence and Indulgence applauds the profligate

And fruits of disobedience proudly proliferate

Then, from we who by God’s grace have been saved, rises a cry

Before it is too late, ‘Behold, redemption draweth nigh’

© Janet Martin

Rom.11:33

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

 How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

Ultimatum of Diligence...

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, 

be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 

2 Pet.3:14

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest,

 lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 

Heb.4:11

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence

 to the full assurance of hope until the end, 

Heb.6:11

Whether of body...

or mind

or soul...

it requires diligence to conquer the goal!

***

Diligence is not like a task we check from to-do lists

It is no once-and-done accomplishment high-fived and kissed

But a constant challenge traversed on the turf of Today

Where often slips and stumbles hurt, reprimand and dismay

Tempting us to yield to what seems a less demanding way

Diligence is not something that is effortless and swift

But a persistent ‘pressing to,’ so that we do not drift

Away from guidelines to habits not focused on the goal

Of mastering the disciplines of body, mind, and soul

Where each step of the journey is part of the sacred whole

Ultimate diligence is not dressed in dashing façade

But in humble awareness of sure reckoning with God

It heeds the beckoning of Love and considers its due

Relying on God’s Word to remain undeterred and true

Motivated my Heaven’s Rest when diligence is through

© Janet Martin

I Linger For a Reason...

'This is the last time for this', said a girl in my Grade 6 Sunday School class yesterday, slowly running fingers over the back of the chairs around the table. (our summer kid's programs at church are run  a bit differently and in September she will be graduated from the grade 1-6 format) Her sentimentalism tugged at my heart as I replied, 'oh my dear, get used to saying that, because everything in life is but a little season..." This girl also used to be in my childcare so I have an extra-motherly place in my heart for her💖

Yesterday I sent the link below, from ten years ago

 to my daughters after someone happened across it,

reminding me of poems long forgotten....

Of Realizations and Routines

the thoughts still as relevant now as then, 

just with different 'pictures' attached

These two incidences are part of what inspired this poem

as well as tugging the tomato cages from peony-past bushes 

to take to the vegetable garden to try

to squeeze overgrown tomato plants into...

(sometimes trying to be thrifty/frugal has its challenges!!)

Some gardening-lingering...

some supper-lingering

some between-task lingering...

I linger where the vibrant vistas of first summer sweep

I loiter in the arbor draped with mauve wisteria plume...

(it was a delicious sunshine and thunderstorm day!!)

I linger for a reason, where the flower bower brims

Where the new day is breaking and where ebbing daylight dims

I linger in the laughter and the chatter of a child

Beneath the dappled rafter of leaf-song, wind-tossed and wild

I loiter in the arbor draped with mauve wisteria plume

And girded with the regal stance of hollyhocks in bloom

I linger where the vibrant vistas of first summer sweep

And at the cradle where the little baby lies asleep

I linger where raindrops tap-dance and where the thunder rolls

And laneway rivers eddy into divots, dips and holes

And where the colors of the world spin on a carousel

Of winter, spring, summer and fall in breath-stealing farewell  

I linger where the fledgling cheeps and spreads its wings to fly

And at the window framing scenes that roll beneath the sky

And in a doorway torn between looking back and ahead

Caught off guard by impressions of a life loosed from its thread

...in rooms where echoes waft where noise and messes used to be

where mother lost her patience with her precious company

after tripping over shoes left where she now lingers, oh

and traces fingers over places primed with letting go

I linger where the robin sings and where the finches flit

I linger in the garden for the dear, sheer joy of it

Where bare feet dash and flash through green pastures of innocence

Into the rude awakening of choice and recompense 

I linger, just to love the touch and feel of here and now

To sense the glove of Father's Time's hand brush across my brow

I linger for a reason that is ruthless in its art

Where 'everything a season' steals small pieces of my heart 

Janet Martin

I linger where raindrops tap-dance and where the thunder rolls

And laneway rivers eddy into divots, dips and holes...

Gratitude-Quest...

Sometimes love's realities/cruelties/crosses

could wake excuses that could make us bitter...

Oh my Lord, may it never be!!

The Love of God

Lest by bitterness betaken

Lest by prideful boast or greed

Lord, each day let me awaken

To Your mercy for my need

Lest in my pursuits of gladness

I, by reason of a fool

Miss Your goodness, for the madness

Of Want without rod or rule

Lest I trade eternal treasure

And the blessing You bestow

For the very temp’ral pleasure

Of a temporary show

Lord, each day let me awaken

To renewed awareness of

Hope’s sweet confidence unshaken

Anchored in grace, truth, and love

Lest, by my impatient nature

I demand what is not mine

Puffing up my puny stature

In the face of Grace Divine

Lest, by some distorted notion

I perceive rather than trust

And redirect my devotion

From You to idols/merchants of dust

Lest the lure of the beholding

Blinds me to Faith’s surety

Lest the pace of grace unfolding

Heaven, is too hard for me

Lord, each day let me awaken

To Your kind mercy renewed

So that I am overtaken

With nothing, but gratitude

© Janet Martin

Psalm 107:15&31

Oh, that men would give thanks

 to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works

 to the children of men!

Enough, Just to Sing

 

It took quite a few attempts to locate, zoom in, capture and identify

 this little Sunday-afternoon 'songster';

a fledgling rose-breasted grosbeak 

(Please correct me if I am mistaken!)

Through dark shadows of love’s sorrows

Over the mayhem of life

Without worry about morrows

Unaffected by vain strife

Seeking no self-aggrandizement

Performing without applause

Or eye-catching advertisement

To attract creature to cause

Not by warble-envy taunted

Nor by fear or dread deterred

But with melodies undaunted

Sings and sings the little bird

Enough to know its Creator

Who grants each minstrel its part

Hears beyond the pitch and meter 

To the timbre of the heart

…oh may we learn by example

From this little feathered thing

How to be content and humble

...enough just to sing and sing

By bias and vaunt unhindered 

Honored to take our place

Enough just to praise the Giver

For our portion of His grace

© Janet Martin

Matt.6:26-27

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,

 and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

 Are you not much more valuable than they? 

 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?

Of Mortal and Divine

When every blade-leaf-petal is

dazzled with silver drops

we who behold would be amiss

not to pause, and praise God

The Hand of Time is, in essence the Hand of God!

So in troubled times like these,

we take heart for we are in Good Hands...

The Hand of Time unfolds flowers...

The lifespan of a flower is brief!

(see the transformation of a week in the photos below)

The Hand of God holds eternity!!

It bids us consider well whose Hand

we choose to trust!

***

Eccles.12:6-7

Remember your Creator

 before the silver cord is [b]loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
7Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

***

Outstretched, across the land and sea

Without form to define

This indelible unity

Where mortal and divine

...cradles the earth and tips yon purse

With dawn’s momentous lure

Once more life's for better or worse

Runs rife, to rich and poor

To test the sacred symmetry

That binds body and soul

And balances humanity

Against the holy Whole

Of love’s sovereign authority

Above sky, sea, and sod

Mist mingles with eternity

The Hand of Time and God

A flower cannot keep its prime

As dust's due decks the sod

The Soul slips through the hand of Time

Into the hand of God

© Janet Martin

Job 14:1-2

Man, who is born of woman,

is short of days and full of trouble.

2Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away;

like a fleeting shadow,

 he does not endure.

Wonder-Thunder

 

That I should have 

the benefit

Of strolling beneath 

lofty trees

With eyes to see

 the height of it

And ears to hear 

the sighing breeze

And ink to spell

 the sight of it

And thought to fill 

with wonder’s verve

And drink in 

the delight of it

Is so much more than

 I deserve

© Janet Martin