It's hard to say goodbye

 

Last Tuesday we had to say goodbye to our little furry friend, Maui.  Actually, she was more than just a friend, she was family.  We invited her to come and live with us in April 19, 2012 when her previous “family” could no longer keep her.  We thought her name quite exotic until we learned that it was just a backward version of ‘meow’, but she wore it with pride anyway.

 Maui had us smiling from the very start.  She wanted to be with us, but didn’t necessarily want attention, she just wanted to be close.  She would follow us all over the house, back and forth down the hall, not really on our heels like a dog might be but when we would turn around to go back the way we had come, there she was.  We would tell her we were coming right back and she could just wait, but she rarely did.  I guess she didn’t want to miss anything important.

Maui took us through some really weird stages – like when for some reason she thought she shouldn’t touch the carpet and avoided it with her whole being for about a week. One day her food would be the best thing we had ever given her, and the next day she would turn up her nose at the "junk" we had served and strut away.  Maui would also come if we sang. It didn’t have to be good singing (and usually wasn’t), there was just something about the changing tones that she couldn’t resist. 

Then came the day her health started failing, we began cleaning up after her, taking trips to the vet, trying everything we could think of to make her well, then finally having to let her go.   Now that she is gone the house seems strangely quiet.  There’s no greeting at the door when we come home, no nudges to obtain scratches and pets, no little presence following us around. No need for water or food bowls, litter box or cat toys and they have all been picked up.  The strangest things will bring on memories and start the tears flowing – like when I cleaned out the litter box to put it away and found myself crying because I was wishing she were there to make it dirty again.

 
Life goes on, and we move on, and we hang onto the little memories.

Though pets are very special, there’s no comparison to losing a person whom you love.  Both Clarence and I have said goodbye to our parents, and many friends as well.  We know others who have lost a sibling, or a child, and I can’t even imagine how much that would hurt.  I know many of you who are reading this have also lost someone.  It can be very hard to enter back into the world and it seems life goes on without you.  So many things trigger memories and you hurt all over again.

Isn’t it wonderful to know our tears don’t go unnoticed?  Even if we hide them from the world, God knows about them and He cares.  Actually, God goes beyond caring, He understands.  Long before you and I were born God allowed His son to take on our sin and die for us.  It may be that there are no tears in Heaven now, but I think there might have been then.  If you are hurting today, tell God about it.  Let Him hold you in His arms while you weep, you might discover that His tears are mixed with yours.
 

Flower Power

Christmas Day

Here are a couple of photos of a flower under the stairs. The first one was taken on Christmas day about 4:30 PM and the second one on the day after Christmas about 11:30 AM. There was quite a bit of progress in just one day.

Same flower on the day after Christmas

Weed Eater 1 Snake 0

Actually it should be weed eater 2, Snake 0. A few years ago I was down here by myself and the lawn team was mowing and trimming the yard when the weed eater operator encountered a rattlesnake and the weed eater won. This week the same thing happened and again the adept operation of the weed eater defeated the rattlesnake. I am actually surprised that we don’t see more of them but that is only the second one in 12 years or so. The high tide may have played a role in driving this one out into the open. He was actually across the street near some bushes.

Christmas at the Creek

The east wall that we started with, pretty bad

We finally decided that December 20-27 would be a good week to go to the creek so we packed up and went. The weather was the warmest we have ever seen at Christmas but it was damp and foggy for a few days. The main job for this trip was to get the rest of the house painted. That is a big task and as you will see we only got some of it done. These are just a few of the pictures but they will convey the idea. Since my knee surgery I can’t get up on the ladder for any length of time so that task fell to Martha and she did a great job. The ladder is a 24 foot extension ladder and it is almost all the way extended in some of these pictures. The end result was that the east side got painted but the front and back did not. We will do them next time. Martha had done most of the west side at Thanksgiving and I finished it this trip. The temperature on Christmas day got up to the high 70’s and may have been a record. One of the pictures is of the area that will become a fish cleaning table and bait / live well. Above is what we started with and below are other related pictures.

Martha painting after 2 days of scrubbing

All Done with this side

Me working on the pier

A foggy morning at the creek

Sunset at the creek

Bethelehem's Child - A poem

Bethlehem’s Child

I’d like to tell you of Bethlehem’s child,

Born in a manger, but king all the while.

Born of a virgin a gift of love,

Given by God, in heaven above.

He came to earth to suffer and be

A sacrifice for you and me.

The shepherds came and wise men too,

To worship one they hardly knew.

Yet those of us who bear his name,

Must often bow our heads in shame,

For we’ve forgotten a gift to bring,

To Jesus who was born a KING.

A king, whose anthem around us sounds,

Whose love and peace know no bounds,

Who calls us to his side to rest,

And offers us his very best.

No peace we’ll have ‘til him we bring

To live within, to make us sing.

To bring us love, and peace and cheer,

Helping conquer every fear.

Let all of heaven’s anthems ring,

Let us praise and glory sing,

And worship him through gifts we bring,

To Bethlehem’s child who was born a King

Color tour on 11th Street

We have just returned from a tour of Texas and we saw plenty of roadside color as we went. The colder weather has accelerated the change in the colors and when we returned we found some right in our own backyard so to speak. These are in our neighbor's yard.

A couple of other pictures from two different trees.

I'm Thankful for...

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and I thought I would post a word or two about the things I am thankful for. I read the story of Jesus' healing the 10 lepers in Luke 17 where only one of the 10 returns to thank Jesus for the healing. Why was that? Well probably for the same reason that we don't express gratitude for the blessings we receive.

First for loving parents; I don't think anyone had any better ones. They raised me in the admonition of the Lord and they did not spare the rod when it was needed.

Second for my wife; She is a loving helpmate in all of life. I do not know where I would be without her. Thank you Martha.

Third for my kids; They turned out pretty good in spite of my failures. I am very proud of them. Thank you Christy and Cory for just being you.

 There are more but those will suffice for now, I am sure I don't say thank you enough, like many others I take things for granted. For the future my goal will be to not allow an opportunity to pass without expressing my gratitude, it is the least I can do.

What about you?