Happy Easter!

 

 
 
Well my dear ones,
 
 
 
Since many people may be off tomorrow,
I figured I would take today to wish everyone
a Happy Easter!
 
Actually, I saw this cool cartoon
that pretty much says it all;
but since it’s copyright material,
I wrote to The Cartoonist Group
in Washington state for permission to use it.
 
They were sooooo busy that I didn’t hear
back from them by the end of the day;
so I called them, and Miss Sarah
gave me permission to use it.
 
So, thank you to her,
and thank you to Gary (the artist),
for “The World Needs Hope.” =D
 
 
http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-world-needs-hope.html
 
 
 
A perfect complement to:
 
“He [Jesus] is not here; for He is risen,
 as He said.
 Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
 
  --- Matthew 28:6 (NKJV)
 

 

Have a blessed & awesome Resurrection Day!
(I get to do puppet shows for 3 sets
 of two-year-olds...major fun...yay! =>)
 
grace, peace, and love to you,
dave

The World Needs Hope

faith and love (learned from dogs)

 

 
 
Well my dear ones,
 
 
 
Recently, my friend, Jim,
was sermonizing about dogs.
 
*shrugs*
 
He’s a pastor;
singers vocalize;
pastors sermonize;
it’s what they do. =>
 
Anyway, he was sermonizing about dogs,
and how loving and passionate they are
whenever they see their owners,
and how, if you were to go away,
for even a few minutes,
as soon as you came back,
they’d be all,
“Hey, you’re back!
 How great to see you!
 I love you!
 You’re awesome!”
 
Last week,
I had a chance to put this to the test,
as I spent 2 nights at houses with dogs.
 
On Tuesday night,
I was with my friends, Terry and Jenny,
and their 3 dogs:
Daisy, Angel, and Cocoa
(aka “CocoaPuffs” cuz’ she’s puffy =>).
 
 
http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2016/03/angel.html
 
 
http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2016/03/daisy-and-cocoapuffs.html
 
 
All three dogs were all over me;
when I sat on the couch,
it was a dogpile to see
which one could get me to pet them first.
 
And if I went out to the garage,
for even just a minute,
to get something off my bike,
as soon as I came back in,
all 3 piled on me and were like,
“Luv you, man!...but pet me first!” =D
 
On Wednesday night,
I stayed with my friend Mark,
and his 2 dogs, Allie and Layla.
 
 
http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2016/03/allie-and-layla.html
 
 
 
Those 2 girls are pretty much
devoted to Mark.
But once he left for work
the next day,
they were vying for my attention,
vying for treats,
and vying to be the first one
put on a leash and walked.
 
Mark left so early
I figured I’d lay on the couch
and grab a few zzz’s before I left.
 
With her Dad gone,
Allie hopped up on my chest,
gave me a look like,
“Well, you’re not my Daddy,
 but you’ll do;”
and went to sleep on me.
It was so sweet;
even after I woke up,
I stayed still till she woke up,
as I didn’t want to disturb her rest.
 
Hence, I think there is
much wisdom in what Pastor Jim
had to say about dogs.
 
All these pups made me think
of a sign I saw once in a vet’s office:
 
“God, please make me into the person
 that my dog already thinks I am.”
 
All these dogs have such love for their owners,
and such faith that they will take care of them.
 
I think if we had the same faith in God
that our dogs have in us,
if we had the same love for God
that our dogs have for us,
...well, in that case,
I think we’d be as happy as these pups,
which is quite happy indeed. =)
 
 

 

Have a blessed week!
 
grace, peace, and love to you,
dave

 

Angel

Daisy and CocoaPuffs

Allie and Layla

L’Chaim! (To Life!)

 

 
Well my dear ones,
 
 
I know it’s been a while since I posted,
and that is no accident.
 
A couple of days after my last post,
my dear friend, Leslie, passed away.
 
That has taken some time to process;
and while it seems sad,
I echo the sentiments of her husband,
my good friend, Mark, who said:
 
“While we buried her body,
we know she is in Heaven
with her savior Jesus Christ.
She is no longer suffering and is
running around on those streets of gold.
We mourn her and grieve
but rejoice knowing that
she is in Heaven
and that one day
we will see her again.”
 
In remembrance of her,
here’s a pic of Leslie, with Mark,
at Sea World...bordered in pink,
her favorite color. =D
 
 
http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2016/03/leslie-remembrance.html
 
 
(see Leslie? I didn’t forget the pink! =>)
 
 
 
A short time after we lost Leslie,
I woke up one morning to find WillyBoy,
a cat we’ve had for 14 years,
curled up in his little bed.
But when I tapped him to wake him up,
I saw that he had passed away in his sleep.
 
When you have a pet for such a long time,
they are a member of your family;
he was a good old fuzz, a loving kitty,
and I pray for a place in deep heaven for him,
like for God to hold on to him
so we can love on him some more in the future.
 
http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2016/03/willyboy-remembrance.html
 
 
 
As I reflect on these losses,
I see the need to let those people in our lives,
and the pets that God has entrusted to our care,
know how much we love and care about them
(like don’t wait, and wish you’d said it more).
And when they’re gone,
as Mark said,
do not want to just mourn their loss,
but also look forward to seeing them again.
 
The more I think on it,
the more I see the beauty
behind the Jewish toast,
“L’Chaim!” (“To Life!”)
 
When I prayed about what to write here,
that’s the phrase God brought to mind,
an excellent reminder that
God is very much in the “To Life” business.
 
As the Psalmist says,
“This is the day the LORD has made;
 let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
 

 

Have a blessed week!
 
grace, peace, and love to you,
dave

 

 

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing,

that with the Lord

one day is as a thousand years,

and a thousand years as one day.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise,

as some count slackness,

but is longsuffering toward us,

not willing that any should perish

but that all should come to repentance.”

 

--- 2 Peter 3:8-10

Leslie remembrance

WillyBoy remembrance