by Sharon O | Nov 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
The dark, gray skies overhead threatened an early snow. 
Rushing shoppers, all bundled up to ward off the cold, crowded the sidewalks, lost in their to-do list for Thanksgiving.
Oblivious to their surroundings, no one noticed a small, shivering boy standing in front of the shoe store, his nose pressed against the window, barely dressed and only flip-flops on his dirty feet.
However, one man did see him and stopped, dead still in his tracks, causing others to bump into him. He didn’t notice the bumps and grumblings, but he did notice the small boy because he had a son about the same age. Thinking how he would feel if this were his son standing there, barely clothed, the man quietly slid next to the boy, the man stood there for a moment, and then said,
“They have some pretty nice shoes here, don’t they?”
“Yeah,” came the soft reply.
“Which ones do you like?”
“That pair over there… the cool running ones.”
“Oh, I”ll bet you could run fast in those.”
“Yes sir. I could. Like the wind!”
“You know, I have a little boy just about your age.”
“Oh, yeah? I’ll bet he has shoes like that.”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, he does. But I have an idea.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“How ’bout I take you into the store and buy you that pair of shoes?”
The boy stood there motionless.
After a few moments,
with tears in his eyes, he looked up at the man.
“You want to buy me shoes?”
“I sure do. Your feet must be freezing and I’d love to buy them for you.”
The boy couldn’t even answer.
The man took the boy by the hand and walked into the store.
Finding the manager, the man described the pair of shoes and asked the manager to please get a pair in the boy’s size, along with some socks.
Then, he said he and the boy would be in the restroom and would he please bring the shoes and socks in there.
The manager gathered the shoes and socks and, upon entering the men’s restroom, found the man on his knees washing the young boy’s feet.
“Can’t stick dirty feet into clean, new socks and shoes, now can we?”
The young boy just stared at the man as he lovingly washed away all the accumulated street-dirt and gently dried his feet.
Feeling he was intruding on a very special moment, the manager quietly placed the shoes and socks on the floor without saying a word.
After placing the socks and shoes on the boy’s feet, the man stood up, and with hand on his hips, said, “Okay. Let’s see how they look. Walk around.”
The little boy couldn’t move.
He stared down at his feet that felt glued to the floor.
He looked up, tears now streaming down his little face, and said,
“Mister, are you Jesus?”
The boy’s words took the man’s breath away.
So overcome with emotion, the man could barely speak.
Finally, he muttered,
“No, son, I’m not. But I know Him very well.
And this is a gift from Him.”
“This is the greatest Thanksgiving ever.
Would you tell Jesus thank you for me?”
“Well, let’s go for a walk and I’ll tell you how you can do that yourself.”
After reading this writing I asked permission to post it and share it with the readers on this blog, to help us all to get into the thanksgiving spirit. Whether we purchase a pair of shoes for someone, or write a letter, send a card, or make a phone call. Perhaps it is time to tell others how to ‘thank Jesus’ for the greatest gift of all and give someone a reason to give Thanks.
by Sharon O | Nov 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
The other day looking outside I noticed
the wind blustering and blowing
as the rain poured down in many directions
and the darkened clouds
cracked the skies with thunderous roars.
Then all of a sudden
the hail came
pounding and pounding with loud earthen noise.
I watched it from the warmth and protection of the window
feeling thankful that I was inside and not out
as I heard the roar upon rooftop
tumbling onto brown green grass
turning into tiny balls of white.
The force of the wind gave the trees no choice
but to let go of the leaves that were once hanging
the beauty of glorious reds and yellows
tranforming limbs empty… barren
as the colors
now carpeted the wet and white ground.
I was in awe of the moment… time of day and season
and gently reminded of the many things
we have to be thankful for.
Remembering that:
fall…is
a time for hunkering down and finding solace in a warm room.
a steaming cup of tea.
a good book.
a phone call with a friend.
a pot of soup on the stove.
a nice glass of wine.
a hand written letter.
fall…is
a time for dying leaves and empty trees.
fall…is
the entrance into a time for giving thanks
for loved ones near and far.
fall is…
the invitation for
Thanksgiving to come and walk alongside us
as families
share food and festivities
and dishes pretty with goblets shining and steaming cups of coffee.
Thanksgiving…
where pumpkin pie with real whipping cream is
the dessert of the day
and magical moments where children and old ones
mingle and visit
in the midst of meaningful conversations
and we give thanks that we can do that this year
for we know
next year could be different.
Thanksgiving…
a time for giving thanks
for hot flames of fire dancing within the fireplace
and the Love of a God who reaches down
to save us from ourselves.
Thanksgiving…
for hope given to a world lost without it.
Thanksgiving…
for life and breath and love and dying.
Just as the leaves let go of the limb that holds them
we must let go of our stubbornness of heart
and remember to give thanks with a grateful heart
to the one who gives us choice.
For life and love and liberty
and health of spirit too.
Thanksgiving…
where knees bent and hands folded
express sincerity
from a place deep within us
to the one who
holds us close and restores our souls
barren
like empty tree limbs.
Thanksgiving…
is a time for remembering
who we give thanks to and why.
Thanksgiving…
is something special for us all.
I pray we take time to give thanks.
by Sharon O | Nov 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
Jeremiah 31:3
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
Hebrews 13:5b
God has said,
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Can you hear the promises from God to you?
This was a deep question I asked myself…
when we were sitting in a marriage retreat by John and Staci Eldredge.
Because of my ‘childhood’ and the abandonment issues.
I brought into our marriage as a young bride the ‘agreement’ in my heart…
‘no one will hurt me again.’
If my walls were high enough and my heart was shut off tight enough…
no one could enter and no one could cause hurt.
I went into the marriage with the ‘knowing deeply embedded inside my heart’…
that I was not important and I didn’t matter and in that knowing…
I made an agreement to believe…
‘what was really not true in this relationship.’
Even so… the lie continued to reinforce itself.
As my husband and I were sharing after the retreat a feeling many years ago on our first anniversary came forward for me.
I was pregnant and sitting in a sparsely furnished apartment while he worked over time.
There was no ‘dinner’ out that night. Although I do believe we did go out on a different day.
I wanted it to be our day and to feel special and it wasn’t.
I was sick and nauseated and
I was emotional…
and I was feeling non important.
The lesson replaying itself … if you really were important to him he would not be working overtime.
you are alone…you have always been alone.
We talked about that and in the frame reference from where we are now…
and it would not ever happen. If it was an important day…
work would wait.
But when you are a young person you only ‘see’ the paycheck with the over time on it…
you don’t see or feel or even think about the feelings surrounding that decision.
The opportunity for the enemy to come alongside and speak his lies…
was there… it was a prime event for him.
John said, “In relationships… interpretation needs time”.
Listen to the self talk.
Pay attention and listen to what is happening inside you.
He said, “Pain is the enemies playground for agreements, when you are in pain you are most vulnerable to the enemy and his tactics.”
As I sat alone in the sparsely furnished living room on our first anniversary night.
I told myself… “see… I knew I was not important… I know it doesn’t matter if it is our anniversary… work is more important.” The agreement I made that night set our ‘relationship’ up with the message any time he said, “I would like to go hunting, I would like to go fishing…” my internal interpretation was…
“I need time away from you and this is my way of doing it.”
That really wasn’t the truth of what was happening but because I had placed a filter around the agreement. I could only interpret his leaving as ‘you are not important enough for me to stay.’
This is more important to me.
I have learned a lot in the last 37 years.
Each of us brought in to the relationship baggage from our past.
My big one was abandonment.
As I grew closer to God I realized my husband did love me.
My husband did not purposely choose to hurt me.
We were young. We didn’t know. We both made decisions out of immaturity.
We have worked hard and we made it and it is good.
The promises above… I have loved you…I have drawn you…
I will not ever leave you…*a commentary said the verse really means never never never never never…five times… to get the point across.*
That is a lot of never’s.
I challenge each of us today to ask God to show you what kind of agreements you have made in your marriage if you are married… if not what personal agreements have you made about yourself or other relationships.
John said, “if it doesn’t feel risky it is not love.”
For love risks… to love deeply.
He said, “Your marriage will have rough waters, and deep turbulence, you will have pain and crisis moments, how you handle them as a couple will determine the strength you have in the relationship.” He says, “You live in a brutal war and the enemy does not want you strong and united.” He will whisper accusations to you just so you can replay the, “See I told you so moments.” (boy did we ever have some stretching moments in 37 years) John said,
“You must guard your relationship.
Watch your heart. Take note of your attitude towards each other and pray.”
John said “God is always after deeper healing~ deeper character building~ deeper transparency.”
He also said, “When the storms come… and they will…you must have an anchor to hold onto.”
Do you have an anchor… who loves you deeply and won’t ever leave you?
Take hold of it and cling tightly to the one who keeps you stable.
You cannot drift far if you allow Him to love you and keep you in a safe place.
by Sharon O | Nov 8, 2010 | Uncategorized
Our Pastor yesterday was sharing with us as he continued the topic of ‘knowing Jesus’.
A few more of the attributes of Jesus we don’t often think about are Grace and Justice.
He was full of grace, and compassion, and kindness and forgiveness.
He was also full of Justice for He was fully God and could not tolerate sin and evil.
Pastor said, “If you read the interactions of Jesus He deals with women much differently than He deals with the men.” The reason for that was the fact that women were low in status and had little value in that culture. They were devalued and when he ministered to them he collided with the theology of the day. (And he knew that)
He saw they had value.
He saw they were needing His touch and He saw they were searching from their heart.
That brought great chaos to the leaders of the day for He was not supposed to talk to women or heal them (remember the woman who grabbed the end of his garment?) Women were valued in the presence of Jesus and that made the rulers of the day upset with him.
In John 8:2-10 Pastor said Jesus was ambushed into a situation so that the leaders of the day would see what Jesus would do and build their case against him.
At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts; where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and ask her, “Woman, where are they? no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” (Pastor said there should be a question mark there because in reality the only one who stood there without sin was Jesus and he could have thrown the stone at her and he knew that)
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
GRACE…was shown to her.
The leaders of the day wanted to ambush Jesus into judging her and in the process they became the judged. Jesus declared the truth to them and he revealed to them their hearts intention of judgement. They had to have set her up in order for them to know she was in adultery so they were more guilty than she was to catch her in the act. Just as they set Jesus up they set her up too. Pastor said, “Jesus was teaching and all of a sudden in walked these men dragging a half dressed woman wrapped in bed sheets caught in the act.” How would they know without being a part of it?
Pastor said, “Don’t we wish we could know what he wrote? It must have been revealing enough for all of them to leave.” Jesus exposed their hearts of stone and condemned the ones who were accusing. Did he write down specific names… did he write down specific sins only those who read would know about? They left…one by one.
They left…one by one… which tells me he dealt with each heart individully.
Grace was shown to the woman standing near him in a bed cloth…
transparent with her shame exposed. Grace was shown to her heart.
Grace mixed with love was shown to her with compassion. Jesus said, “leave and not only leave here but leave the life you have been living. You don’t need to live that way.”
Justice was when Jesus found the temple being used wrongfully in the selling of animals and exchanging of money. Jesus was angered and drove them out removing them with force and strength. In John 2:13-20 He was God refining and cleaning out the ones who were abusing the temple for wrong purposes. He made a whip and used his anger… the anger of God against sin and forced them out of the temple. (Pastor said, “I don’t think he used his inside voice.”)
Jesus was not just a quiet gentle person.
He was God full of Grace and Justice and He used His power when He needed to.
The ending question was this:
What part of your life do you need refined and cleaned by a grace filled powerful God full of justice and strength?
Pastor said, “Jesus became the voice for the voiceless.”
The women of the ‘day’ had no voice. They had no purpose and no value. Jesus did not stay within that law he stayed within the soul searching God laws that asked questions.
Questions of the heart.
He showed compassion when it was against the rule of the day.
He challenged those who challenged him and gently cared for those who sought him out.
He was an advocate and a Judge.
Will you also make him your Lord and Savior so he can gracefully move into your heart and show you what needs to be refined and cleaned?
This is just a little something to think about today.
God in His Holiness was gentle enough to have grace towards a women standing before him in shame wrapped in a bed sheet.
What are we wrapped in?
by Sharon O | Nov 8, 2010 | Uncategorized
We went to a marriage seminar this weekend.
It was good, it was challenging, it was thought provoking and it brought a bit of tears.
The whole topic was heavy and good.
It will take me a few days to process it all.
I will share in a few days the ‘whole idea’ of the seminar.
For now I think I will just wish you a good week.
I pray it is a good one for you.
I pray that you will feel blessed and rested.
God bless you as you press in and ask him to give you a restful renewed heart
and a spirit within you that is ready for worship.
Blessings to you on a new week ahead.
by Sharon O | Nov 3, 2010 | Uncategorized
Tender words, gentle touch, and a good cup of coffee,
And someone that loves me and wants me to stay;
Hold them near while they are here,
and don’t wait for tomorrow.
To look back and wish for today.
We have this moment to hold in our hands,
And to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;
Yesterday’s gone, and tomorrow may never come,
But we have this moment today. ~ Bill Gaither
Thirty Seven years ago November 3rd, 1973.
We were young and not really knowing what we were getting ourselves into.
God was with us and He followed us through times that were good and times that were not so good. He protected us from ourselves and our immature growing up years.
When the babies came we did our best and when the sicknesses came we again did our best.
When life threw us one curve after another we again did the best we could do to move forward in the same direction.
We pressed on when didn’t know why or how and we took one step at a time to regroup when we felt so undone and alone. There have been challenges and through them all…
God has been with us deepening our commitment and our love and faith in the journey together.
Now in the autumn part of our lives… I pray He will continue to be with us as we grow through the wonderful privilege of being grandparents and as we pass the torch of faith and love to those who walk behind us.
We have this moment… We have this moment in time…before it slips by us like grains of sand… to say to each other…
Happy Anniversary and I am glad we made this journey together.
May we cherish each day and Thank God for giving us this gift of marriage.
As I am often reminded…”Remember we are supposed to grow old together.”
by Sharon O | Nov 1, 2010 | Uncategorized
November 1st.
The beginning of a new month and a new season…
it’s a time of giving thanks and pulling our hearts into a new direction.
Thanksgiving when I was growing up was actually a very special day.
In the midst of the chaos of a strange and distant home we always knew that thanksgiving was at our grandma’s house. Actually it was grandma and grandpa’s house but he was often a silent figure sitting in his upholstered rocker swivel chair next to the side table holding his coffee or snacks.
For many years grandma did all the shopping cooking and preparing.
She would shop for days and make sure all the food was ready for cooking.
The dining room table decorated with china and crystal goblets along with fancy napkins and other accessories that went along with a beautiful table. Usually there would be a wonderful fresh flower arrangement and candles near by.
I will always remember how the multi colored lighting reflected off the dining room light making the ceiling a kaleidoscope of beauty and color.
As little girls we would anticipate the day at grandma’s.
Starting our day watching the Macy’s thanksgiving day parade on the console tv. Then prepping ourselves with showers or baths and setting out nice clothes for it was not a day for jeans… it was a day for pretty outfits and hair done. (I still remember the pink foam rollers wrapped around forming curls in my very straight hair).
I will always remember the china and the crystal and the forks and spoons ‘just for’ the pickles olives and cranberries. The turkey would cook and the potatoes would boil and grandma would stir and cut and prep the olives and pickles and we would gather in the kitchen and the guys would gather in the living room. There was always ladies chatter and men’s chatter not really saying much in the process.
It is funny now for me to think back because even though the dinner was fancy and proper and wonderfully made. The conversation was ‘stilted’ and maybe not even real. As children we didn’t really know that but later as the years moved on it became more true that the tradition was just that…
dinner at grandma’s.
Not a family reunion of warmth and love.
I am not saying we didn’t love each other, it was different. It was more out of obligation than wanting to be there in a warm and welcoming setting.
In the home my husband and I have made our thanksgiving is just as fancy.
That was a rule I brought into the relationship… that holidays were to be special.
A time for celebration and remembering.
We serve on china and crystal and with matching assorted plates and bowls, we have cloth napkins matching the cloth tablecloths. It is a tradition of beauty captured by my grandma and passed down from me to our children.
The difference is the conversation and the mood.
We thank God for the beauty and the bounty and the children’s voices and the hum of soft music. We are thankful for life is truly a gift for us to enjoy and give out.
We are thankful as we look upon the faces connected to us by family history.
I remain thankful for grandma’s traditional beautiful table setting and all that she showed me.
Even the lesson to ask and listen and ask more and listen deeper.
For in the faces of family and through the blessing of the meal…
we will join our hearts together.
I pray this November will be… for new traditions… new love and new life.
What do you pray for?
by Sharon O | Oct 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
Ann Voscamp writes a beautiful blog called ‘A Holy Experience’.
If you have never experienced her style of writing and her words from the heart I encourage you to add yourself on her blog list. You can click onto it from the emblem on the right in my favorite section.
A few weeks ago there was a writing conference in Hershey Pennsylvania called The Relevant conference. Ann was one of the speakers and so many of the ladies who attended it have been writing about their thoughts and feelings this last week. It is has been such a blessing to read them and see what God has done. Ann was just one of the many speakers who shared their hearts and their words from God to a group of ladies who were searching and who went with the hopes to improve their writing and increase their readers.
They say that is not what they learned.
It wasn’t about ‘blog readership’ it was about the Lord meeting them in a new and deeper way.
One of the blogs I read shared what Ann said to them and I am now going to share it with you.
I hope it is ok to do that.
I felt the words were so real and so true they must be shared whether you know who Ann is or not. This blog is often about healing and God’s ability to take what was broken and make it whole again. Sometimes it is different but most of the time is returns to the question, “how are you doing with God?”
This is what the blog writer shared from Ann:
You don’t have to come to the keyboard knowing what you are going to say. It comes from God to us to heal us and then through our story to heal another. Story is the way the Spirit of God binds our wounds. When these words find their mark. God heals two hearts ~ yours and mine.
When I read this I said ‘YES’ to myself.
That is what this blog has been for… to share stories of hope and healing.
To share that we must often step back and think about the journey we have been walking and living before we can press forward.
To share what God is doing in and through the power of words~ good and bad.
Someday I want to go to the relevant conference but not to go and find out how to increase blog numbers or readers or visits. But to go and find out how to focus in and draw deeply from the well of God’s grace and mercy and wisdom and love. So that can be shared in a deep and meaningful way to those who read.
This blog has always been God’s.
It is not about me and I hope it has not reflected a ‘me’ attitude.
Some things shared might be personal but the intention is always to challenge the readers into a new and deeper ‘way’ of thinking.
I hope it does… I hope it challenges… I hope it encourages…I hope it shows a peaceful gentle spirit who ‘sits’ with me in the chair as I write and listen and then push ‘publish’.
The prayer from my heart is give the reader ‘something to think about’ and give God the glory in the process.
If that ever changes and the story becomes different.
I will close down the blog and end it.
by Sharon O | Oct 27, 2010 | Uncategorized
What is the main attribute of Jesus that is rarely talked about?
Our Pastor posed this question.
In all honesty I said, “He always chose to do the will of the Father.”
Others said, “He was gentle… He was loving… He was patient…
He had compassion.”
These are all true and all a part of who Jesus is and was.
The question goes deeper than that.
Dictionary.com summarizes it as:
Attribute: a characteristic quality or symbol of a particular person.
Our Pastor said:
“We must remember Jesus as the Lion of Judah, strong, courageous,
bold with power and strong intent. When demons met him they ‘knew’ who he was.
“He was never intimidated by them HE was intimidating.”
The Son of the Most High knew what to say and do, and the ones who were terrorizing the people became the terrorized by the one who held the most power.
Jesus was not afraid of them or scared of who they were.
Mark 5:1-5
They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons with his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”
Jesus was not afraid of the evil that came from behind the spirits in this man.
Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
Pastor said at this time the man who was known as ‘the evil one’ had lived for years in the rocks and no one wanted anything to do with him. He said,”For the first time in years, someone was asking the man,
“Who are you and what is your name?”
It is an identity issue and it is relational. (I care for you as a person who are you?)
The story goes on as Jesus sends the demons into pigs which were symbolic at the time as unclean and over a cliff to die . Then in vs. 15 the story continues:
When they (the towns people) came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. vs 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
(why… because they saw and were afraid of his power)
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. (wouldn’t you? He just saved his life and his identity)
Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
(Go home to your family who hasn’t seen you for years)
Jesus said ‘GO Home and tell them who healed you.’
That speaks of responsibility to move forward and away from what you were.
Pastor said, “So many times your past defines who you are now. It bullies you and it makes your identity not what it really is in the present moment. When you are intimidated you lack faith.”
The man who was healed was no longer the man hiding in the rocks.
He was different… he was released… and he was able to sit with a sound mind in the presence of Jesus. (A word was spoken and a life was changed forever)
Isn’t that just awesome that Jesus would reach out and change this man who didn’t even ask to be changed?
Jesus was not intimidated by demons and he was not afraid of them. He said to them ‘MOVE out’ and then he sent them with his words to their death.
Jesus was not intimidated he was intimidating.
The demons knew who he was… they knew about his power and they were afraid of him.
The man in the rocks was identified as a ‘mean spirited possessed person’ by the circumstances he had been living in. It wasn’t his real self. It was a ‘circumstance’ or situation he could not over come by himself.
Pastor ended by saying:
Being intimidated means I am being in the presence of a threat… being intimidating recognizes that I am present with a being that isn’t threatened.
A few questions for us to ask:
What circumstance do we want to find ourselves in?
What identity are we going to link to:
Someone who is hiding in the rocks or someone who has a renewed mind sitting in the presence of Jesus?
by Sharon O | Oct 25, 2010 | Uncategorized
It seems that the theme lately has been life changing moments.
Not sure what God is trying to show me or teach me but I am ready and willing to learn from the lessons given. In a moment in time everything changes from one ‘place in time to another’ one memory to another or one ‘season to another’.
Today my husband’s dad ~ my father in law who is 88 years old lost his dear old dog.
After 11 years of spending time together yesterday she went into a ‘stroke’ type situation and was admitted into the dog hospital. Within hours he was admitted to a hospital too.
Anxiety and stress created heart issues for him. It was looking like a heart attack but not really sure… one cannot be sure until the test results are back from the lab.
Abby the dog died today she was over 14 years old.
She was in surgery when the vet realized she was full of cancer and as an old dog she was not going to get better. He checked with dad’s daughter and made sure it was a good choice. Dad was still in the hospital when Abby left for good it was really the only choice left for her in order for her to not suffer.
When we found Abby she was a few years old and she was an energetic pup. At the time when I found her on line a young couple was moving to Guam and the quarantine for her would be so costly they decided to give her away. We met her and the first time she saw dad and mom she realized this old couple needed help she got up off the floor and she moved closer to dad as if to say ‘WELL when are we going home’.
She realized she had a job to do and she ‘assigned herself the job’ of being a hearing and aide dog. They took her home and got her settled and she got to work right away. The phone would ring and because mom and dad had hearing issues Abby would bark and stare at the phone she would tap it and bark until they answered it. She would wake them up in the morning with a bark and she would wake them up if someone came to the door. Her bark was loud and sometimes a shrill sound but she assigned herself the job of being a hearing-watch dog and whatever it took to do the job she did it. She was excellent at her job and she impressed whoever came into the door to visit. Before she came to live with them she was an average family dog. After moving in she had a mission in her heart and an important goal and meaning for her life.
When mom O got sick Abby stayed by her side not wanting to leave. She would lay there and just ‘wait’ and watch each hospice person as they came and left. Checking on mom to see if they left her comfortable and resting. After mom O died Abby stayed close beside dad O. She was his shadow and she was never going to leave him. She would go outside to play and then want to come right back in to sit by his side.
We knew she didn’t want to leave his side. Today she did… it was out of her control.
He is in the hospital tonight with symptoms that won’t let him come home and he is resting with a grieving heart missing his dog terribly but understanding that she had to leave.
It is a story of a man and his dog.
Of love with a different meaning and a relationship that was full of helping one another.
Today Abby left for good.Tomorrow Dad O will have to go for a walk alone. Ride in his car alone. And sit in his chair alone.It is sad and it is his life now and it is a journey we all must face at some point in time.
Saying goodbye to a ‘life time love’ then saying good bye to a helper and guide and a ‘shadow’ that never chose to or wanted to leave. Today Abby left for good. Good bye miss Abby…
you were a good girl and you loved dad and mom a lot. Be at peace old girl.
Heaven is waiting for you to run and jump and bark and play. Maybe you can have a new job there…
Can you watch mom O for us now? I am sure she will be happy to see you.
Take care of her for us ~ you have a new job assigned to you now. Go do it with all the gusto you have within you and make us proud. You go girl and maybe you will find some pine cones along your way.
