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