remembering

 

 

 

Well my dear ones,

 

 

Lately, I’ve been spending some time

remembering Caleigh,

a young woman who passed from

this earthly existence

just two years ago today.

 

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2012/01/caleigh-words-from-heaven.html

 

 

That made me think of a time when Jesus

got jacked up by some dudes

who wanted to trip him up.

 

(from Mark’s gospel account)

 

Then some Sadducees,

who say there is no resurrection,

came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:

“Teacher, Moses wrote to us that

if a man’s brother dies,

and leaves his wife behind,

and leaves no children,

his brother should take his wife

and raise up offspring for his brother.  

Now there were seven brothers.

The first took a wife; and dying,

he left no offspring. 

And the second took her, and he died;

nor did he leave any offspring.

And the third likewise. 

So the seven had her and left no offspring.

Last of all the woman died also. 

Therefore, in the resurrection,

when they rise, whose wife will she be?

For all seven had her as wife.”

 

Jesus answered and said to them,

“Are you not therefore mistaken,

because you do not know the Scriptures

nor the power of God? 

For when they rise from the dead,

they neither marry nor are given in marriage,

but are like angels in heaven. 

But concerning the dead, that they rise,

have you not read in the book of Moses,

in the burning bush passage,

how God spoke to him, saying,

‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,

and the God of Jacob’?

He is not the God of the dead,

but the God of the living.

You are therefore greatly mistaken.”

 

If all I got out of that was that

Jesus publicly turned the tables

on the guys who tried to trip him up,

I wouldn’t be getting much.

 

The point is that Abraham, Isaac, and

Jacob were, and are, still alive.

 

And the same applies to Caleigh;

she’s more alive now

than she was when she was here.

 

I ponder what wonders she would speak

if only we were allowed to talk with her

for a moment or two.

Most likely it would be things

too wonderful and amazing

for our earthly comprehension,

yet still things to which

we can look forward.

 

Caleigh, have fun in heaven;

we look forward to seeing you again.

 

Have a great week. =)

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

CC speaks

 

 

Well my dear ones,

 

 

It’s come to that time of year

that I should wish you all...

 

Well, I guess it would be more

appropriate to turn it over

to my furry little Russian friend,

CC, or Commie Cat;

actually, he is now more like

‘he-was-formerly-known-as-Commie-Cat.’

 

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2015/01/commie-cat.html

 

 

 

CC: “OK, dave, you may now cease speaking;

   if people can forgive my speech patterns,

  since English is third language for me,

 then I am very much ready to finish for you.”

 

 

 

Greetings Comrades!

 

 

I send you much greetings from Mother Russia

and many apologies for the evil

we foisted upon the world in our former days

as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics…oy!

 

I should have listened to my babushka,

my grammy, when she said,

“I make weewee upon Lenin, Stalin,

 and the worst stupoovnik of all, Marx,

 and his doctrine of communism,

 which is fitting only to go in litter box.

 

“I am telling you Bubala,

 American Pilgrims have already proved

 back in 1623 that this is no good.

 

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1285981/posts

 

 

“So, is Karl Marx ignorant or stupoovnik?

 Let us not split hairs;

 he can easily be both.”

 

*sighs*

 

Ah, if only we’d had the wisdom to listen

to my babushka

how much needless suffering

could have been averted?

 

You want encouragement? 

I give you advice.

Do not be like me; never worship State;

it is a very bad thing;

there is no joy there.

 

Yet that is all in the past,

and one cannot live in past times;

we should look instead to future,

to better days.

 

I am now in agreement and seeing wisdom in

comrade Andre Bitov when he said,

“Without God, life makes no sense.” 

 

Rest of Russia in now seeing this, too;

and although banned during Soviet times,

Christmas is now regaining its popularity

and religious meaning in Russia. 

Hence, we are now once more seeing Christmas Day

in Russia mark the birth of Jesus Christ

in the Christian Orthodox tradition

(where we are celebrating it on January 7th).

 

So, in fine Russian tradition,

I am wishing you well from our glorious

capital city of St. Petersburg,

and hoping you and all your family to

have most nerry Russian Little Christmas!

 

 

Wishing Grace & Peace & many blessings to you,

CC (he-who-was-formerly-known-as-Commie-Cat)

Commie Cat

love?

 

 

Well my dear ones,

 

 

I sincerely hope all is going well so far

in this barely started New Year;

yet, if not, remember that tomorrow

is a fresh new start;

actually, every tomorrow is a fresh new start

because grace never ends.

 

As I’ve mentioned before,

I spend a lot of time observing our

little furry friends;

and cats and dogs have taught me a lot

about the nature of our universe,

as in, the way things were meant to be

before we, in our “wisdom,”

messed with the Designer’s intentions. =>

 

If we listen to the messages

of our current society,

one would think that sex is the most

important thing;

based on the ink it gets,

an external observer to our dear earth

might well conclude that it is

our greatest need.

 

*shrugs*

 

While your average teenager

would likely concur with that,

it’s hogwash, of course. *lol*

 

The first biblical admonition is,

“to be fruitful and multiply,”

and God made sex pleasurable

likely to make it easier for us to comply.

 

Yet there have been plenty of people

who have been celibate their entire lives,

showing that sex isn’t even a need,

at least not on an individual level

(although it obviously is

 for the human race in general! =>).

 

No, the greatest need,

the thing all people seek,

even more than money, sex, or fame,

is to be loved

(although some that have been burned

 early in life through a false love

 may be so hurt that they seek

 these other things as a replacement

 for the love they think they cannot get).

 

And I see this need reflected

in the lives of our small furry friends.

 

As I type this, one-handed,

I’m petting a cat (Riley) that was

rescued at just a few weeks of age;

raised as a bottle-fed kitty,

as far as he is concerned,

I’m like his mother. *lol*

He often sleeps on my chest

(so I can barely breathe;

 he’s no tiny kitten anymore,

 except, perhaps, in his little kitty brain)

with his head tucked under my chin

and his front paws wrapped around my neck.

 

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2015/01/riley-sleeping.html

 

 

 

A few weeks ago,

an abandoned cat (Tony)

showed up on our front porch.

He’s a tough old tomcat;

but if you raise a hand,

or move your foot,

toward him quickly,

he freaks out,

and darts away.

 

It’s pretty obvious that

the people who abandoned him

beat the poor thing,

likely many times,

before throwing him out on the street.

 

Yet in spite of this,

if you sit still,

he will come up and rub against

your foot or your leg,

hoping to be scratched.

That’s how much he craves to be loved

in spite of the abuse people

heaped on him in the past.

 

Perhaps because of his past,

Tony is the kind of a cat

who needs a single-cat home

where he can get lots of love

and plenty of attention.

I’m working with my animal rescue friends

to find him a loving home.

 

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2015/01/tony.html

 

 

 

We have a cat, Riah,

who was the first animal we rescued

when we moved here;

she absolutely adores my wife,

and will sit in her lap for hours. 

 

Lately, it’s been cold here,

so my wife hasn’t been out back

in the screen-in porch

(Riah’s domain =>).

These past few days,

I’ve been spending extra time with her.

And even with her favorite treats  

sitting in a bowl just a couple feet away,

she will remain in my lap

until I literally pry her off.

Yes, she will choose love over food any day.

 

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2015/01/riah.html

 

 

 

And the one dog I had, Queenie,

even though I only had her for a few hours,

taught me lots about the importance of love.

Despite that she had been on her own for months

(as I later found out)

and hadn’t had a lot of human interaction,

when she got hit by a car that broke both hips

she didn’t resist at all, or nip at me,

but rather let me lift her out of the road

(and let me give a big ‘thank you’

 to the tractor trailer drivers

 who drove around us and even

 went nearly onto the grass when they realized

 I was trying to rescue a dog)

and put her in the back of my truck.

 

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2012/01/queenie-rest-in-peace-30-jan-2012.html

 

 

(if you missed that one, you can read the

 Full story of Queenie here:

 http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2012/01/queenie-all-dogs-go-to-heaven.html )

 

 

Even though it turned out she was hurt too badly

that there was nothing the vet could do,

it was still worth rescuing her.

 

In the final hour of her life,

Queenie had a name,

and an owner

(I listed myself as her owner of record;

 just like with the sanctuary, as I see it,

 whatever person or animal in need

 God chooses to put in our path

 is somehow our responsibility).

Also, she died surrounded by people

who were praying for her,

and held by someone who loved her

even if it was only for a short while.

 

I may have only had her in my life

for an extremely short time,

yet she taught me a very valuable lesson:

love is not some commodity

that you can run out of;

the more love you give,

the more God will replenish it

and give you even more love to give.

There's no limit to the number

of pets or people you can love.

 

 

 

Have a great week. =)

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

 

Riley sleeping

Tony

Riah

Happy New Year 2015!

 

 

Well my dear ones,

 

 

Happy New Year 2015!

I pray you have a blessed

and most awesome year.  =D

 

Perhaps last year

wasn’t all that you hoped it would be,

and maybe you’re truly wishing for

things to be different this time.

 

After all, it’s a whole new year

and you’re starting off with

a clean slate, right?

 

Well, I used to think that way,

but now I don’t get too hung up

on New Year’s Day;

to me, it’s just Day 7 of

the Twelve Days of Christmas.

 

Yet there’s a good reason

I don’t put that much stock

in this one day;

too many of us make resolutions,

with great intentions,

and then, just as soon as we break one,

we figure, that’s it, it’s all over,

and now we have to wait all the way

until next New Year’s Day

for another chance.

 

To anyone who may be thinking that way,

I’ve got good news for you:

you have a new chance

for a fresh new start

every single day.

 

The Bible is clear that:

“This is the day which the Lord has made;

 Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

 --- Psalm 118:24 (NASB)

 

And it is also clear that you,

not anything else in the entire universe

but you, we, are God’s masterpiece.

 

“For we are God’s masterpiece.

 He has created us anew in Christ Jesus,

 so we can do the good things

 he planned for us long ago.”

 --- Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

 

God, the Great Artist,

is working day by day

on an amazing work of art,

and that is us.

 

Pretty humbling, is it not?

 

The only thing that messes up the artwork

...is me.

 

I screw up...all the time.

 

But the cool thing is,

each time I do,

I sincerely pray,

“Let this, too, be covered

 under the blood of Jesus.”

 

And then it’s gone,

never to be remembered against me

ever again.

 

Then I wake up to the dawn of a new day,

fresh with possibilities.

 

Hence, if it helps at all,

this is how I intend to view 2015.

I plan to see it as 365 opportunities

to say,

“Hey God, can you blot out the yucky stuff,

 please not give up on me,

 and keep on perfecting me?

 I know I’m not perfect, not even close,

 but I also know You’re not done with me yet.”

 

May each day be that fresh new start for you;

and if you fall down 8000 times,

may God lift you up 8001!

 

 

Have a great week. =)

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave