No Fear

                           

God made us in His image and loved us so much he wanted us to have a free will, freedom to make decisions and be who we want to be. Yet, with that freedom came the ability to choose to wrong things (sin).  There are consequences for sin, and that is death.

Despite our affinity to make poor choices and to sin, God loved us so much He made a way of escape from this consequence...He paid our consequence. He loved us so much that He stretched out His arms and died For Us! Wow! Our Creator saw that by allowing us freedom to make choices That we would also need a Saviour. 

Therefore, He gave His life so that we, as sinners, could have a way to have our wrong choices forgiven! He died, He, who never sinned, lovingly took on ability to pay for our sins. 

Now the choice is up to us. Choose God or choose Death.

But everyone dies!?! Yes, our earthly bodies die, they rot and decay...but our souls live forever! That is the beauty in how we were created! 

The choice therefore is to follow the Creator and Saviour and choose life or turn our backs on Him and choose the path of death.

When we choose life through Christ Jesus, it doesn't mean our lives will be perfect. He doesn't promise an easy road. We will still make poor choices and others will make poor choices that affect us too. However, He is there through it all, He promises to strengthen us, and give is peace and refuge.

 

The verse alone shows that we will need strength in life's challenging moments and we will need a place of refuge from the storms that come into our lives.  Life is not always easy, but God is ALWAYS there, He will cover you with His feathers and you can find shelter in Him! (Psalm 91:4)

He is:

There need be no fear because we know that God is on our side! No one can truly harm us.

                          

We can have NO FEAR but we do need FAITH! 

40th Open House

My husband threw an open house for my 40th birthday! It was fun! My favorite color is pink and though it's a bit cliche we did pink and black!! ;) he bought long stem pink roses and placed them in wine bottles throughout the house. (Above is a pic from after the party when he gathered some of them together). 

We had wine, fruit, cheese, olives, and fabulously delicious cupcakes made by my amazing friend and her husband (raspberry filled with champagne frosting, chocolate raspberry with chocolate ganache, and to humor me, funfetti with funfetti frosting and roses)!

Best of all I was surrounded by family and friends, making the night very special!! 

We made party favors with my favorite candles from Wealthy at Charles and a Pay-it-Forward card! What could be better a better 40th present than having others being a light of love and peace in the world!! 

Forty....hhhrumph!!!!

Despite having taken the day off to mourn the loss of my youth, I promptly awoke at 6am.  

As I laid there trying to deny the reality of the number 40, I decided I best test things out, muscles, bones, tendons, check! Five senses intact, check! Six sense, pain…pinch….yup intact, check! 

Next up cognition:   I pondered….well, can I still say I am in my thirties or phrase it so it does sound forty? Nope, I cannot: cognitive functioning intact, check. 

So let the cognitive reframing begin:  I am indeed I am forty and I need to just embrace it….or maybe I can fall back to sleep and embrace it in a few hours!?!?!?!

Thanking God for all He has done in and through me over the past forty years!!! I truly am VERY blessed!!!

Grieving the loss of Brynlee May

Shortly after I wrote my last blog post, my little Brynlee May went to heaven. We are grieving. In our grief we are comforted by thoughtful gestures and kind words from family and friends and millions of warm memories of our little cutie pie!! We can't help but think of how she would be trying to lick our tears away. 

                        

As nurses we learn to deal with grief and the grieving.  Everyone experiences grief and loss differently. Each individual should be granted the grace to grieve however they need to...and so on. 

I have seen throughout my nursing career various forms of grief and really believe the former to be true. 

Today it was evident that this same grace be extended to pets. We have been cleaning up Bryn's dishes, then her blankets and sweaters, and today her bed. 

Geree, my pitbull boy, saw me pick it up and followed me out if the room and kept nudging me. Finally, I placed it in the floor. He sniffed it then climbed on and sat down. He just sat there...  

When he got up, I put the bed back...it doesn't need to go today ...

                             

If you are grieving the loss of a pet here are some resources: 

http://coldnosesbook.com

http://www.cesarsway.com/dog-care/senior-dog/coping-with-a-dogs-death

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/grieving_pets.htm

http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/coping_with_pet_death.html#.UsmedH-9KK0

http://www.pet-loss.net

http://rainbowsbridge.com/grief_support_center/grief_support_home.htm

Thoughtful gifts such as these as well as donations in Brynlee's honor to Pets for Vets (http://pets-for-vets.com) have spoken to our hearts! 

     

My little Brynlee May Pootie!

My dearest Brynlee May Pootie,

 

I am so gateful that God gave you to me almost eight years ago!  You have enriched my life from the moment we picked you up!  You were so cute and quiet and such a good girl.  You loved rides and getting in the back pack and tagging along wherever we went.

 

You’ve been to camp and the campers loved you and you loved sitting on the camper's laps and cruising in their wheelchairs.  You’ve been camping, stayed quietly in hotels, (even though no pets allowed) and you have flown in an airplane more times than most people.  You have tasted and dipped your feet into the ocean and enjoyed running down the beach.  You have been in the camp parade and the 4th of July parade, everyone thought you were adorable and you loved the attention.

 

You have even been on an adventure of your own taking off to go to the Zoo!! I am so grateful to the people who found you waltzing along on your own thinking you were invincible!  I am so glad we had that chip in you even though I was a wreck when I saw the needle and almost backed out. We were looking for you everywhere and that call from the ER vet was joyful, knowing you were safe!!  They wanted to see if you knew us when we came to get you...You did not disappoint - running to us and wiggling all over - kisses and hugs!!

 

Although we always paid for the “good” food with no fillers, your favorite things to eat were french fries and ice cream, always perking up and jumping over to the window when you sensed a McDonalds drive through coming.

 

You have beat the odds my sweet girl, you taught yourself to walk again, do stairs and even almost run...but it’s more like a sideways trot and I love it! As I look through my photo albums of the last few years you are on almost every page along side of us from one adventure to the other.  No wonder I am having trouble grasping this loss I am about to face.  

 

You know me so well, you sense my sorrow and I try to be brave and you gently lick my tears away. I love how soft your head is and how it smells when I kiss it!

 

They said 3 day, 3 weeks...it’s been eight months!  God has given me the extra time I prayed for with you! I love how determined you are I love how you rule the roost!  Your sisters and brother will miss you too - they seem to already know and are being as gentle as possible with you.  

 

I love you, I love you, I love you, your snorts, snoring, barking in the night for water, walks in the stroller, incessant licking, and boundless affection....and I will miss you dearly.  Run to St Francis my friend, I think he knows you will be coming soon!

 

All my love and an extra kiss on your soft little head, Momma