Evie

Oh precious Evie. Your inquisitive nature and expressive eyes and face! Yesterday you went for your weight check. Because the veterinarian no longer can tell us what your normal weight should be. You are barely even at 8 months based on your marked birth date yet you already 8.3 pounds! You love the old bears from Katie and you love your cat tree that we had to buy because somehow in less than one week in the house, you managed to get into a window that was 40 inches from the floor! You are trying to get to the light switch. You keep throwing your favorite toys in the water which has led to the window sill in my room being affectionately named the infirmary. You have a tortitude. Sweet one minute and mean the next. You are learning patience. You are in your first diet to maintain your weight. You are tall. Tall enough that we either need to get a bigger carrier or work hard to train you with a walking harness. When we out the harness on you now, you look at it and plop over. 

Evie, you are named after Evie from Disney Descendants because I love all things Disney and love that film. And boy are you living up to your name! Evie, daughter of the evil queen in the film. Evie, devil in disguise of cute kitten. Haha. 

You love the fish game on the iPad. You bite when you're tired. And you are the first cat I have had that will eat fish. So I no longer have to sit there and read every ingredient of the food to make sure there is no fish in it. You also are allergic to your vaccines and have to get Benadryl shot when you get your vaccines. You can only get two instead of four at a time. But you are not my first cat to go through that. You are a healthy little kitten. 

And you are greatly loved! 

Molly Jean

We had to let my dear sweet Molly Jean cross the Rainbow Bridge Monday. What a way to start the year. This is my second fur baby to cross since July when Katie passed from that brain aneurysm so suddenly. My heart is so broken over the loss. 

Molly Jean was 18. She was born profoundly deaf. She started having issues with cataracts. She started falling a lot because her hips ended up with arthritis and dysplasia. She apparently lost all of the vision in one eye and was about to lose the vision in her other eye. 

In the weekend prior to having to let her go, she did stop eating. I had to hand feed her. She just lost all interest in food. She did try though. For me. 

She faded. And by that, I mean she had basically left her body and she was just a shell. 

Sunday night I cupped her chin and forced her to face me. And I told her that I love her and will miss her. As best as I could. And during that moment, she touched her name to my nose and I knew that she understood me. 

I fought with the decision most of Monday morning. But when my mom got back from a quick errand, I said it was time. I apologized to my mom and helped her load Molly Jean into what would be her last car ride. 

Mom said Molly Jean wanted to leave the vet's office with her when she left to return home. This was probably the saddest thing to hear. 

As much as it pains me, Molly Jean did cross peacefully. And she will no longer be in any pain. And I hope that she finally gets to hear the birds singing. But I know Molly Jean passed peacefully because there was no middle of the night visit from her like there was with Peaches and then with Katie. 

So to my dear Molly Jean, you will be missed. And you left a huge imprint on my heart. You were loved in a huge way. Oh, and don't worry. We will give the new dog Buddy Glow Ball when we have the new dog. It just might not be for a few months. 

Keep Asking

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." - Ephesians 3:20-21

Other translation, focal verse: "With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of." - Ephesians 3:20

He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith in earth?" - Luke 18:2-8

"For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." - Luke 11:10

Dear God, 

You are with me and within me. You are doing good things in my life. I may not always be aware that You are with me, but still You are there. I need to ask great things of You because You are great. Nothing is impossible for You. I need to pray boldly in Your name. I need to persevere in my prayers. I will keep praying right now that the people who have benefited from the protections of the ACA will not find themselves back where we were before the ACA. They do not deserve this. No matter who they voted for. I will ask that You empower me and other advocates to do the right thing and stand against the republicans attempting to screw us all up in this one area. I will ask that You intervene in a huge way. 

Thank You.

In Jesus' Name, 

amen!

A Safe Place

"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." - I Peter 5:8

"Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by." - Psalm 57:1

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" - Psalm 34:8

Dear God,

Be my refuge when the storms ahead of us hit. They have already begun. Please take my worries God. Be with me. Take care of me. Shelter me. Today I choose You. Not my worries. Oh sweet joy in the refuge!

Thank You.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

My Plan

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." - Jeremiah 29:11

"Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord." - Psalm 32:10

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." - Romans 12:12

"Humber yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." - I Peter 5:6-7

Dear God,

You have a perfect plan for my life. I just wish I knew some more about it than I do. Sometimes Your plan is different than mine. Boy, don't I know that more now than ever. I didn't expect to lose Katie before I lost Molly Jean. The order of which defied logic and reasoning of nature where older things die before younger things. And I certainly did not plan to lose them both within months of each other.  Sometimes Your plan will involve doing something hard or uncomfortable. That might be fine God, but I need to understand Your plan with regard to a bunch of hypocritical men who hate the least of these and are bent on taking away access to healthcare for all of the citizens of this country. What purpose does this fill when so many could die as a result? Surely that is not Your plan? Your plan could include troubles and problems. I see that. I struggle to see Your love through our current events. God, I am struggling to trust You in this moment right now. God, I do need You more than ever. I am not angry with You anymore, but I am exasperated with You. I want to trust that You only want what is best for me. That You have something HUGE in mind that will be a positive thing for me, for everyone. Take all of my worries God. Take them, keep them, work through them on my behalf. I am throwing my hands up in the air and saying pffffftttttt.....

Thank You.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

Not One Single Thing

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39

Focus verse: Romans 8:39 - Nothing above us, nothing below us, or anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." - John 10:10

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world." - John 16:33

Other translation: "I have told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have trouble. But be brave! I have defeated the world!" - John 16:33

Dear God,

Nothing can separate me from Your love. Nothing. Nothing I say. Nothing I think. Nothing I do. Nothing someone else does or says to me. Nothing can separate me from You. I am not perfect. Nor do You ask me to be right now. I will make mistakes. But mistakes cannot separate me from Your love. Help me to sit back and relish what good there is in life. Help me to be brave when things are rough.

Thank You.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

That Where I Am There You May Also Be by Rich Mullins

My Kind of Hope

Hope is expecting God to keep His promises and knowing that He will.

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" - Numbers 23:19

"Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you." - Psalm 33:20-22

Other translation: "So our hope is in the Lord. He is our help, our shield to protect us. We rejoice in him. We trust his holy name. Lord, show your love to us as we put our hope in you." - Psalm 33:20-22

"Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior." - Titus 1:1-4

Focal verse: "That faith and that knowledge come from our hope for life forever. God promised that life to us before time began, and God does not lie." - Titus 1:2

Dear God,

I want to put my hope in You. Because unlike man, You do not lie. You say You want to give me a happy ending to my story. My story has been anything but happy and I am now in a long battle ahead with the changing of the tides back over to a political party that would be happier if the disabled and the poor did not exist at all. I expect You to keep Your promises to me though. Your promises of continued provision and love and forgiveness. And that is what hoping in You is about - expectation. God, I want to fully let go of myself and fall into Your guiding arms. And I need Your help to do that. I have fallen but I can get back up again with You beside me if You will have me. God, strengthen me. Help me to stand strong in the face of adversity. Give me strength and wisdom when the bullies come at me. Give me peace knowing that at the end of the day I have done all I can do. Don't let me give up.

Thank You God for everything.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen!