Blessings

I am starting this blog post today, without a clue of a title for it. It has been a few weeks, since I have blogged anything. A lot has happened but where to start?

After the trying few months at the beginning of the year with illness, I am happy to report, everyone is doing fantastic. Papaw is back to his old self and so is his mom. They are doing great and feeling better since their surgeries. We all are so grateful to God for their health and speedy recovery. Papaw said, he understands that statement by, the Vietnamese monk Thich Naht Hahn that goes something like, “the only way to know that you appreciate what it feels like to NOT have a toothache, is to have had a toothache.” I know I didn’t quote that exact but hopefully you understand the meaning. Papaw says, now he really knows and appreciates knowing what it is like NOT to have kidney stones. I am just grateful they are feeling better.

 More good news…Well it is for Doodlebug and I. We have been wanting a dog for so very long. Papaw just kept saying no, that we didn’t need another animal to care for. Well, God had a different plan and we now have a dog. We had this sweet little guy show up at our house a couple of days ago. I had heard noises outside at night on the porch on several occasions. I would go out to look but would never see anything. Well, he had been hanging around here and hiding out during the day and eating Lucy, our cats’ food at night. 

The other day, Doodles and I were sitting on the sofa, working on school work. We spotted this little dog on the porch. I went out to take a look at him. I was in disbelief at what I saw. He was starving. He could hardly stand. How he managed to climb the 14 or so steps up on the porch was amazing. His legs were so shaky. He does appear to have something wrong with one of his back legs. It was easy to count his ribs because his stomach was sank in so. It was so sad.  I called Papaw and Joe Joe up from the barn to take a look at him. We fed him some food and gave him water. We tried to get him to let us touch him but it appears he must have been abused because he backs away from our hands. 

Over the past couple of days that he has been here, he is starting to trust a bit more. He has taken to feeling comfortable enough to sleeping on our porch now. Papaw has been going out on the porch and sitting on the floor and leaning over on his side to get down low. In him doing so, it seems to help the dog feel less intimidated. 

As soon as we can, we want to bath him and remove ticks from him. Right now we can’t really get a hold of him to take good care of him. We are in hopes that in time, we can give him the care he needs. We are feeding him small amounts 3 to 4 times a day, giving him water and lots of love. He did seem to be a bit lively this morning and his legs appear to be stronger.  I just love seeing him come to me, tail wagging. I know it is only because, I am holding food or a Milk Bone right now. Soon, maybe he will come to me just because he wants to be petted.  I am trying to rub him palms up and he still backs away. He doesn’t trust hands. That is why I do believe he has been abused. I have not had any experience with an abused animal but I do trust that in time and with God's help, we can help restore this little guy's trust in humans.

I do not have any idea what God has planned for us with this little guy. I guess we will keep our eyes open to see if he did have a loving family that misses him and wants him back. The way he behaves now, I feel it is hard to think he came from a loving family. We are going to check to see if he has been chipped and if not, he has a home now. Papaw even likes the little guy too. Yesterday, when we returned home from church, he went right out to the front porch with a Milk Bone and sat down on the steps to visit with Wishbone. Doodlebug has taken to calling him Wishbone. The rest of us want to call him Hobo. We will just have to wait and see what sticks. 

Hope you all are having a blessed start to your spring. We have to get busy trying to till our garden spot. I do wish we could catch a few dry days to be able to do so.

Many blessings!  Ah, I have a name now for this blog...

Devotion

The dictionary defines devotion as "profound dedication; consecration." 

The word "devotion" kept popping into my mind, over and over this past weekend, as I watched my husband's family, "my" family band together as his mom went through heart surgery. 

I wonder at times, how can some families come together in such stressful times with a love and concern; at the same time be so positive for each other, while silently holding their breaths because of the seriousness of the moment.  Being with the family over the weekend, gave me an opportunity to see the very best come out in most people. I know stress for some families can tear them apart. I am amazed at how some/most come together and the situation makes them grow even closer. I think this is where devotion and a deep abiding love for each other has a chance to shine.

When most of us think about the word devotion, immediately the word "love" pops in our minds. It does seem like the words just naturally flow together, love and devotion. I do not think either could exist without the other. Think about it, devotion without love? Or, love without devotion?
  

At church last Sunday, the pastor was speaking on marriage and he said, "when it comes to marriage, we all need to remember 1+1=1." It is so easy to see that equation in the lives of my husband's parents. We have been blessed over the years to witness love and devotion in their actions with one another. They are truly devoted to each other. After 31 years of marriage for Papaw and I too, we feel blessed that this equates to our marriage as well.

My mother-in-law is doing so very well. She is amazing. The doctors and nurses at the hospital said, they had never witnessed a quicker recovery for someone that had the procedures Grammie had. She is still continuing to do well and has not even needed pain medicine. We believe she will be coming home from the hospital this evening or tomorrow. Her success through this whole ordeal, I do believe can only be attributed to the grace of God and prayer and also through love, devotion and the support of her family. We give thanks to God for our answered prayers and for all that He has blessed our lives with. 

So, with Grammie's surgery behind us, we have Papaw's coming up on Friday. Please remember him in your prayers as well. He says, now that his mom has upstaged him, he won't be able to whine. I told him of course he could if he needed to and I don't mind. 

Thanks for your prayers for our family! Blessings to you all!