When Love's Fresh Waves of Sorrow Roll...

As soon as I shift my gaze from the 'joy still set before', sorrow is too hard to bear.

As soon as I forget the Hope Christ came to earth to restore, Grief would drive me to despair

But as I think upon the goodness and mercy of One who suffered in all ways, as we

Sorrow, hope-stunned becomes the humble partaker of Love's Divine Sympathy 

Seems without trouble, sickness and sorrow

How often would haste the day

Filled with hopes and dreams of tomorrow

With never a thought to (truly, humbly) pray

The other day my friend who also owns this book

Every Moment Holy,  mentioned HERE

drew my attention to these pages...

(I could have highlighted every line!)

So many thoughtful friends send messages of sympathy and prayer,

stunning my broken heart with hope and joy

Thank-you to everyone who has helped introduce my heart

to fresh waves of inexpressible joy...

When love's fresh waves of sorrow roll

With renewed force, through heart and soul

When tug of warring thoughts compete

Between the bitter and the sweet

When worlds of retrospect replay

The words we wish we still could say

When 'missing you' becomes a prayer

Of tears that we can hardly bear

When anguish like a vortex, reels

Through rooms, one cannot see, but feels

When ragged longing dearly yearns

For that which death never returns

When we wonder what we can do

To reconcile love's 'missing you'

God, who is merciful and kind

Bids us to come to Him and find

His comfort for Want, sorrow-torn/worn

His promises bless those who mourn

When love's fresh waves of grief deploy

God's hope alone stuns grief with joy 

He ministers His perfect peace

As humble, fervent prayers increase

As sorrow's searing tempests toll

He counts the teardrops of the soul

And ushers into love's embrace

Hope's hallowed glimpses of His face

Heaven on earth is undeterred

And mountains moved through a kind word

And faith, frayed, wounded is made whole 

When love's fresh waves of sorrow roll 

  © Janet Martin

 

1 Pet.1:3-9 BSB

This first week of advent we meditate on hope...

Re-sharing a treasured passage of scripture

A Living Hope

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

By His great mercy He has given us new birthb into a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4and into an inheritance that is imperishable,

undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,

5who through faith are shielded by God’s power

for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

6In this you greatly rejoice,

though now for a little while you may

 have had to suffer grief in various trials

7so that the proven character of your faith—

more precious than gold,

which perishes even though refined by fire—

may result in praise, glory, and honor

 at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

8Though you have not seen Him, you love Him;

and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him

and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

9now that you are receiving the goal of your faith,

the salvation of your souls.

The Piano Guys - The Sweetest Gift (ft. Craig Aven) (Official Video)

(for my dear, sweet sister Lucy)

After You...

Yesterday and today's beauty beg for a Dear Lucy bit o' poem...

Dear Lucy💔💖

How bittersweet to sit at your kitchen table

without you bustling about,

pouring tea and serving far more food

 than one could possibly eat!!

But, seeing you in your daughter

sweetened the bitter ache of missing you so...

Lucy's kitchen window yesterday,

like a framed work of God-art!

Dear Lucy

There will still be love and laughter

Time will still fling wide dawn's door

But death leaves life, ever after

Never like it was before

There will still be hills/thrills and hollows

Much to chase and much to choose

But no matter what still follows

No one will quite fill your shoes

There will still be dreams and dances

Across Mercy's ballroom floor

But a lifetime of fresh chances

Cannot grant what was before

There will still be grace-bent gladness

Memories, precious and new

But, not without pangs of sadness

That death left in place of you

There will still be love and laughter

Hopes to seize and joys to claim

But no matter what comes after

Nothing will be quite the same

Love always,

Janet

View from your driveway...

Grief-frames

Happy 82nd Birthday, dear Mom born Nov.1, 1942

(photo credit on this post goes to my sister Marlene)

Yesterday, at my mother's annual birthday tea-party

the presence of each other seemed more treasured,

 our love more tender than ever before,

in the light of grief...

My mom asked if she could host it

(for the first time ever) in what has been a tradition

for SO many years!

If Lucy were here I could count on her to remember

when it started, who hosted it

and maybe even what she was wearing and

if/who she was pregnant with...

😅😂💖

She had an incredible memory!! 

Because mom hosted it, Dad could enjoy the celebration too 💝

(although we have another one on Sunday that includes our men as well)

Grief ebbs, then rushes in like a billow, invisible

It rolls through heart and soul with staggering intensity

It strips us of all pretense; Love's most severe crucible

As God, who IS love, tries the Part that He alone can see

Grief sends us on a journey we would never choose to take

Around and 'round a gaping void, veiled by façades, skin-thin

It winds heartstrings through phantom frames where echoes tug and ache

Woven from moments not unlike the moments we are in

Grief moans like autumn's lonely wind through woodlands, leaf-bereft

It sobs, like summer, silenced by its sum of Season-sand

From detonated dreamlands, it examines what is left

Sifting through drifts of rubble diamond-dust, where once Love laughed and planned

Grief teaches us to live with an 'if the Lord wills' regard

To love as if Today could be the last for you or me  

It stirs holier handling of dawn's invitation card

Because Today does not come with a Morrow-guarantee  

Grief metes Love's Must; relentless thrust of waves, dash-crash-recede 

Then, with renewed velocity, returns with wrenching pains 

To wander rooms, once full of Innocence we did not heed

Where now his/her essence of presence, like a shadow remains

Grief takes us to the arms of friends and family so dear

And it is no coincidence, it drives us to our knees

To draw us to The Sacred Solace of God's list'ning ear 

*And glimpses to the Inner Room of Heaven's Mysteries/Sympathies

Janet 💔🙏

The verses below comfort me constantly,

as I lift my wordless groans to God's intercession

Rom.8:26-27

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. 

We do not know what we ought to pray for, 

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 

 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, 

because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people 

in accordance with the will of God.

Below, yesterday's timely and profound devotion

from the book Streams in the Desert, Vol.1

(* this devotion articulates splendidly, the last line in today's poem)

While I was working on this post

a friend sent me these words...

She is mourning the loss of a friend who passed away this week.

"God is so gracious and so tender,

 even though we might never get the ‘why’ on this side of heaven."

Thank-you, Joanne!

(Her friend was released from a brave battle with ALS)

And last but not least...

My mom with her salt and pepper shaker collection

200+ pairs!

Yesterday she invited each of us to choose a pair,

before she gives her grandchildren the opportunity to do the same

I chose these Siamese cats.

They have lived in my mother's china hutch since

before I was born.

From her friend Mary (Mrs. Abner Martin)

My two 'little sisters' enjoying their choices!

Lucy was the middle sister...

Sorrow-School

Today I spent an afternoon with two of Lucy's friends,

(one I knew by name only, the same way she knew me,)

and we shared our love for Lucy midst laughter and tears.

This week my heart was torn every which way but loose...

so many beautiful people from near and far

touched my life with visits, texts, messages, flowers,

phone calls, cards, songs, treats, meals, hugs and prayers

The beautiful outpouring of sympathy and comfort

brings to sorrow, joy 💔🙏

Meanwhile, I am struck anew by the circle of life...

While we mourn, babies are born.

Let's take none of it for granted!

I shared this song awhile ago but it deserves a re-listen...

Cycle of Life Amos Raber (featuring Conrad Fisher)

We cannot brush grief’s ache away like a stray lock of hair

No words exist that can allay the angst that love must bear

But as we mourn we learn of joys through loss alone unfurled

How Sorrow raises Comforters from all across the world

How, hope is like an angel that we glimpse in friendships sweet

How love, though bruised and battered does not succumb to defeat

How life is worth the living, even with love’s scars we earn

How in the taking God is always giving in return

How, if He asked, we would refuse what Reason holds at bay

While lessons we would never choose steal our breath away

With love, unhindered by façades we too often employ   

As students in the School of Sorrow are surprised by joy

© Janet Martin

Here are a few songs that cheered me on this week,

shared by thoughtful friends 

Made For More Josh Baldwin  (feat. Jenn Johnson)

Abide With Me -Audrey Assad 

Like a Butterfly...(or, Beneath a Beaming Breadth of Sky)

How sacredly grief keens awareness 

to the preciousness of 

what we sometimes call Ordinary.

How it stuns us, as we realize 

it is Love!

and, what we once considered 'little things' 

are in reality the big things;

the hymn of touch, 

a smile, a hug, a card, a bloom,

a handshake, 'hello', a child, a chick,

an autumn afternoon,

a cup of tea, a meal and 'small-talk' shared, 

a breath-prayer, a holy pause

to marvel at God's infinite supply of mercies 

and then to thank Him, because

no matter what was or will be

He loves and cares for you and me 

***

It's so hard to accurately describe the beauty

of compassion from family, neighbors and friends;

 how your/their tender love strangely sweetens 

sorrow's most bitter parts

Thank-you to each and every one of you

as you remind/teach me anew

 1 Cor. 13:13

And now these three remain: 

faith, hope and love. 

But the greatest of these is love.

***

Love never fails;

it turns heart-wrenching loss

into a startling gift

we would never choose

or know;

a gift, God-breathed to heal

grief's brutal wounds

as love's tears flow...

***

Ps.147:3

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

***

Isa.52:7

How beautiful on the mountains (or in a barnyard) 

are the feet of those who bring good news, 

who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, 

who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 

“Your God reigns!”

These youngsters (blurred to protect privacy)

 overflowed with sympathy, questions and conversation

at the farm where I buy our fresh-as-they-come eggs

(often they run to gather them, still warm with the touch of God!)

SO many gentle moments to cherish...

Beneath a beaming breadth of sky

Life feels like a cheek, kissed

As Time wafts, like a butterfly

To bygone’s croft of mist

As joy and sorrow’s interplay

Composes Bittersweet

Arrangements, strewn like petal-fray

That flutters to the street

Where Fleeting Footfalls thrum and fade

Through seasons come, to pass

Like subtle arpeggios played

On keys of breeze and grass

Where children romp, their innocence

Cradles oblivion

To the brute strength of mere moments

Ever-so-deftly spun

Like threads, into a work of art

As tears and laughter meld

Love’s precious glints of heart-to-heart

That we so briefly held

Beneath a beaming breadth of sky

Where Today/lifetimes seem/s so small

As we waft like a butterfly

Toward Dusk’s shadow fall

Beneath a beaming breadth of sky

By faith we humbly hear

God, kindly whisper, 'here am I

To catch each falling tear'

© Janet Martin

My neighbour, walking from her house to mine, bringing last night's supper 💝

and last but not least

this morning's kind reminder devotion from the book

Springs in the Valley by Mrs. Chas E. Cowman

Stayed on Thee

Isa.26:3

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,

whose mind is stayed on thee:

because he trusteth in thee

'Now what? Now how?',

my heart seemed to cry this morning

as I thought of Les and his family,

 post-wedding-prep flurry and distraction

Pre-everything that yet remains to be...

(for all of us)

'Now What? Now how?!' I cried

for everyone suffering ongoing sorrow

...and the verse above ministered to my cry

and comforted me 

May it comfort you too.

My Faith Looks Up To Thee 

‘Mind stayed on Thee’ what confidence hope’s careworn courage finds

What peace anoints grief’s wounds, that God, so rich in mercy binds

What comfort cheers life’s ups and downs, where this world’s troubles groan

What joy (in spite of Sorrow) crowns the gape of the Unknown

‘Mind stayed on Thee’ Thy word is truth; faith’s footing held secure

Trustworthy for both aged and youth, armour for rich and poor

Though generations rise and fall like waves upon a sea

Thy Word abides through all of time and all eternity

‘Mind stayed on Thee’ no substitute can console or appease

No mortal merit can compute what God alone decrees

Ah, Heaven’s earthly ordinance nothing can overthrow

Able, in every circumstance to conquer every foe

‘Mind stayed on Thee’, hope’s sure anchor where tempests roar and toss

How trustworthy is He who bore the horror of the cross

Who knew no sin but became sin, each sinner to atone

Savior and Redeemer, amen. Death and hell overthrown

‘Mind stayed on Thee’, no sweeter solace can our spirits find

No purer peace, God’s purpose is compassionate and kind

Though oft misunderstood, until with humble mind renewed

We yield and trust Love’s perfect will with awestruck gratitude

© Janet Martin

And I will pray the Father, 

and he shall give you another Comforter, 

that he may abide with you for ever;

John 14:16

I have told you these things,

 so that in me you may have peace.

 In this world you will have trouble.

 But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus~

John 16:33

.

Yea, Though I Walk Through the Valley...A Prayer

 

I received the postcard below in the mail last week,

Painted by my friend 

this was yesterday's devotion...

Every day I am comforted by visits, messages, phone calls, 

scripture, cards, meals, food-gifts, flowers, songs and prayers

Thank-you all so very much!

As, through each kindness I learn

God's faithfulness at every turn

On Sunday, as I gazed at this view at my friend's home...

...I felt the presence of this verse...

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 

he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Ps.23:2

Dear Lord, supply my need today

To trust Your will, Your Word, Your Way

To love Your law then, to obey

In Jesus precious Name, I pray

Your rod and staff, they comfort Me

Your armour thwarts the enemy

Though dark the passage through death’s vale

The Light of Your Word will not fail

Dear Lord, in Thee I put my trust

Until my frame returns to dust

Help me to be faithful and true

Until my soul returns to You

I love you Lord, let nothing mar

My confidence in who You are

Through every gasp of grief and pain

Your perfect purpose will sustain

Your goodness and mercy abide

Save me from doubt's rebellious pride

Your thoughts reach far beyond my ken

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen

© Janet Martin

Psalm 23:1
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Philippians 4:19
And my God will supply all your needs

 according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Sharing the link to  two stunning

and new for me songs sent to me this morning...

What a Broken Heart Can Do-Brian Free & Assurance 

Cares Chorus-Kelly Willard 

I can almost here Lucy exclaiming over the songs!!

A Very Present Sorrow...

The verse below was the first verse to minister to me 

in the wake of the news of my sister's passing last week

(that-feels-like-so-much-longer!)

God is our refuge and strength, 

a very present help in trouble.

Ps.46:1 KJV

As I watched the sun rise this morning 

a rush of conflicting emotions filled me...

A Very Present Sorrow tunes my senses to time's tug

Each moment widening the gap between what once we knew

While narrowing the distance till Yon Greeting's Hello-hug

Where there will be no parting, where no tears will run us through

A Very Present Sorrow draws attention to time's tide

Reverence and resistance clash like wrestler's in a ring

Futile to fight the Thing that harbours healing in its stride

Better to bear love's burden without bitter querying 

A Very Present Sorrow rouses respect for time's toll

We, like a brood of beggars would face Fate's future, so grim

Without the hope that transcends Time; salvation for the Soul 

From God, who richly comforts, as we cast our cares on Him 

A Very Present Sorrow needs a Very Present Help

God is our strength, He helps us carry sorrow's sacred cross 

As He bears us on angel's wings unto His Very Self

He heals the broken heart and binds the wounds of grief and loss 

© Janet Martin

Ps.147:3 

He heals the brokenhearted

and binds up their wounds.

Lam.3:32-33

Though he brings grief,

 he will show compassion,
    so great is his unfailing love.
 For he does not willingly bring affliction
    or grief to anyone.

(Read the whole glorious chapter HERE)

You're Still God

Numerous people have sent me the above song to comfort me, (thank-you)

and my sister read part of the lyrics

at Lucy's funeral in her tribute...

In Loving Memory of my Sister, Lucy

This is the bitter-sweetest poem I have ever written...

Dear Lucy,

Your garden shoes at the back door

Your jacket on the hook

Your beautiful flowers galore

Your latest favourite book

Your mementos of such and such

You thoughtfully arranged

All leave behind your tender touch

Death suddenly estranged

The datebook you kept in your mind

How we would marvel, dear

At the methods you used to find

The day, the month, the year

With ‘I remember this because

We picked the pears before…

We went to…(then) how the weather was

And what outfit you wore’

While we would laugh and marvel at

Your sentimental trove

You turned to gifts of this and that

To touch someone with love

And shape part of the thing that Death

Both takes and leaves, in sync

The life we lived; as gifted breath

Spills in permanent ink

Dear Lucy, daughter, sister, wife

Mother, grandmother, friend

Your legacy of love in life

Was faithful to the end

Where part of you is silenced now

Yet much of you lives on

Love never fails, no matter how

We wish you were not gone

Our God who ordained all your days

Before one came to be

Though we cannot fathom His ways

Will help love (us) faithfully

To bear all things, believe all things

To hope all things, endure

His pardon that salvation brings

Holds living hope secure

Thus, we have no cause to rebel

Against His perfect plan

But rather, to live each day well

And love while we still can

Dear all of us who yet remain

Who only see in part

God never fails; He knows our pain

He heals the broken heart

Yes. I know we will dearly miss

Dear Lucy’s smiling face

Her cards and notes, signed, love, your sis

Her words of cheer and grace

Her questions, oh, her questions, and

Her quirky observance

Her always ready helping hand

Her lovely compliments

But, as we contemplate our store

Of precious memories

We cannot help but thank God for

Love’s favours, such as these

Farewell for now, dear sister-friend

Although our teardrops flow

We know that this is not the end

But just farewell, for now

In loving memory of my sweet sister, Lucy

Janet Martin

Lucy took a kind and generous interest in my writing and poetry blog,

often checking in to see if everything is okay

if for some reason a few days passed without a poem!

I will really, really miss writing, in part, for her!

Love… bears all things,

believes all things,

hopes all things,

endures all things.

Love never fails.

1 Cor.13:7-8

Hymn of Hope

We are living in very dark days of prophecy being fulfilled

but hope, joy and peace abides...

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you;

My peace I give to you.

I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled;

do not be afraid.

John 15:18

If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.

Acts 14:22

strengthening the souls of the disciples

and encouraging them to continue in the faith.

"We must endure many hardships

to enter the kingdom of God," they said.

Romans 8:37

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors

through Him who loved us.

Psalm 143:10

Teach me to do thy will;

for thou art my God:

thy spirit is good;

lead me into the land of uprightness.

Matthew 7:21

Not every one that saith unto me,

, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;

but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

1 John 2:17

The world is passing away, along with its desires;

but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

***

Praying we turn to, flee to and lean on 

God's Word for comfort and assurance!

Praying we dare to stand strong

like Daniel of old,

in the face of opposition! 

For powerful summer reading I highly recommend

the book of Daniel!

Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, 

but My words will never pass away....

The Creator of Heaven and earth is faithful in all He has said

This world is full of noise and joys, grief, trouble, sorrow’s tears

Lord, give us ears to hear Your voice and faith to transcend fears

Your Word is truth; Lord, help us seek to hide it in our hearts

To strengthen us when we are weak, to thwart the Tempter’s darts

To help us to be modern-day apostles; faithful, true

Enough to know that nothing is impossible with You

Who tunes the wondrous universe yet knows us all full-well

Because you died to break sin’s curse and conquer death and hell

This world is charged with choice and consequence, regret and grace

Lord, tune us to the gross offence of love we oft misplace

Lord, forgive us our debt, of neglect and ingratitude

Help us commit not to forget your kind mercies renewed

Each morning, then to live to worship You through word and deed

Enough to know that You forgive, You gird, You intercede

And nothing is too hard for You; Comforter, Father, Friend

Your Word alone equips us to be faithful to the end

This world and all in it will pass away; never Your Word

Like armour that fits perfectly; the soldier/soul-dier undeterred

Able to face ferocious foe with holy confidence

The loving grace whereby we go, faith’s refuge and defense

Because we are victorious, though days are dark with death

Enough to know Who goes before us till our dying breath

When faith’s veil will be rent, and time’s dim glass that we peer through

Is shattered; Lord, keep us obedient, steadfast and true

This world is full of fleeting boasters, proud, corrupt and blind

Lord, pray we strive to love You most, with heart, soul, strength and mind

To wholly trust you as we offer up Self, sacrificed

Glad for the gospel’s sake to suffer for the cause of Christ

Because You suffered in our stead to draw mankind to You

Enough to know what You have said You are able to do

And greater, so much greater is Your Inner Voice unfurled

Than all the human natures of the armies of this world

© Janet Martin

Ps.94:22

But the Lord is my defence; 

and my God is the rock of my refuge.

Rock of Ages 

 

On this rather somber and hopeful note

I am taking my annual blogging break until the end of July.

See you in August, Lord willing!

Gladness (in spite of sadness)

Today's prompt for poem-a-day from Robert Lee Brewer offers endless options!!

For today's prompt, pick an emotion, 

make it the title of your poem, 

and write your poem.

I have received so many kind words, 

messages, hug and heart emojis,

and prayers and I thank you all!

In spite of sadness mentioned HERE

there is gladness!

Grief keens awareness

 and renewed gladness for life's simple blessings, doesn't it?

In the midst of so much taken, always still so much remains 

Kindness and compassion waken where trouble and sorrow pains 

Time is ever but a Lender; have-and-hold, a sacred lease  

Gratitude, Time's humble Spender; Gladness is its masterpiece 

Gladness finds a tender foothold in hugs, kind words, tears and prayers

Where, in grief would be hope's threshold without these and God who cares?  

How could we survive joy's sorrow? Hark, sweet words of old proclaim,

'Yesterday, today, tomorrow, Jesus Christ remains the same'

Goodness and mercy still follow; Gladness grips the Shepherd's staff 

Without Him hope would ring hollow; love would forget how to laugh

Death's shadow would not release us; but God changes everything 

Gladness shouts the name of Jesus; through Him, Death has lost its sting  

© Janet Martin

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not [a]want.

2 He makes me to lie down in [b]green pastures;

He leads me beside the [c]still waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will [d]dwell in the house of the Lord

[e]Forever.