Showing posts with label thankfulness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thankfulness. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

If Skunks Could Fly...

A bit of silliness to start today...

Last night in the course of conversation I mentioned how 
I had a dream/nightmare that skunks could fly!
I didn't elaborate but it was quite traumatic which is likely why I remember it!
 I was bent over in the garden and one landed on my back
 and started turning round and round like some animals do, 
trying to find a comfy spot for a snooze...
and I couldn't move for fear it would spray!!! then I woke up😅😂😂)

One of the listeners kiddingly challenged me to turn it into a poem.
haha!! Of course, he (Glenn) should have known I can never resist a poem-challenge😁

***
Ps.118:24
This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.


I didn't have a picture of skunks but I took a photo of these beauties on Sunday!
They cooperated nicely
unlike the loon, that disappeared every time I clicked...😅


(Thankfully no flying skunks landed on the lake!)


It could be worse; sin’s curse of few-and-full-of-trouble-days
Sometimes we fret, and forget mercy’s very caring ways
So, if you’re feeling down and out, with doubtful, poutful sigh
Remember that it would be worse if God made skunks that fly

Imagine, when you settle for a little outdoor nap
A flying skunk would flutter down, kerplunk, into your lap
And you would need to wait, stock-still until it flew away
For fear you startle it and be drenched with stench of skunk-spray

Imagine a day at the beach, if like sea-gulls, skunks flew
And hovered overhead waiting for a stray fry or two
Or if, while tending gardens we would need to watch our back
Against possible peril of a flying skunk attack

What chaos would ensue for me and you; oh, aren’t you glad
That heads are not in danger of being skunk’s landing pad
And we don't need to worry about skunks building a nest
In our favorite tree; my, my, but aren't we sweetly blessed?!!

This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice, be glad in it
So much could be much worse, we all humbly have to admit 
So, when we count God's mercies, among many mentioned things
I think that we should add, ‘that He did not make skunks with wings’

© Janet Martin

If you are familiar with Peter Santenello's videos HERE you will recognize Titus!
The guy in the hat! Singing






Monday, March 11, 2024

How To Replenish Love's Delight...



“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord”
 (Romans 12:11).

Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart,
 for God has already approved what you do.

Above, a few verses from a few Daily Bread devotionals I missed on the weekend
because we were away for a bit!

Great verses to contemplate as we begin a new week!


May your week be as sweet as a Krispy Kreme donut!
(One of our stops)



It's easy to be filled with delight while savoring donuts,
but life/love isn't always as soft and sweet as a fresh donut, is it?!
If it was we would become fat and foolish,
sluggish and selfish!

James 1:2-4 BSB
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, 
when you encounter trials of many kinds, 
3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
 4Allow perseverance to finish its work, 
so that you may be mature and complete, 
not lacking anything.

To overcome despair
Is to replenish love's delight
Through faithful, thankful prayer

Is to fix our eyes
On He whose hope elates
Whose grace made possible the prize
That faith anticipates 

Is to count our joys
Rather than our woes
Is to seize what each morn deploys
And dusk draws to a close

Is to choose what is right
And forgive fellowman
And in each flight from morn to night
To do the best we can

Because God gave His best
Because He loves us so
To dwell on this renews the zest/quest
No care can overthrow

Because when we believe
We walk by faith, not sight
And as we trust we will receive
Love's replenished delight

Janet Martin

Jer.17:7
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
 whose confidence is in him.

Psalm 40:4
Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, 
who has not turned to the proud, 
nor to those who lapse into falsehood.



Friday, March 1, 2024

New Month's Resolutions

 Happy, happy March! (already?!!)


This winter is flying by and hardly feeling like 'real' winter
with its milder temperatures and lack of snow!
Although last evening wasn't mild!
I almost froze my fingers to get these sunset poses!!!



I had to miss the magnificent, pink finale because I needed to go back inside to thaw my hands!
Note to self: never assume to be fine without mittens no matter how mild a few days earlier was!




May we make today more cheerful by being thankful and kind
And by keeping thought life gentle with fellowman's needs in mind
May we not be blind to beauty's wonder-thund'ring treasure trove
But embrace life's common duties with a glad and grateful love

Pray the Lord's goodness will fill us with joy bursting at the core
Rather than highlights that thrill us then leave us thirsting for more
Pray love’s meek and quiet spirit shields us from frontlines of strife
From lust of the flesh and eye, and dust to dust’s vain pride of life

Behold! each moment-memento brims with opportunity
May we delight in the tempo tuning Today’s symphony
For, sufficient for each hour is God’s glorious grace unfurled
Ah! Nothing can overpower He who overcame the world

May we make today more lovely by the way that we reply
To the Giver; not rude-grumbly, but with humble ‘here am I’
As creation spills our ears full, as dawn sets yon heights ablaze
May we make today more cheerful by joining its hymn of praise

For soon high's noon's full bloom flounders; soon plush petal-mettle yields
To the tug that always counters today with tomorrow's fields
So, before today is gathered into Bygone's works of art
May its moments as they scatter leave a smile in someone's heart

© Janet Martin






For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds;

I sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

5How great are Your works, O LORD,

how deep are Your thoughts!

6A senseless man does not know,

and a fool does not understand,

7that though the wicked sprout like grass,

and all evildoers flourish,

they will be forever destroyed.

8But You, O LORD, are exalted forever!





Thursday, February 15, 2024

On Living In The Moment

Look! morning’s epic entrance thunders with moments we’ve never met...



Because God is without beginning or end,
there will be no end to goodness!

Sometimes I am guilty of forgetting this,
 falling prey to doleful dread, 
believing the good days are over for good 
rather than finding the good in each day,
and thanking God for it by honoring Him with it
 in every way I can!

(click reference link to read the whole glorious Psalm)

How great is Your goodness
which You have laid up for those who fear You,
which You have bestowed before the sons of men
on those who take refuge in You!




I do not want to stare too long at sanguine scenes in Bygone’s glade
Nor covet echoes of a song, much softer now than when first played
Lord, give me ears to hear What Is before its music disappears
Open my eyes so I don’t miss the font that soon fills yesteryears

Beneath the hand of Time harsh sorrows and raw edges smooth, it seems
Washed by a tide, primed with tomorrows, rolling through a world of dreams
Darling, ere you and I awaken on the other side of This
Let’s be sweetly and humbly taken by the melody that is

For, far too soon Bygone’s infinite isle will claim tunes turned to mist
So, let’s not waste one precious minute while today's lyrics untwist  
Look! morning’s epic entrance thunders with moments we’ve never met
Oh, let’s not grow too old to wonder at mercies not tasted yet

© Janet Martin

Oh, let’s not grow too old to wonder at mercies not tasted yet...


Dawn's eyelids were heavy with snow-shadows!

It's been a while since Old Man Winter
 lugged out his white-wash bucket and tipped it over the earth...
I almost have First Snowfall thrills!







Wednesday, February 7, 2024

This Life Is Full of Lovely Things (in a much-amiss world)

To sun-rise starved Southern Ontarion-ers this morning's stunner
was like a sweet elixir to the soul!


Beneath a rush of blushing wings
A fresh start is unfurled...







This life is filled with lovely things
The fresh start that each new day brings
As dawn unfolds translucent wings
Where God prolongs Time’s grace
Child’s laughter to set hearts aglow
Gardens asleep beneath the snow
Waiting for spring to steal the show
As bud-looms burst with lace

This life is filled with countless joys
Mischievous pups and little boys
The beauty each season deploys
To leave us humbly awed
With handiwork by God designed
Then etched, splashed, pearled, swirled and entwined
Like surprises we thrill to find
On sky and sea and sod

This life is filled with wondrous ways
God wills and grants to gladden days
And turn would-be lament to praise
And weight of want to love
Where learning’s tattered lesson-book
Is brightened by bird-song, a brook
And God-ness, everywhere we look
(If we look long enough)

…where life is full of you and me
And Today’s opportunity
A hand to hold, a friend to be
A tender word to cheer
Each other on, through ups and downs
To be part of the art that crowns
The heart and face with smiles, as frowns
That would-be, disappear

This life, filled with mercies renewed
As morning rends night’s tent, star-strewed
Kindles courage with gratitude
In a much-amiss world
Where life is full of lovely things
To counter cares it surely brings
Beneath dawn's rush of blushing wings
A fresh start is unfurled

© Janet Martin

It was impossible to capture the full scale of the magnitude of the sunrise with
a camera lens. Its colors ran north and south without bound!



I began today's poem yesterday morning before Duty prevailed...
I wonder what yesterday's poem would have been??😅

Yesterday afternoon I was treated to this 'bird-song'
from a treetop symphony!


Before I finished 'yesterday's' poem this morning,
the wonderful Psalm below from today's devotion
began Today with utter loveliness!!

Ps. 130
Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.

3 If You, Lord, should [a]mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is mercy,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
8 And He shall redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.

Yesterday's poem-kindling...






Saturday, January 27, 2024

Guarding Against Ungratefulness


Hebrews 13:15 
 Therefore by Him let us continually 
offer the sacrifice of praise to God,
 that is, the fruit of our lips,
 [a]giving thanks to His name.

I am so thankful to a friend who called me yesterday
to make sure I didn't miss the stunning rainbow!
I would have too, because I was * busy making lunch for 
my daughter and grandchildren. (a no-school day celebration)
The children's exclamations of delight filled the air as we gazed.
The rainbow was followed by a few hours of brilliant sunshine
 to cheer our sun-starved spirits!
"it's easy to be grateful in moments like this" I contemplated.
"Why is it so easy to slip into ungratefulness when things aren't so much to our liking?!"


Ungratefulness is like a heavy foot upon the soul
It blinds us to a showcase where God’s works of wonder toll...

***

Ungratefulness can make us miss blessings that God designed
To keep us humbly glad when we were otherwise inclined
Ungratefulness is like a heavy foot upon the soul
It blinds us to a showcase where God’s works of wonder toll
And causes discontentment because we forget the One
Who ought to awe us constantly with all that He has done

Ungratefulness produces bitter fruit, its song and dance
A fickle happiness tickled by pleasing circumstance
Destined to shift and try delight with less appealing bent
Ungratefulness forgets the gift as soon as it is spent
And scowls and vents and kicks against the pricks of trying test
As if we were deserving of only The Very Best

Ungratefulness is often apt to fix on the façade
It tramples on a flower while shaking a fist at God
It cusses and complains, where hymns of thanksgiving should be
It robs us of the joy that God prepared for you and me
And warps, with wishful thinking, the wellspring that He designed
To keep us humbly glad when we were otherwise inclined

© Janet Martin




Another easy-gratefulness moment!

I missed taking a photo a few minutes earlier when Eager Helper tripped on the stairs
as he was bringing leftover Christmas cookies up from the downstairs freezer,
and the box dropped sending ziplocked bags of cookies for a tumble!
After being comforted, smiles returned!
Sometimes that's when gratefulness is even sweeter, right?!
After disappointment's tears are dried!
Because life is bound to bring devastating disappointment!

One pic of what turned into 






Monday, January 15, 2024

How The Plump Dove Fluffs Its Feathers (among a few other observations)


Happy, happy halfway through January 2024!!

Ps.145:9-10
The Lord is good to all; 
 he has compassion on all he has made.
All your works praise you, Lord;
your faithful people extol you.

How the plump dove fluffs its feathers with no need for looking glass...


How, if we look, we find much to be tenderly thankful for
How a good book adds a touch of passion to commonplace chore...
(more about below book Here: Homemaker's Prayer)


How a cup of tea is like a gentle, pick-me-upper hug...


How snow-stenciled scenery always gives my heartstring a tug...



How the plump dove fluffs its feathers with no need for looking glass
How love’s sentimental tether binds the present to the past
How spring, summer, fall and winter, Beauty cheers thought’s countenance
And how prayer’s flight is unhindered by season or circumstance

How we are awed, sweetly speechless by Nature’s Grand Orchestra
How God teaches and beseeches mortal worship through its law
How the creature is no match for the Creator; never was
Never will be; He is greater and deserves endless applause

How the measure of God’s pleasure steals the show without contest
How each new day grants the treasure of a fresh and untried quest
How laughter’s melodic mettle fills the air with seraphim
How the song of the tea kettle is my favorite kitchen hymn

How, if we look, we find much to be tenderly thankful for
How a good book adds a touch of passion to commonplace chore
How a cup of tea is like a gentle, pick-me-upper hug
How snow-stenciled scenery always gives my heartstring a tug

How in spite of so much sadness, gladness survives trouble’s gall
How, despite shape, height or status love is still One-size-fits-all
How a morning always rouses what has never been before
Mercy’s renewed summons wows us with God’s faithfulness once more

How, the howl of younger hunger slowly but surely succumbs
To a wizened, humbler wonder satisfied to savor crumbs
How at last we learn the secret to happiness, fit for kings
Not in gimme-gimme-reaches, but in joy of simple things

How, through loss we gain awareness of phrases like you-and-me
Cherishing the fragile rareness of fine words like ‘us’ and ‘we’
How, here we are cradled briefly between two eternities
One, that concerns the Soul chiefly, one of Bygone centuries

How an almost-poem’s tempo keens the poet’s appetite
How ink-swirls compose mementos of rhythm and rhymed delight
How the Bard, kindly encumbered with God’s charge to dredge blurred deeps
Probes the place where Ballad slumbers or Elusive Poem sleeps

How the Finesse of Forever wakes us to the wealth of Now
How the howling gale of winter makes home palatial, somehow
How we chuckle while the weather throws tantrums that never last
How the plump dove fluffs its feathers ready to face one more blast

© Janet Martin

(Below, the cardinal and Blue Jay pics are from my mother-in-law's house yesterday)


How spring, summer, fall and winter, Beauty cheers thought’s countenance...






Bird-watching bliss these days as the cold temps 
and snowy weather brings a feeding frenzy!