Keep-sakes

Image credit:  http://www.heartsmith.com/selena.html

I keep small pieces of my failures
To remind me now and then
Of where I was and where I’m going
And don’t want to go again
I keep small remnants of my sorrows
For they are a testament
Of hope within unseen tomorrows
And the joy beyond lament
I keep a fragment of my heart-ache
Like a sweet and aching charm
For as I see another’s heart-break
I can lend a tender arm
I keep the extract of a memory
That perhaps I should forget
But somehow serves to remind me
God’s not finished with me yet
And I keep the tender traces
Of a scent, a word, a sigh
For tis how I kiss the faces
In a memory passing by….

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Janet Martin

Foot-prints

If my foot-steps left their trace
Like tracks upon the snow
And if someone should follow them
Wherever they should go
Would I be glad and satisfied
Or filled with shame and sorrow?
Should I look back to see my child
Following tomorrow

God, help me on this beaten track
To know that you behold them
Each step is like a foot-print
And I know that you will know them
For there is nothing hid from You
No dark and secret place
Guide me so I will not fear
If one my steps should trace

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Janet Martin

You discern my going out and my lying down.
You are familiar with all my ways. Ps.139:3

Traces

No, I’ve never really seen you
Never looked in to your eyes
Are they brown or grey, hazel or blue
Do they twinkle when you smile?
Are they brushed with flecks of gold?
Do they sparkle, do they glow?
No, I’ve never really seen you
But oh, I love you so

No I’ve never really seen you
Or gazed into your face
I’ve never even touched you
Yet it seems I sense a trace
Of you in almost everything
I hear and see and do
It seems I hear you whispering
And oh, how I love you

No, I’ve never really seen you
Only glimpses now and then
As you touch me with invisible blue
And I can breathe again
You whisper tender mercies
Into my longing ear
And in my lonely places
I feel that you are near

No, I’ve never really seen you
Yet I see you every day
No, I’ve never really touched you
Yet you’re never far away
I’ve seen, yet never seen you
In a million different faces
No, I’ve never really seen you
But oh, I’ve seen the traces

In everything created
I’ve seen a trace of you
Each time I am defeated
I catch a glimpse or two
No, I’ve never really seen you
Or looked into your face
But in each morning that is new
Oh Lord, I see a trace

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Janet Martin


Then Jesus told him,
Because you have seen you have believe;
Blessed are those who have not seen
and yet have believed. John 20:29

Because of the Lord's great love
we are not consumed.
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning:
Great is Your faithfulness. Lam.3:23