Jim (my husband) called while I was struggling
through the middle of the third stanza of today's poem,
and in the course of conversation he remarked
that he's driving through a stretch of the north
that always feels like forever to get through!!
I told him 'thank-you!! that imagery was exactly what I needed
to give this poem steam through the middle of it!
(Jim is a great conversationalist and I've written many a verse whilst conversing,
or, he converses and I interject an occasional 'ugh-huh')😅😂💖
The initial inspiration of this poem was sparked after I came home last night
after enjoying dinner at my daughter's home and getting a first-hand reminder
of the end of day endurance tests when children are tired and parents are too!
Hang in there, parents of little children!
it really is worth every lackluster labor of love!
Hang in there mother/daddy that feels like you walk or rock,
rather than sleep the night away!
Hang in there, engineer of eighteen wheels.
And we will soon welcome you to warm home fires, Lord willing!
Hang in there, dear daughter-son-parent-spouse etc, traveling home after dark
after spending precious time with a loved one in a long term care facility or hospital!
Hang in there, husband and wife whose marriage ties seem strained to breaking point!
God is love!
Love never fails!
***
I couldn't help but chuckle at the amplified tranquility
of our house after we returned home last night.
That forever-stretch of raising youngsters,
as I look back feels more like a silk scarf
that slip-slipped through my fingers and disappeared!
only Victoria and I left to decorate the tree
while listening to Christmas music...
bittersweet!!
(for her and me)
Above all else, though duty’s dues may seem common and small
And in the grand scheme of pursuits, not very grand at all
Where no corporate ladder hails to scale with eagerness
And no plaque or trophy regales accomplishment’s success
Where no one notes the unsung skills of mundane ministry
Or celebrates the daily drills of domesticity
Above all else, no matter how we view Duty’s reply
It is not what but Who we do it for, not where but why
Then, in our search to satisfy fulfillment’s siren call
We find, to our surprise, a One-size Reason that fits all
For we will find the kind of wealth that always grants Enough
When what we do, above all else, is a labour of love
Love is enough to make remarkable, the commonplace
It transforms life into a miracle of joy and grace
It equips us to weather what loveless motives reject
For, ‘stretches of forever’ are so brief in retrospect
The miles that seem mundane, thankless, a mess of prayers and tears/fears
Soon meld into the counterpane of yester-days-and-years
Love instills wonder, thrills the things of modest recompense
It fills the world with whirring wings we cannot see, but sense
Because angels of mercy travel on the common beat
Clad in workday apparel; their wings look like hands and feet
As love fills with thunderous applause, each care-worn mile they trod
For above all, love is the wondrous evidence of God
Above all, let love carve a sacred crucifix within
Above all, fix faith's sight-scarred gaze, on the image of Him
Upon a cross, a cross that should have been for you and me
He bore love's brutal albatross to show how love should be
So, lest love grows ungrateful when love seems impossible
Remember, love is faithful and will triumph, above all
© Janet Martin
1 Cor.13:4-8
Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails.
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