Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts

Friday, June 24, 2022

When We Find The Key To Favor

Yesterday's 'favor' was juicy and sweet!


Not all fruit for our labor seems quite as visible and flavorful as fresh strawberries
but is every bit as sweet if we find the key to God's favor...
Then, what an indescribable treat, to savor joy!


Not in vain is noble effort
Though no ovations resound
Not for nothing is the labor
Though no compliments abound

What a diadem of honor
Crowns what appears commonplace
What pure purpose bids us onward
Though no eager crowds give chase

Though the push and pull of duty
Seems a thankless exercise
What a boon of hidden beauty
Tunes the struggle to the Prize

...when we find the key to favor
When from the moment we wake
Our joy is but to labor
For the name of our Lord’s sake

...when to labor is the favor
When love is its own reward
When work is worship, we savor
Joy, through Jesus Christ our Lord

© Janet Martin

Psalm 5:11-12
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You [f]defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Prov.8:35
For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the LORD;

Col.3:23
And whatever you do, do it heartily,
as to the Lord and not to men,

Luke 11:27-28
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out
, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Monday, September 6, 2021

Of the Wonderful Worth of Work

Happy Labour Day!

Every good and perfect gift is from above..
James 1:17
even the humble spud!
Which was the fruit/gift of Saturday's toil!

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

All over our country we can find Help Wanted Ads and Signs! 
Some today, prefer a government cheque and idleness to
the incomparable worth of work!
If we are blessed with health and strength we are fitted for toil!

Some today strongly push an agenda where hard-working
labourers should give the government power over the proceeds
to dole and divvy, with discretion that seems to have rejected God's Word
and is devoid of His pinnacle of wisdom!

There is much in scripture to condemn idleness/laziness
and praise hard work!
Below is only the tip of the iceberg on 
what God's Word teaches about working and idleness.

Eccles.2:24-25 NIV
A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink
and find satisfaction in their own toil.
This too, I see, is from the hand of God,
25for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?


Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.

Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.

She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
 that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness 
and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command:
If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
For we hear that some among you walk in idleness,
not busy at work, but busybodies.

And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, 
and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 
so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold,
 it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles,
 and its stone wall was broken down. 
Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction.
 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. 
All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.

Col.3:23
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

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.

The high calling of labour is a call we dare not shirk
To toil for God and 'neighbor' is life's greatest, worthwhile work
For the spoil of our toil, as we try to do our good part 
Will satisfy us with the joyful wealth of thankful heart
Where if we are so able by the health that God so grants
We ought to set the table through the work of our own hands
And give to those who have not because they are sick and poor
And live with the awareness of who we are working for
Then, with glad gratitude work hard and give the Giver laud
A servant in a vineyard whose Master is Holy God

Janet Martin

Friday, September 25, 2020

Secret To True Success


Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. 
Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 
 not looking to your own interests 
but each of you to the interests of the others.
Phil.2:3-4

The photo below is my dad, taken a few weeks ago in his wood-shop.
He is a living example of someone always willing to help someone else!
When he's not helping someone you will find him here.




When we do not view our labour 
Simply as living-to-earn 
But as ways to love our neighbour 
We find joy at ev’ry turn 

When love, rather than work’s wages 
Kindles the fire within 
Time will never waste its ages 
As it roars through our skin 

Then we find with humble wonder 
The secret to true success 
As we collect giving’s plunder 
Love’s kind profit; happiness 

When we live to make a living 
Over loving humankind 
Toil will be an endless striving 
For Something we cannot find 

© Janet Martin

Here is a photo of the wooden clothes dryers he makes and
sells a lot of...

This is size Lg. 48" wide- 65.00
small size is 36" wide and priced at 50.00




Saturday, July 4, 2020

The Great Orchestra of Livelihood


 If COVID-19 has shown us anything it's that we all have a vital part 
to 'play' in the Great Orchestra of Livelihood!
We all need a bit o' bread to eat and a little nest to sleep in!
It struck me as the farmer waved as he rolled by on his tractor,
as the 'mess' behind the house gaped at me as I hung out laundry...

...waiting for the plumber to get the proper permits to proceed
as campers roll by on the first July weekend
as campgrounds depend on patrons
as does every other business,
that we all need each other!
 Surely we are all essential to someone!


Some of my instruments come from the garden today!
Oh, what sweet music medley (aka salads) waits to be made!


Thank-you God (and very hard-working truck-driving husband)
Always like to go to some extra pains pleasure, for Saturday night supper
for Jim after mostly lunch-box menus all week.



Through a mist-kissed colour-flue
Orange-emerald-purple-blue
Pink, magenta, yellow, red
Tolls the quest for daily bread
Rolls the wheels of cars and trucks
All to earn a couple bucks
To address the need, the like
Susie’s braces, Tommy’s trike
Dreams to fill and bills to pay
Banker versus holiday
Some days bad and others good
In the quest of livelihood

Don the duds to fight the fight
All heroes in our own right
Banker, trucker, farmer, nurse
Reap the fruit of Adam’s curse
Picker, painter, poet, ah
All part of its purposed law
Wielder of hammer or trowel
Spatula, shovel, tea-towel
Florist, dentist,baker, cook
Author of best-seller book
Bard and bloke part of the brood
Yoked with quest for livelihood

Seller, buyer, shy or bold
Doctor, lawyer, young or old
Astronaut or engineer
Pilot, pastor, puppeteer
All share in a common quest
Bread to eat and little nest
Garbage collectors and those
Who cut our hair and groom our toes
Who sweep the streets, who drives the cab
Who polices those who would nab
That earned by other’s sweat and blood
All in the quest for livelihood

Meat-packers, mechanics too
All with vital work to do
Caregivers, delivery boys
For our tradesmen, make some noise
Librarians, grocers, oh
By the grace of God we go
Big or small, all a part of
Living’s leap of eat-sleep-love
Then, if you have a bit of bread
Remember to bow your head
And thank God, from man's curse He wooed
The Orchestra of livelihood

© Janet Martin



Thursday, January 23, 2020

Daily Duel of Dreamer and Duty...What Will It Be?!



Duty and Dreamer seem to clash on a regular basis, as soon as feet hit the floor...
What will it be she sighs as she eyes an empty page 
then turns to heed cries of Master Laundry, Major Lunch-box, Sergeant Fire-starting etc...
Before Sweetest of all Sweet Little Girl arrives...



When the day gleams like a page poem-heady
Star-studded tarp falls from tresses, blue-pink
Unveiling worlds slumber revived and ready
Propped like a bottomless well filled with ink
Fueling duels twixt Dreamer and Duty
Teasing the rivals of prudence and art
Blurring intention where unhurried beauty
Tangles the tether twixt hands, head and heart

What will it be, Duty cries, demand-driven
Seizing the tool that fits her for the fight
What will it be, sighs the Dreamer, star-smitten
Grasping at shimmers of shadow and light
What will become the sum of today’s tally
Will it be to-do lists tackled and checked
Will it be sparkles that glimmer and sally
Snared from the air where whispers intersect

What will be left when dusk gathers its plunder
Who will be victor of soon-to-be spoils
Will page be filled with the thrill of sheer wonder
Or smudged with tokens of love’s urgent toils
What will remain to retain strains of beauty
Felled by the faithful fellow, Father Time
Will the souvenirs of both Dreamer and Duty
Tenderly tangle in keepsakes of rhyme

© Janet Martin


 ...on that note it's off to the races graces!

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, 
do it all for the glory of God.
1 Cor.10:13

Friday, December 27, 2019

A Little Like a Garden...


My sister gave me the book Romance in the Garden by John H. Tobe
 in June for my birthday.


I began reading it recently and am not too far along yet but already totally in love with it 
because of little chapters like the one below

This soil we till where want and will
Bequeaths hope’s hearty toil
Yields far more than the crops we plan
As we gather its spoil

Sweat of the brow, push of the plow
‘Neath summer’s sprawling hue
Begets far more than gifted snore
When workaday is through

In the employ of grief and joy’s
Incumbent aftermath
We pause awhile to smile and smile
At blooms along the path

And in the wake of give and take
We come to realize
The trophy of a work worn glove
Makes more beloved the prize

For there we heard the singing bird
While bending to the task
And as we knelt, ah, there we felt
God close enough to ask

And there we learned respect is earned
This no one can demand
And there we find few things as kind
As that of helping hand

…or how the thrill of the downhill
Is not without the climb
and what we choose midst dreams and dues
Becomes how we spend time

How moments spill a plot we till
With what none can uproot
From One who grants far more than plants
As seed unfurls its fruit

© Janet Martin

 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; 
for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

While We Work...

Sometimes task upon task can cast a ho-hum shadow over would-be hallelujah-hymns, 
...but only until we turn our work into worshipping the Author of salvation!

Slice-dice-chop
slip in a splash we slopped
wipe the sweat from 'not-done-yet'
and give, nay live praise to God


Hope, for all its hurt and hunger
Finds fresh footholds, wings to fly
We who believe will be stronger
Than they who doubt and deny

Praise the Author of creation
Far above our mortal ways
He bestows love’s celebration
To life’s commonest of days

Mercy flings its floodgates open
Everybody qualifies
Dares us to desire more than
That which we see with our eyes

Hallelujah fills our ho-hum
Stills despair’s demons that lurk
Puts purpose into this sojourn
If we worship while we work


© Janet Martin

 ...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.
Isa.40:31