Grandma Martin

If only I could see you again
Then I would tell you I’m sorry
For not really truly listening
As you would tell a story
I would pay a tidy sum
If I could hear them now
You were such a dear grand-mum
I didn’t see it somehow

But still I can hear your jolly laugh
Sometimes until tears filled your eyes
And sometimes at night when I can’t sleep
I can hear your lullabies
You were love exemplified
In every step you took
Oft you spoke of a Friend at your side
And oft you would read His Book

I’d tell you I didn’t mean to peek
Into your bureau drawer
To see if there were any treats
Perhaps for us, in store
And maybe I’ll even have grown to love
The tick of the old chime clock
Reminding me that I’m still awake
And it’s already two-o’ clock

I’d hoard all your one line sermons
I often recall a few
‘Waste not, want not’…’if you want to eat
Then you must work a little too’
‘If you do not value a penny
You do not deserve a dollar’
‘Eat your crust, for the starving are many’
‘We are forever ‘a scholar’

‘Life is far too short to waste’
‘Prepare to meet your God’
‘Repent at leisure if you sow in haste’
‘To spoil a child, spare the rod’
‘Can’t will never accomplish a thing’
‘There’s some good in everyone’
‘Tomorrow it will all look better’
And ‘the early-bird catches the worm’



If only I could see you again
To fully appreciate you
Your wisdom would not be in vain
And your memories I’d cherish too
I hope I’ll recognize you
Someday on a celestial hill
I’ll look for the lady with sewing on her lap
And hands that are never still

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Yes, Grandma…
There is so much I’ve forgotten
But so much I remember too
And in the most unexpected moment
Suddenly I think of you

A Good Thing

I want to be a good thing for you
I whisper as I gaze at this babe so new
Fresh from heaven placed into my arms
Already I’m a goner with your innocent charms
As I kiss the face of this babe so new
Oh Lord, help me be a good thing for you

I want to be a good thing for you
I vowed in the arms of love so true
To be the woman I need to be
And love what God has given me
And even when it is hard to do
Oh Lord, help me be a good thing for you

I want to be a good thing for you
As I look into your eyes so blue
I will not worry ‘bout life’s next bend
All I want to be is a faithful friend
To be worthy of your friendship true
Oh Lord, help me be a good thing for you

In all of the love Lord, You have placed in my life
Whether as a mother, a friend or a wife
Help me cherish each with a heart so humble
And never cause their hearts to stumble
Help me love with Your love true
So I will be a good thing through You

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Let your light so shine before men
that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father in Heaven. Matt.5:16

Tomorrow......

Tomorrow today will be the past
So live each moment as if it were your last
Hug, love, laugh like never before
Tomorrow today will be no more

Tomorrow's worries can wait til tomorrow
No need for added burdens to borrow
But hold to your loved ones, oh hold them fast
And love them today as if it were your last

Don’t wait til God gives you a perfect day
To dance in freedom on tomorrow’s hay
Grass withers, flowers fade, and their bloom soon is past
So dance, dance today as if it were your last

Bury your face in life’s rose bouquet
Tomorrow its petals will have drifted away
To rest with today in an endless past
So live, live today as if it were your last

Measure by measure, flower by flower
God bestows treasure, hour by hour
A moment in time, a soft breath then it's past
So cherish today as if it were your last

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

All men are like grass and
their glory is like
the flowers of the field....Isa.40:6

There is a Time

There is a time to everything under the sun,
A time for laughter, joy and fun,
A time to stop and smell the flowers
And linger a little in those pleasant hours,
A time to treasure those blooms ere they whither,
And scatter their seeds far yon and thither,
A time to cherish the days as they fly,
A time for hello and a time for good-bye

There’s a time to dance through sunny meadows,
And a time to bow humbly ‘neath life’s deeper shadows,
There’s a time for youth and a time to be old,
A time to talk and a time to be told,
There’s a time to endeavor and a time to resign
To the will of the One with the perfect design
To our blueprint of life, but I still question why,
As my teardrops fall and I whisper good-bye

There’s a time for June and a time for December,
A time to make memories and a time to remember,
There’s a time to meet and a time to part,
But dear are the memories deep in our heart,
So Lord, if I cling when it’s time to let go,
Help me release my grasp, for I know
If our memories are sweet, our tears soon will dry
When it is time to say good-bye

All Rights Reserved
-Janet Martin-

There is a time for everything
and a season for every activity under heaven. Eccl.3:1

I just CANNOT believe that we are
pretty well through October already!!!
Maybe that's why I'm thinking about
'seasons' today:)

This morning as I look out of the window
it looks like it is snowing leaves!!!!
The trees will be stripped by the end of today:-(
At least Matthew won't need to climb
the tree to shake them down like he did
the other day:):) He wanted a bigger leaf pile!!!

Paper Memories

Nothing makes us cry or laugh
Like a paper photograph
Paper memories, what a treasure
Poring over them with pleasure
There’s dear dad so long ago
Before his hair was white as snow
There’s young Bud in his snow suit
My oh my, but he was cute
There’s my school where braids were pulled
The old T-bird with gas tank full
Oh what memories, oh what laughs
In this book of photographs

There’s the house of yester-years
Rooms that echo smiles and tears
There’s the pump out in the yard
A splashing drink when work was hard
There’s the family, prim and proper
And little Tom, the real show-stopper
Lady, the dog I well remember
Flaming maples in September
Oh, here’s you, taken by surprise
Look at the fire in those eyes
And see young Charles, he looks like you
Way back in nineteen seventy- two

Here’s a photo of my mother
Paper treasure like no other
I gaze into her loving eyes
And hear her distant lullabies
Dear Lord, sometimes I feel like sighing
Life is short, there’s no denying
Help me treasure every smile
In thankfulness, walk every mile
So I can cherish by-gone stages
As I fondly turn the pages

Paper memories, paper treasures
Think I’ll take an hour of leisure
To sit awhile, to cry and laugh
And linger o’er each photograph
I’ll thank my God, through smiles and tears
For every loved one through the years
And someday others here will look
At my photo in some book
They’ll speak of when I passed away
I wonder what else they will say
Will they thank God and cry and laugh
As they look at my photograph?


All Rights Reserved May 2009

My teenage daughter was entertained for a while
this morning as she looked at my photos....
and how 'FUNNY' we all looked:)

My Magic Moment

I wish I had a golden wand and with a little flick,
I could stop the sands of time from flowing quite so quick,
And with a little magic turn I could return perhaps
To a day for which I yearn now buried in my past

And I could sit for just an hour at child-hoods breakfast table,
To re-live happy memories of family, food and stable,
The chatter of a care-free clan as hungry mouths are fed,
Oh, I did not see back then, how much we really had

I’d like to swing one pleasant hour beneath that willow tree,
To romp in pastures of my youth with heart and spirit free,
To cherish every minute as it slips into the deep
And make each memory in it a treasure I can keep

I’d take the words that I regret and by God’s love and grace
A kinder word I now would let slip out to take its place,
And I’d pray for a tender heart and for a listening ear,
Within my magic moment with my whole family near

But I don’t have a golden wand and I can’t fly away,
But I’ve a golden moment now and it is called ‘today’
So I’ll ask God to help me see the treasure He’s placed in it,
And turn to golden memory each magic little minute

All Rights Reserved Aug.2009
Janet Martin

...so then banish anxiety from your heart...Eccl.11:10

Broken Butterfly

You poor little broken butterfly
Applying your blush and painting your eyes
Curling your hair and reddening your lips
Provoking a stare by the sway of your hips
You’ve never heard of a temple defiled
You’re fourteen and you’re a child

You uncover what ought to bring you shame
Allowing lust to trample your name
Do you realize what you are throwing away?
And can never retrieve, try though you may
You’ve tossed away a treasure so pure
A gem reserved for one love that endures

The sparkle of youth and innocence gone
Too soon from the nest of childhood you’ve flown
You search for approval and recognition
By offering your temple to slaves of perdition
I look at you and I want to cry
You poor little broken butterfly

My dear precious princess, my dear young girl
You are a treasure a rare priceless pearl
Gods love cleanses and washes you clean
You are His temple, my dear young teen
Has no one told you what to cherish and why?
My poor little broken butterfly

All Rights Reserved Aug. 2009

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.You know when I sit down and when I arise.You perceive my thoughts from afar.You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways...Ps. 139:1-3

My heart breaks when I hear appalling stories of girls bent on getting rid of the one thing they can NEVER have back!!!

Letting Go

If God gives us love to hold, then we must know,
There is coming a day when we need to let go,
To let go of our children, a husband or wife,
A father or mother or sweet friends in our life
Treasure and cherish them for we all know
There is coming a day when we’ll need to let go

His loving gifts are but treasures to borrow,
For no one but He knows our day of sorrow,
When time will come knocking on our door of woe
And the hour has come for us to let go,
We lay no claim to these earthly flowers,
By His gracious Name these gifts are ours…

…to be blessed with awhile and bless others too,
Until we are called to let them go,
Be it out of our door or out of this world
He owns every man, woman, boy or girl,
And it comforts me, oh it comforts me so
To know that our God will never let go

April 2009 All Rights Reserved