Answered prayer

I love answered prayer.  Can I get an Amen?

It is my privilege to go before my God and lay my burdens at his feet.  He WANTS this from me, and as I've been learning of late, suffering is merely a tool he uses to draw me to Him.  When I view my struggles in this light, it changes my perspective.

Life is not without struggles.  As a Christian, I would be naive to assume otherwise.  Struggles WILL come, and I should prepare accordingly.  Why then, do we act surprised when they come?  We all do it- act shocked when something difficult comes down the pipes.

Back in the fall, I'd been having regular headaches.  It finally became enough of an issue that I sought medical advice.  First thing the Doctor did was prescribe an MRI.  My thoughts went from 0 to 60 in about 2 seconds flat.  Imagine all the "what ifs" that run through one's mind.  After scheduling the MRI, I had a few days to prepare mentally and spiritually.  It's not my intention to bore you with the details of my worry and concern prior to and following the MRI.  What I want to do is make sure you understand the absolute peace I had while in the machine.  If you've never had the horror (and I do mean this truly) of being encapsulated in a large machine, having to remain perfectly still, while enduring LOUD banging noises for 40 minutes, you'll understand why being at peace was an answered prayer.

That's right.  Peace.  Friends and family were covering me in prayer, and had sent me valuable scripture to comfort me.  I held onto those words of truth like a lifeline while in the machine.   Only my thoughts and my God were present in those 40 minutes, without which, I would have not endured.  In the change room afterwards, I broke down and cried; a huge weight lifted.  

The true test of patience and trust came in waiting for the results.  Prayer, prayer and more prayer, the only thing I could do and control.

Turns out, the results were "normal" except for a little shadow on my skull.  The Doctor suggested I see a neurologist to better understand the results and to ask about the headaches.  Deep down inside, I knew it would be fine.  He had already demonstrated to me that this entire scenario was not about my headaches, but about being drawn to Him. Sure enough, the neurologist said nothing further was necessary.

The headaches by the way, simply went away shortly after the New Year.  Coincidence?

In a separate issue, we've been praying for a church like the one we attended previously, for the last year and a half.  In Canada, we were beyond blessed with a church that was vertical- meaning their priority was to lead people to an encounter with Jesus.  All the horizontal "stuff" was  secondary to that single purpose.  That hasn't been the case in our church shopping here.  So we pray, and pray some more for God to do a mighty work in this area.  All we want is more of Him; not more programs or funnier sermons, or better choices of coffee.  Him.

Out of the blue last week, we get a call from a Pastor (Matt) out of Philadelphia (part of the same church fellowship we attended in Canada) who had a visit with our former Pastor.  This prompted his call.  Pastor Matt couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it earlier, but wants to be praying with us, that God would call up other couples who are hungry for more of Him and want to see His church built in this area.  Talk about being floored.  God is at work, and doing something mighty, right here in our midst.

Being a part of, and witness to, answered prayer is more than it appears on the surface.  Yes, I can tick off a box in my prayer journal.  More importantly, is that I am renewed with a sense of faith, and hope in a perfect God who loves even ME.  That he would concern himself with an MRI and our desire to plant a church, is proof that no detail or prayer is too small.

So here's to praying, and to seeing those prayers answered.  If you need anything prayed for, it would be my privilege to do so.  You can email me at nogreaterlove@optimum.net

No shortage of excitement

I should know better by now, not to expect things to go smoothly.  We're never short on adventures or excitement in this house.  No complaints, just the way my life is.

Ester has had three separate bouts of diarrhea in a ten day span.  At first we chalked it up to her "being a lab" and eating all sorts of things from the yard (which I try to remove in earnest.)  The second bout I did what I had to, with omitting food and dispensing Pepto like a pro.  Things appeared to improve.  Then, a day later it all started again.

Normally I'm all for supporting local business, but this is beginning to get out of hand.  When the vet gets to know you on a first name basis, you're in trouble.

After talking the options over with the vet, we've opted to take her off the food trial she's been on, and put her on a prescription diet and see if that clears up the issue.  Eventually the hope is that she'll be transitioned to a regular diet.  It's up to me to oversee this entire process and watch for any changes.

A sick puppy can really heighten your sense of worry.  Am I doing something wrong?  Did I miss removing anything that she picked up outside?  What will it take to get her better?  Can I possibly stockpile enough paper towels and anti-bacterial wipes?

Yet worrying does nothing for the good of the situation.  Ester has no idea that I worry.  She's not worried about her ordeal.  I need to take a cue from the dog herself and just be happy and go with the flow.  Eat what's put in front of you, drink your water, play plenty, and rest when needed.  The perfect prescription for an easy life.

Thanks Ester.

Life with Ester is not short on laughter or frustration.
She is playful, and (mostly) obedient, and full of energy.
The kids have taken on the responsibility of her with little complaining, and both of them are learning quickly the perks of having a dog.

Making it

Making it through the first week with a puppy is an accomplishment.  I feel like I've run a marathon; if I can do this- I can do anything!  It's easy to see why so many puppies are given up to shelters; they're TOUGH WORK!  Their cuteness is really a great disguise for all that goes into making them an obedient part of your family.

We've learned some things this week-

1) Puppies love to sleep on your lap.
2) Puppies love to chew on anything and everything.
3) Puppies are curious, even more so than cats at times.
4) Puppies don't sleep through the night.
5) Puppies whine when they want something.
6) Puppies need to be taken out frequently to eliminate.
7) Kids will complain about how frequently said puppy needs to go out.
8) Puppies love feeding time.
9) Puppies never learn the first time.
10) Puppies require repetition for learning.
11) Puppies are unconditional in their love for you.

Each day is an improvement over the last; she's learning and growing and playful.
We love that she is a part of our family.

                                                       Where's Ester in this photo below?

Adventures with Ester (part 1)

I'm exhausted.
I'm out of sorts.
I'm wondering what I can get done while she's sleeping.
I'm wondering how long she'll sleep.

On the other hand, she loves to burrow in the crook of my arm, and settle in like it's the perfect place for her.  When she whined in the middle of the night, I got on the floor with my pillow and she nestled on my arm and went fast to sleep.

Oh to be needed again.

Then came shower time this morning.  Thinking that locking her in the bathroom with me was a good idea, I proceeded to hop into our walk in shower.  Ester watched, and enjoyed the spray coming out on the floor.  Not satisfied with that, she waltzed right into the shower with me as if it was the most natural thing in the world. God love her.  As cute as it was, pack leader mentality kicked in, and I spent the next ten minutes training her to stay out.

All kinds of fun.

And it's only day two.

Tomorrow, you're only a day away!

Tomorrow our lives are all going to change.  For the better.

Except for the cats.  They're about to have a really long vacation in the cat lair, if I can predict anything.

E-dog will arrive around 11:30 and I also predict I'll be a bit like a first time mom.  How do I hold her? Can I feed her this way? How often should she go out?  Is it ok if she....and on and on it goes.

Puppy parenting isn't for the faint of heart.
And puppy parenting a future Seeing Eye dog is only for the very brave, I'm discovering.
Today I finished reading the 100+ page manual that tells me all the things we need to do or not do in the next year.  My head just exploded a little- alright-, a lot.  If she were our dog, we could blow it on the training and live with the consequences.  She's not our dog, and therein lies the difference.  The foundation is expecting us to do certain things that will manifest in her being ready to move on to phase two of her training.  Can you feel the pressure I'm under?

It's like that age old question: "How do you eat an elephant?"  "One bite at a time".  There's comfort in this truth.  I'm overwhelmed by this manual that tells me all the things I must strive towards in the next year with her.  Of course it's good to have goals but when you try to take them on all at once, it's bound to weigh you down.  So for now, I will pray my way through this (as I should) and learn to take it one day at a time.  For this here planner, it's going to be a tough lesson to learn- to take each moment, each hour and each day slowly.

I will fail, I know this.  There will be many times that she won't make it outside in time, and it will be my fault.  She will find some crumb of food that she's not to have, and it will be my fault.  She will chew on a piece of furniture when I've turned my back, and I'll be to blame.

But she will succeed too, and those moments will surpass all the failures, the trials and the stress.

I can't wait to begin this adventure tomorrow.

She's coming soon!

There's just something about a puppy for Christmas that melts my heart.
As in the real mushy, almost in tears, melt my heart.  That new puppy smell, the big belly, all of it combined to be one ginormous package of LOVE.  I feel like a kid.

"She" is the 7 week old black lab that's been bred to be a Seeing Eye dog.  A working dog, in no uncertain terms.  A dog that will be the eyes for a blind person.  A dog that will be freedom for one that is saddled with a disability.  A dog that will be accepting of this person because they only know to love, not judge.

"She" will be ours to love, train and socialize for the next year or so, until which time she heads off to the next phase of her training.  We're all in this, humans AND cats- although the felines have no idea what's about to hit them.  Can't say I'm envious.

Dogs are unique pets in that they give unconditional love.  Cats could care less if you're around, as long as you give them food and a nice place to rest, they're good with life.  But dogs demand our attention, our love and our patience.  A puppy demands even more.

I love the idea that all this love and effort we're going to invest in her will be of some greater good for another person.  Animals have this amazing capacity to change people's lives, and we want to be a part of that for someone else.  My kids need to understand that it's not about us.  Teaching them to love and serve others is easier said than done.  For the next year we'll be living out the verse "And above all things have fervent love for one another" (1 Peter 4:8) and it will take much prayer as we endeavor to love this person we don't even know, as we raise their future seeing eye dog.

And yes, it will be tough, very tough to give her up at the end of our time with her.  It's amazing that almost every person I've spoken to about this, comments on that ONE fact.  "It would be so hard to give it back" they say.  As if this should keep us from serving in the first place?   What would my children learn if every lesson in life was an easy one?   My children  need to understand that we give because we have been given much.  It's that simple.

Christmas time is the perfect time to remember that principle.  How paws-itively timely!