Ugly

 

 

 

 

Well my dear ones,

 

 

I believe God sometimes uses

our furry friends in order to

teach us important life lessons.

 

Witness this account of “Ugly,”

a stray no one wanted:

 

http://www.littlechurchmouse.com/nobody-even-go-close-one-guy-came-along-changed-everything/

 

 

http://diply.com/videosworthsharing/ugly-the-cat-love-judge-appearance/156199

 

 

I haven’t been able to get this story

out of my mind.

 

If those links don’t work,

here’s the synopsis on Ugly,

the resident tom cat at

an apartment complex:

 

“Every time someone saw Ugly

there was the same reaction.

‘That's one UGLY cat!’

All the children were warned not to touch him,

the adults threw rocks at him,

hosed him down, squirted him

when he tried to come in their homes,

or shut his paws in the door

when he would not leave.

 

“Ugly always had the same reaction.

If you turned the hose on him,

he would stand there,

getting soaked until you gave up and quit.

If you threw things at him,

he would curl his lanky body

around your feet in forgiveness.

 

“Whenever he spied children,

he would come running,

meowing frantically and bump his head

against their hands, begging for their love.

If you picked him up, he would immediately

begin suckling on your shirt,

earrings, whatever he could find.

 

“One day Ugly shared his love

with the neighbor's huskies.

They did not respond kindly,

and Ugly was badly mauled.

From my apartment I could hear his screams,

and I tried to rush to his aid.

By the time I got to where he was laying,

it was apparent Ugly's sad life

was almost at an end.

 

“Ugly lay in a wet circle,

his back legs and lower back

twisted grossly out of shape,

a gaping tear in the white strip of fur

that ran down his front.

As I picked him up and tried to carry him home,

I could hear him wheezing and gasping,

and could feel him struggling.

I must be hurting him terribly, I thought.

 

“Then I felt a familiar tugging,

sucking sensation on my ear –

Ugly, in so much pain, suffering

and obviously dying,

was trying to suckle my ear.

 

“I pulled him closer to me,

and he bumped the palm of my hand

with his head,

then he turned one golden eye towards me,

and I could hear the distinct sound of purring.

 

“Even in the greatest pain,

that ugly battled scarred cat

was asking only for a little affection,

perhaps some compassion.

 

“At that moment I thought Ugly was

the most beautiful, loving creature

I had ever seen.

Never once did he try to bite or scratch me,

try to get away from me,

or struggle in any way.
Ugly just looked up at me
completely trusting in me to relieve his pain.

 

“Ugly died in my arms

before I could get inside,

but I sat and held him

for a long time afterwards,

thinking about how one scarred,

deformed little stray

could so alter my opinion about what it means

to have true pureness of spirit,

to love so totally and truly.

 

“Ugly taught me more about giving and compassion
than a thousand books, lectures, or talk show

specials ever could,

and for that I will always be thankful.

 

“He had been scarred on the outside,

but I was scarred on the inside,

and it was time for me to move on

and learn to love truly and deeply.

To give my total to those I cared for.

Many people want to be richer,

more successful, well liked, beautiful,

but for me,

I will always try to be Ugly."

 

That story made me cry;

one of God’s simple creatures,

Ugly lived out his life

as a lesson to people, since

that little spud did a better job

of showing unconditional love

than many humans ever will.

 

The good thing is,

if you’re reading this,

his life wasn’t lived in vain.

Ugly,

I pray for a place in Deep Heaven for you;

I’ll be honored to meet you, little fuzz.

 

 

 

have a great week! =)

 

 

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

friends

 

 
 
Well my dear ones,
 
 
This message will be super short,
yet it’s something about which
we all might want to think a bit.
 
While we all (especially me!)
take many things for granted,
one thing for which we should never do that
is our friends.
 
The friends who actually care about us,
who love us even when we mess up,
the ones who love us at all times,
they’re a special blessing from God.
 
 
http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2016/05/two-friends.html
 
 
I love those two; too cute!
 
have a great week! =)
 
 
 
grace, peace, and love to you,
dave

two friends

home improvement

 

 

 

Well my dear ones,

 

 

You may think this is the dumbest thing

you’ve ever heard – and I’m OK with that.

 

Whenever I walk into one of those stores

that deals in home improvement,

I get a great sense of peace.

 

Even if I just came in for one or two

specific things, I will gravitate toward

the lumber area, and I will look at the wood

and contemplate the things I might build.

 

On one particularly stressful day,

I went to the local Home Depot to chill.

While looking at cedar roofing shingles

(which are 12 feet long by 7-1/4 inches high),

I realized I could make a kayak

out of a couple of them,

along with some 1/8” plywood for the bottom

and some pine strips for a deck

...everything I needed was right there

in the local home improvement store;

all I needed to do was to think of how

materials meant for one use,

could be used for something else.

 

In the end, it worked out,

and I got a pretty credible boat.

 

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2016/05/ready-to-launch.html

 

 

It’s not my best design,

but it works pretty well,

and I’m still using it years later.

 

My best design was likely

“the 24-pound-boat”

 

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2016/05/dave-holding-24-pound-boat.html

 

That was made back in the day

when I sold boat plans;

and I recall a blurb I had

in the introduction to those plans:

 

“In this age of space age materials,

many people think wooden boats are outdated,

but in my opinion, these people are

missing out on a great opportunity. 

For all our advances in technology,

still, only God can make a tree. 

So, when you build this boat,

you will effectively be

collaborating with God

to create a work of art,

and that is pretty cool.”

 

For me, wood is my thing,

my most-used medium;

I’ve built decks, porches,

and all kind of things

out of it, including boats.

That’s why, every time

I walk through the lumber section

of any home improvement store,

I feel a great sense of peace

and connectedness,

as I think about the things

that I could create.

 

For my wife, its plants;

while I’m in the lumber section,

she will be in the gardening section,

piecing together just the right

selection of plants she needs

to create one of her many cool gardens.

(And since all of life started in a Garden,

that’s a way cool thing, too. =>)

 

Perhaps, like my friend, Paul,

metal is your thing;

he’s an awesome welder,

who likes to create with steel.

 

Maybe canvas is your thing,

and you’re meant to paint.

 

It might be that words are your thing,

and you’re meant to be a story teller.

 

There are many ways and many mediums

that we can use,

but I think the Creator

has endowed us with a desire to create.

Even as toddlers,

we enjoyed finger painting. =)

 

Perhaps you’ve been out of it for a bit,

or maybe you’ve yet to find your muse.

It might be time

to go the home improvement story,

to go to the art supply store,

to go to the craft store,

to go to the gardening store,

and find what calls out to you,

and create something.

 

Even if no one else

knows about it or sees it,

even if it’s between you and God alone,

I think you’ll find a sense of peace.

 

Creating things is just plain cool. =D

 

 

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

 

P.S. I’m still pretty poor at social media,

but I’m trying to post a quick encouragement,

pretty much every day, on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/thedavemyster

ready to launch

dave holding 24 pound boat