in time of need

 

well my dear ones,

 

I was on my way home from work today,

passing by a parking lot at a small strip mall,

and I saw a guy on a bench

with his head in his hands.

He was as distraught as anyone I've ever seen;

he was definitely someone

in time of need.

 

As I was passing by

God laid it on my heart

to go pray with this guy, like now.

 

So I did, and he was cool with it.

 

Do you find that odd?

Hardly.

 

If you open yourself to other's pain,

if you open yourself to being used by God

when someone's in their time of distress,

then such things may not be infrequent.

 

Show me someone from outside

the Arch of Time

God made for us in which to live;

show me someone who gave birth to themselves

and who knit their own soul,

and I might agree that such a one

has no need of prayer.

 

However, for the rest of us mere mortals,

I think we could all use

as much as we can get.

 

He mostly just cried while I prayed;

the deep yearnings of his soul

known only to him and God.

 

I don’t know the guy's name;

I didn’t ask.

I don’t know the source of his pain.

God knows these things,

and I have no reason to know.

 

Yet one thing I'm sure of;

I told the man why I stopped by;

so he knew

that in his time of need

God cared enough

to send someone

to let him know

that his prayers were heard,

his pain was felt,

and that he was loved.

 

In your own time of need

I pray you know the same.

 

 

Have a great week!

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

Lulu

 

 

well my dear ones,

 

Last Saturday, a really tiny kitten

wandered out of the woods out back.

 

It looked to be about 2 weeks old,

but on closer inspection

I think she was more like 4 weeks

but had been without food

for about the last two.

I think her Mom died

and she finally crawled out of the nest

to go in search of food.

 

She was so weak

that when I picked her up

she didn't even try to bite me

even though she was a wild animal.

 

She was so tiny she had to be bottle fed.

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2012/09/lulu-bottle-fed.html

 

After a couple of days

she could eat food in milk.

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2012/09/lulu-eating.html

We're taking care of another kitten,

so we put Lulu in with Heidi at night

so she wouldn't feel lonely.

Heidi snuggled with her

and groomed her;

and in the mornings,

the two of them would cry

to be let out of the office

to get their food.

 

For such a tiny thing,

Lulu could howl like a banshee!

If she wasn't sleeping or eating,

she had to be picked up and held

or she would cry piteously.

 

My wife had to make a little sling

so she could hold Lulu while she

was working on the computer and such.

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2012/09/lulu-in-sling.html

 

If they were both on my lap

and she was snuggling with her Sis,

that would make Lulu happy, too.

 

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2012/09/lulu-with-heidi.html

 

Sadly, Lulu wasn't eating enough;

I was going to take her in

to the animal hospital this morning,

but she didn't make it.

She wasn't at the door crying this morning;

I went in and found her in her little bed.

She meowed and looked up at me;

and my wife and I took turns holding her

and trying to warm her,

but she passed away.

 

We were so sad.

I think her little organs got damaged

by going too long without food;

but Lulu was still such a little fighter;

she fought her way out of wherever her Mom

had stashed her.

And she made it all the way to our yard.

 

So, I was like,

"God, why did you send us this little thing

just to have her die 5 days later?"

 

I've been thinking about that all day,

and I think I have somewhat of an answer.

 

Very much like Queenie,

the dog I "owned" for a just a few hours,

Lulu did not die alone.

Like Queenie,

she died held by someone who loved her.

 

We only had Lulu for 5 days,

but we loved her a whole bunch.

She opened our hearts

and expanded our compassion.

 

I don't think anyone can love too much;

no one ever (correctly) said,

"His heart was too big,"

or

"She had too much compassion."

 

So, I think the wisdom of God

is 57,000 times superior

to the wisdom of dave.

I think we should love

all the people

and all the pets

in our lives

no matter what the length of time

God grants them to be with us.

 

May you have a week

where you get to love someone

or something

enough

that it expands your heart.

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

"Rest in peace, Lulu;
we prayed God grant you a place in Deep Heaven
so we can love on you some more."

Lulu with Heidi

Lulu in sling

Lulu eating

Lulu bottle fed

the God who cares

 

well my dear ones,

 

Do you ever wonder if God cares,

cares about the day-to-day things in our lives?

 

I have a friend who lost a brother,

years ago under tragic circumstances.

Whenever the month comes around

wherein that happened,

it's a very tough time for him.

 

This year, as the month approached,

I sent myself a reminder,

and left myself a voicemail

(sadly, I do that more and more lately

 for a great many things)

to make sure to post something

in my friend's journal.

 

But I must be getting too old,

because even the reminders didn't work.

Then one morning, I woke up

with a feeling of urgency,

a feeling that I needed to get up

and post a message to my friend

...like right now.

 

So I did.

 

And when I got a reply from him later that night

he reminded me that that day was the day,

the anniversary of the actual day of his loss.

 

So when even my good intentions

and reminders to myself failed,

God, the God who cares for my friend's grief,

put on my heart at just the right time

a reminder of what I needed to do.

 

Whenever we reach out to someone else

who is hurting,

we become the hands of God in this life;

and the same God who had me reach out to my friend

is the same God who cares for us all.

 

 

Have a great week!

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave