Last Sunday we lit the first candle of Advent, the Hope candle, tomorrow we light the second candle, the candle of Love.

 This week has been a journey, a journey of learning more about Him, about the gifts He brings, about His goodness and His mercy, about gratitude and the art of being ever grateful.

 I read a wonderful blog post from Ann Voskamp, about a woman who desperately needed to see God's grace displayed, about a prayer, about the two women walking away, dissapointed, thinking for a moment that their prayer was not heard, and then a miracle occurred and the small tiny thing which they sought, displayed itself in a manner outside the norm. You can read it below. As you read it, consider this, had the man not said "Stop", had she not heeded his call, had she walked away in the rush and hurt of her disappointment, we would never have seen this story, for she would never have known that He did hear her prayer, and He gave her more than what she asked for.

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2013/12/when-youre-this-close-to-giving-up-hope/

  And this morning I listened to an old farmer talk about gratitude. This one just needs to be heard, so I will say no more than please take a moment and listen. (Another gift from Ann Voskamp)


 And earlier this week, I read a devotional about Eve that blessed me greatly.

http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/comforting-eve/



 And all this week, I prayed for a dog, and for the family that loves her, and last night, the below photo was posted. She is home and resting and recovering with her humans.......God is gracious and loving, and has heard the prayers lifted, and has answered. Her vet says it is a miracle, they did not expect Livy Grace to even survive the first night......but she did....and we are grateful.

Today has turned out to be a day of testing. On this journey of thanksgiving, this journey of learning the true meaning of gratitude, today I came to a wall.

 The day itself was not a bad day, I woke up to snow, when I left for work today the roads were clear, but the trees were snow covered, so it was a beautiful sight without the stress of driving in bad conditions.

 Work went well, I accomplished things, it was productive. On the way home the setting sun reflected off the snow covered Sandia Mountains, the peak was covered in clouds, and it was as if the mountain went on forever, you were not sure where the top was. It was beautiful and I was blessed.

The evening threatened to be one of worry. Sometimes you pray for things so hard, you wish so very much that they were different, that it just tears your heart out when they are not. Worry looms. Prayers are sent up to heaven, and all of a sudden I am struggling to find the thanks. How do i give thanks in this Lord, what is there to be thankful for in this paticular situation? It's a work in progress, this struggle to be ever thankful, this struggle to find the joy, even when my heart is heavy, even when I cry out to God, how long Lord? Save now Lord!

 At this part of the thanksgiving journey  I am reading a very good  book on the subject of gratitude. It is called Choosing Gratitude, Your Journey to Joy, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I have been taking it slow, and savoring it, reflecting on it.

 Today I read that the average Westerner (that would be me) is more prosperous than 99.4 percent of everyone who's ever lived on earth. Wow. I recognize this truth. I am truly rich compared to most people in the world. I may not be rich by American standards, but I am rich compared to world standards. I am grateful for the many blessings God has given me. Tonight I sit on a comfortable couch, in a nice home, it is warm, I have eaten a good meal, and I have a full cup of coffee by my side. There is an abundance of things to be thankful for.

 I read this also today " the difference between being full and empty is not usually between being rich or poor, at home or away, cupboards bursting at the seams or thinly lined with soup cans and Ramen noodles. The difference is gratitude.Ungrateful people are much like a container that has a hole in it, leaking out every blessing thats been poured in, always needing something else, something new to consume for satisfaction fuel."

 I want to be full, like the Apostle Paul was full, sitting in a Roman prison he wrote to the Philippians these words "I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. "  Wow! He was in prison, facing death, from all I have read about the period, Roman prisons were not like our modern ones, and yet Paul states that he has more than enough, he is content with all that God has blessed him with.

 So tonight, I reject the fear and the worry, and I rejoice in the blessings He has given. The one thing that I seek so diligently right now has not yet been given me. Perhaps it will come tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year, perhaps in ten years, perhaps it will come after I have been called home. But He will save, He will deliver. He will use whatever comes for good. He keeps His covenant promises. I will continue to wait, and continue to pray, and as I wait and pray I will rejoice in His many blessings.

 

 

 

 

 

   Yesterday, exact time unknown, a dog passed from this world, and another was seriously injured. Most likely this tragedy was one among thousands and thousands that occurred.

People died yesterday, some of them in horrible ways.

Dogs died yesterday, some of them in horrible ways.

   But yesterday, exact time unknown a much loved dog passed from this world and another much loved dog was seriously injured.

   I did not know this dog, have never sat on a couch with her, never petted her never spoke her name, yet she was dear to me. I have viewed a hundred photos of her in my Facebook feed; have Liked a few here and there when I have the time to take notice.  Almost always in these photos of this dog, and the one injured, were one or two little girls. So often were these two young ladies in the photos with these two dogs that I had to spend some time going through all these photos to even find one that was just the dogs.

 

Just as I have never met these two dogs, I have never met these two little girls who love them, but the various photos I have seen over time; clearly show the great love that exists between these little humans and their canine friends. Photos of them curled in bed, photos of them sleeping on couches, photos with laughing child faces and happy content canine ones. Beautiful photos, yet the sort that slip past you for the most part……until a day like today, a day when you know one dog has died and the other is fighting to survive her injuries, and you know that two little girls are heartbroken….you know that their mom, who also loved these two dogs, is dying inside, for the loss of the dog and the sorrow of watching her two little girls deal with this tragedy.

Who knows what happened. Somehow a door was open and the two dogs went on an adventure, as dogs are prone to do. Perhaps it was something else entirely, as the following letter was posted to Facebook today.....

"Girls I got your names from another angel friend. I understand you are the loving earth friends of Gigi and Livy Grace, my earth angel dogs. I have a serious problem here in heaven and I am hoping you will understand. I am the angel that helps animals as they come to heaven. Last week I had several special dogs that preformed miracles and saved their forever friends on earth. Rex climbed into a burning building and saved two children. His injuries were so severe I called him home to heaven. Oscar and Buster were protecting soldiers and after saving their lives, they both were called to heaven. I have lots of things that have happened and I can't find enough dog angels to help me with these four pawed heroes. I have heard such wonderful things about Gigi and Livy Grace and I understand how much you love them. They both have told me so much about you! I stopped by yesterday to speak with you girls and your Mom and Dad. I knocked on your door but no one answered. I opened the door a little bit to talk to Gigi and Livy Grace. I told them how much I needed them to help me out and let them know I would wait to hear from them. Gigi thought about it and said she would help. Livy Grace has not made a decision yet. If you girls would please say a prayer for Gigi, she is sitting here in heaven beside Oscar and helping him so much. Thank you both for being such good friends of Gigi on earth. She says to tell you she will love you forever and to pray for her as she will be Oscars helping angel. She wants you to pray for Oscar’s soldier. His name is Smitty and he is having a hard time. God loves you and so do all the animal angels. I'll check in with Livy Grace and see what she wants to do later. Take care earth angels and lover of animals......”

Whatever happened, this family is hurting, these two little girls are hurting, this mom, and dad are hurting, and Livy Grace is hurting.

One minute everything is wonderful, you are home, planning dinner, and the next you are out frantically looking for your two missing furbabies………..and then you are dealing with the worst of news……..struck by car….

Gigi was killed instantly... Livy Grace terribly injured……she made it through the night…….countless prayers are going up all over the country………but we just don’t know yet.

So the next time you are out, and you see that lost dog, and you think to yourself of how very busy you are, instead of whispering a prayer……stop. Find it. Take it home, take it to the pound, but don’t leave it loose. You never know how much heartache you might be preventing…..

 And as to the person who hit these two dogs, it was someone in an SUV. They did not stop, they did not slow down...they just kept on driving, one dog dead in the street and the other in agony. The lady behind this person stopped, and struggled alone to load two large dogs into her truck, people passed by her, no one helped. This angel in a pick up is responsible for saving Livy Grace's life. We don't know her name, but we pray a multitude of blessings be poured down upon her. We pray also for the people who kept on going, that they might slow down, and consider things, and feel compassion. It's a sad world, that so many will not take time to care, to care about an injured animal, to care enough to assist a fellow human...but its a beautiful world also, because of those who do take the time to care.

“There are various places within which a dog may be buried. We are thinking now of a Gigi, whose coat was as white as the snow, and who, so far as we are aware, never entertained a mean or an unworthy thought.

Beneath a cherry tree, or an apple, or any flowering shrub of the garden, is an excellent place to bury a good dog. Beneath such trees, such shrubs, she slept in the drowsy summer, or gnawed at a flavorous bone, or lifted head to challenge some strange intruder. These are good places, in life or in death. Yet it is a small matter, and it touches sentiment more than anything else.

For if the dog be well remembered, if sometimes she leaps through your dreams actual as in life, eyes kindling, questing, asking, laughing, begging, it matters not at all where that dog sleeps at long and at last. On a hill where the wind is unrebuked and the trees are roaring, or beside a stream she knew in puppyhood, or somewhere in the flatness of a pasture land, where most exhilarating cattle graze. It is all one to the dog, and all one to you, and nothing is gained, and nothing lost -- if memory lives. But there is one best place to bury a dog. One place that is best of all.

If you bury her in this spot, the secret of which you must already have, she will come to you when you call --come to you over the grim, dim frontiers of death, and down the well-remembered path, and to your side again. And though you call a dozen living dogs to heel they should not growl at her, nor resent her coming, for she is yours and she belongs there.

People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by her footfall, who hear no whimper pitched too fine for mere audition, people who may never really have had a dog. Smile at them then, for you shall know something that is hidden from them, and which is well worth the knowing. The one best place to bury a good dog is in your heart.”

Where to Bury A Dog, by Ben Hur Lampman (adapted for Gigi)

Rest in peace Gigi girl, you were a good dog, rest now in the hearts of those who loved you most.

We contine to pray for Livy Grace and for all her humans. The last report received is that Livy is hanging in there and that she has followed peoples movements with her eyes. This is good news as first reports were that she might have lost her eyesight. Livy Grace is deaf so we are praying hard that she will be able to see.

Please join us in praying for this dog and her humans. And don't forget to add some prayers for Smitty.

(letter from angel courtesty of Sandra Clark Yebba)

 

"We lost ourselves at one tree. And only find ourselves at another." Ann Voskamp

  This past Sunday was the first day of Advent, and we lit the first Advent candle, the candle of hope. Today we hung a paper ornament upon the Advent tree, of an apple, signifying that day when the human race fell from grace, where we lost ourselves, at that first tree.

 That first tree, where we lost our innocence, where we found our death. That first tree, where we took up the shackles of sin and became slaves. Where the man and the woman saw that they were naked, and were now ashamed of that nakedness. Where the man and the woman, made for themselves coverings of leaves to hide their nakedness.......at that first tree, where God Himself walked in the garden, calling out "where are you?".

 "I heard You and I was afraid"

 "I knew that I was naked.......I hid from You."

"Who told you that you were naked?"

"the woman.....the serpent"

  Man and woman cast out from the garden.......yet in their rebellion, God still supplies grace, and the very first lesson... the lesson that sin has a price......that price is death..........only blood covers sin......and there in that garden, at that first tree, animals were slain by God to provide clothing for the man and the woman. To cover their shame the innocent died. 

            "And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them."

  There is a wonderful fictional book, called Havah, written by Tosca Lee, that describes the fall in vivid detail.  Havah (Eve)describes the wonder of the garden, the wonder of her relationship with the Adam, and their relationship with the creatures God has created. Everything is at peace. One of her favorite creatures is a tigeress that Adam named Adah, and Adah's mate, Havah loves these beautiful creatures and often naps with her head resting on Adah, listening to her purr. On the day that Adam and Eve fall from grace all this changes, and as she and he are fleeing the garden, she looks and sees two bodies on the ground, she is confused, the bodies are raw and red and wrong, and she sees one twitching, and she is shocked.......they flee the garden, the next day she awakes, confused, lost, everything has changed,  everything is wrong, and she feels the garment that lays upon her skin, she looks closely to examine it............and in shock she sees that it is Adah's coat that wraps around her body, the beautiful tigeress, her friend and companion..........

  God made garments of skins and clothed the nakedness of the man and the woman.........something died to provide those skins.

 So much lost at that first tree........but at that first tree comes grace, God clothes them, and God promises them a redeemer as he curses the serpent......."I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head,and you shall bruise his heel.”

 From that first tree to the last tree...........a multitude of promises

• He will come through the seed of the woman
• He will come through the line of Shem
• He will come through the line of Abraham
• He will come through the line of Judah
• He will come through the line of Jesse
• He will come through the line of David
• He will come from the town of Bethlehem
• He will come as a child and a son
• He will be born of a virgin
• He will be called “Immanuel”
• He will be called “the Lord our righteousness”
• He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace
• He will come in humility
• He will serve as a prophet in Israel
• He will bring good news to the afflicted
• He will crush the head of the Serpent

 And we come to the last tree, the Mercy Tree, where the King of Glory hung, battered and beaten, bruised and spit upon.....the God who long ago stood at the first tree, and slew two animals to cover the nakedness and shame of the man and the woman, becomes the perfect sacrifice for all sin. He gives up His life, to cover our sin and shame. The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.He who knew no sin, He who lived a blameless life, the perfect unblemished Messiah, dies in our place.......and on the third day, defeated death and hell by rising from the grave, He ascended into power and glory, and one day, He will come again, to receive His own unto Himself, and He will make all things right again.....then it will be as it was before we met the first tree.

All was lost at the first tree..............have you come to the second tree?

 All was lost at that first tree..........all can be found at the last tree.......the Mercy Tree.......

On a hill called Calvary
Stands an endless mercy tree
Every broken weary soul
Find your rest and be made whole
Stripes of blood that stain its frame
Shed to wash away our shame
From the scars pure love released
Salvation by the mercy tree

In the day between two thieves
Hung the blameless Prince of Peace
Bruised and battered, scarred and scorned
Sacred head pieced by our thorns
"It is finished" was His cry
The perfect Lamb was crucified
His sacrifice our victory
Our Savior chose the mercy tree

Hope went dark that violent day
The whole earth quaked at Love's display
Three days silent in the ground
This body born for Heaven's crown
On that bright and glorious day
When Heaven opened up the grave
He's alive and risen indeed
Oh, praise Him for the mercy tree

Death has died, love has won
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Jesus Christ has overcome
He has risen from the dead

One day soon we'll see His face
Every tear, He'll wipe away
No more pain or suffering
Praise Him for the mercy tree

        Christmas is coming...........we await, in hope, the arrival of our messiah..........Christmas is coming!

 

 

Ann Voskamp quote is from her new Christimas book, "The Greatest Gift".

Story of Hanah is from Tosca Lee's book "Hanah", the fictional story of Eve.

 

 

 

We hosted Thanksgiving in our home this year and all in all it was a fabulous time of fellowship. The family here in Albuquerque gathered together and enjoyed each other’s company, we laughed, we hugged, we remembered times past, we gave thanks and we feasted.

But behind the scenes is the untold story, of the turkey that wasn't.

You see a few months ago, my beloved husband killed his first wild turkey, we were so excited, his cousin showed him how to pull the skin off the turkey, and he cleaned it, packed it in a plastic bag and brought it home. I took it out of the bag, washed it real good and put it in the freezer.

 

Now our plan for Thanksgiving was to serve two turkeys, one nice fat store bought butterball, done the traditional way, soaked in brine for 24 hours and baked in the oven, and the wild turkey, it being smaller I searched the internet for methods of preparing it, and found a wonderful crockpot recipe which we decided to try.

So on Thanksgiving morning, I took the defrosted wild turkey from the bag, rinsed it off good and placed it breast down in the crock pot. I added cream of mushroom soup, a packet of dry onion soup mix, some water, some fresh mushrooms and baby carrots and half a white onion.......and turned it on low for the day......boy did it smell good!

Later on that day, as my husband was carving up the Butterball, (that is his job) and family had all gathered and brought in their various dishes to add to the feast, I decided to assist my husband and get started on carving up the wild turkey. I had a nice dish to lay it out on, and my plan was to slice it up nice and serve it with the mushrooms and carrots and gravy poured over it in the dish.

So I removed it from the pot and began carving. Beautiful slices of white meat, moist and delicious looking, and I arranged them nicely on the platter, as things begin to get a little more difficult to cut and as I got closer and closer to the bone, all of a sudden i cut into something black...........and to my horror (thankfully I did not scream or freak out) there were BUGS coming out of this turkey!

Keeping my calm, not wishing to alarm our guests nor gross anyone out, I quietly pulled my husband over to show him my findings. Well I guess turkeys have some kind of little compartment in their somewhere, where food goes when they first eat it, it’s not their stomach because my husband yanked all that stuff out when he cleaned it, and it’s a little pouch somewhere higher up in the throat or breast area. And this little turkey had been feasting on some big giant termites when he met his demise. And falling out of my beautiful wild turkey creation....were nicely sautéed termites...perhaps in some part of the world people would have rejoiced at this surprise, but not in this house.

So the wild turkey was quietly putaway, the meat I had cut from it placed in a bag, and the guests were simply told that the wild turkey would not be served, and that they really did not want to know why just yet.

So we ate, we feasted, we stuffed ourselves silly on turkey, yams, glazed honey carrots, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, asparagus, pork roast, cranberries, red chili, green chili, potato salad, green bean casserole, green chili meatballs, white dinner rolls, wheat dinner rolls, cherry pie and pumpkin pie..........and afterwards, we informed our guests of the problems encountered while carving up the wild turkey.

The canines rejoiced in our house Thanksgiving evening, for they feasted on the choice cuts of turkey, cuts normally denied them, they feasted and they feasted and they declared with happy faces and wagging tails and deep coma like sleep.....that it was good.

 

 

So should you have the good fortune to shoot yourself a nice plump wild turkey……look deep……look good…cause there just might be a little pouch of surprises in there.