Paco

Today, we put one of our pets down. His name was Paco. He was a black lab/chow. His temperament was kind of like Eyore. He was gentle and content. His fur was always unmanageable. I would brush and brush him, but to no avail. God gives us our animals to teach us how to love. They are helpless. They depend on us for food, shelter, and love.

Paco will be missed. He seemed to go downhill after we put Hope down about a month ago. She was in congestive heart failure. Paco loved her. Hope couldn't bark, so when she wanted to come in the house, Paco would bark to let us know that she wanted to come in. Somehow he found purpose in her weakness. His back hips were the major problem. He had a hard time just standing up. For the last two weeks of his life, I cooked liver for him when I came home from work. He seemed to happy to see me (probably because he knew his cooked meal was coming).

He was born in Highland, CA. Someone left a box of puppies on the playground at Thompson School many years ago (15 I believe). My son, Chris, was helping Robert Mercado (who was then the custodian) during the summer. Chris brought a small black fluff ball of a puppy and said, "Mom, can we keep him?" Of course we kept him. Who could say no to such a cute puppy? Not me. We had a dalmatian, Prancer, at home. He was a puppy also. We thought he could use a friend. And best friends they became. They were inseparable. Two peas in a pod. In 2012, we had to put Prancer down as he had some type of inflammation in his intestines.

Sometimes I feel sad that he lived outdoors most of his life. The reason for this was that he was not housebroken. I know my thoughts are a little scattered right now, but just wanted to share something about our dog, Paco, today.

Tend the People in Your Garden

Friends and Family,
Sometimes you just have to think. We all have people in our lives who have loved us. They are not perfect, but they love us - parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends. But have we truly loved them?

I look in my own life. My parents divorced and that was difficult. But they always remembered my children's birthdays and holidays. They sent cards with gifts and put a smile on those faces. On the other hand, I (as a grandma) am less consistent with sending cards. Most of my grandchildren live far away. Family splits have taken place and it is very difficult to stay connected. And yet, I do love them. But do they know it? And if my provision of monetary gifts is the only way that they will know me, is that the way that it should be? I don't think so. Relationships must be more than cards and gifts, but I guess that is at least a way to say "I care."

Let's look at my parents - Years and years of sending cards to grandchildren who barely acknowledge them in any way. My mother has Parkinson's disease. Is there not anyone to send her a card or call her? Do they even so much as know when her birthday is? I doubt it. My dad is 83 and still tries to be there for them all. Do any of his grandchildren even call to check up on him and see if he is ok? Do they tell him that they love him? Do they know his birthday?

These are very difficult issues to think through. All but one of my children are adults. Maybe I failed in some kind of way just trying to make it through each day. Maybe we don't stop and smell the roses as much as we should. God has put people in our lives for a season and we really need to cherish them more than the mundane routines that we find ourselves in on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis.

So, if you are reading this and it has touched your heart, give that person a call or send them a card. You know who they are as the Lord has showed you. I hope this helps someone's relationship.

My Journey this Week

You know we all have to take the good and the bad in life. God never promised us the road would be smooth, but He promised us that He would be there with us. His presence means more to me now than earlier in my walk with Him. Last Saturday night we started on the Worship Team at our Church. There is nothing that I love more than worshiping my God and King. He is my life.

Always when you walk with the Lord and serve him in any type of ministry, you make the enemy angry. The Word of God says that in the end times, Ha satan would "wear out the saints." Nothing comes into our lives unless the Father Yahweh authorizes it. He has the final say.

My brother is presently in jail awaiting court on Tuesday. This has put a tremendous amount of stress on my 83 year old Dad. On Thursday, after taking my daughter to school, I found my "feathered friend Gary" (parrot) dead in his cage. We have had him for 15 years. His previous owner had died, and that is how we got him. He has always been affectionate to me, but hated everyone else. I will miss him, but he was very noisy with all of his squaking, It seems that squaking isn't a word, but that is how I describe the noise that he made. In a couple of weeks, I have to have a tooth pulled and an implant done. This is very emotional for me as I have never walked this path. However, I am very thankful that my daughter works at the University and will be there. On Friday, I went to a co-worker's husband's funeral. It was very sad.

Enough focus on the bad. The best part of the week was singing praises to the Lord on Worship Team today. It brings me great joy to be able to lead others into the presence of the Living God, and that will be where I will concentrate. Even though the valleys in your life may be deep - His love endures forever. He is coming soon - Maranatha!

Back to School

In the summer month of August

In sunny Southern California

When children ought to be having fun

with life full of singing and swimming

the school year begins

It seems as if things are so different

than when we were growing up

A child lived most of their leisure time

outside playing and interacting with other children.

Now they play lots of computer games

and their social interactions seem to be waning.

We wonder why they are overweight

Could it be that they sit and wait

Wait for their parents to come home from work

Daring not to do anything that might cause them

to exert

Lord, help our kids as they return to school

to be able to focus in the classroom

and learn, learn, learn

Their futures are so bright if only they could see 

As the teachers teach them with patience and understanding

and lead them by imparting knowledge that is key

to making them into the successful adults of tomorrow.

My daughter's essay on Bullying - By Rebekah Shaughnessy

Effects of Bullying

            It is proven that there are 3.2 million students in the world that are bullied each year. Bullying is a very big problem now days, and is overlooked by many people around the world. Bullying isn’t always physical; it could be verbal harassment too. Verbal harassment is one of the main types of bullying with today’s high school students. Every year it is getting worse, and more and more students are starting to think it is okay. Our kids need to start taking a stand against bullying and help to control what is happening around them. I think that if enough people started working together to stop it, it can end once and for all.

            The act of bullying is very unnecessary. It usually tends to occur when the offender is having problems in their own life and needs some way to let it escape, or if they think that bullying will make them “cool”. While they do that, it is causing innocent people to feel horrible. The phrase “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” isn’t the truth. Words can be extremely harmful. Being bullied is very traumatizing for the victim, and most of the time it will make them feel like they are worth nothing and that there is no one there to help them. There is about 4,400 children that die from bullying each year because they don’t speak up. The bully makes the victim feel weak, like they can’t even stand up for themselves. Eventually the victim will start believing that they aren’t worth it and they will stay silent. It is proven that children that are bullied before ninth grade end up taking a part in some type of crime by the age of 24. Bullying can also cause health problems such as depression, and also low self-esteem. It seems like in the future, bullying is only going to get worse. Not enough people are trying to stop it. The number of kids dying because of being bullied is only going to increase within the next 10 years and that will also lead to more crime in the world.

            One of the many solutions that people around the world believe can stop bullying is to increase supervision in schools. Many acts of bullying take place when no adults are around and it is a more one on one thing. If there was more supervision in schools it would lower the chances of it happening. Teachers need to start distinctly looking for kids that are taking place in bullying; they could stop it before it even starts. Although this is a great idea, there are also a few disadvantages. Not all bullying is going to take place at school, it can also take place off campus or it can even turn into cyber bullying, which happens on the internet. There are also not enough teachers in schools to be able to supervise everyone that gets bullied, some people will get missed and the bullying will still continue. There are many different ways to at least improve the situation a little bit.

            A solution that I think will help the situation is to start anti-bullying clubs at every school. The club can be a happy environment where kids can go and get help if they are being bullied. The club can be students that have been through the experience of being bullied and can help more personally then a teacher would have been able to. Also, if it is students that are operating the program they would be able to notice a lot more bullying because they will be with all of the kids during class, and even outside of school, so they can see what is going on. Everyone has been bullied at some point in their lives so there are many people that could join the club. I think this idea should be brought up in many schools, starting in the high desert. Every school in the high desert has some type of bullying taking place every day. If we start these clubs, bullying can be minimized and the schools will have a more welcoming atmosphere. It’s a great way to stop bullying.

            I want to be the beginning of the end of bullying. It has to start somewhere, and that somewhere can be at encore. I personally think it would be a great idea to start a club for kids that are bullied. It can be a safe place where no one will feel judged about anything, and kids can even go to vent about a situation that is bothering them. If this plan worked, every school in America could have anti-bullying clubs and there would be a lot more control over bullying. Bullying needs to come to an end before it gets worse and we lose more lives. The world would be a lot happier place if bullying were non-existent.

           

Our Wilderness Experience

I haven't written a post in quite a while, probably because our lives have been a bit unsettled. We started to attend a new church in Victorville. For some reason, I was unsettled there. The lighting was dim and there are no windows there. I tend toward not liking closed-in places. The pastor and his wife are wonderful people. Part of our reason for not continuing to attend may have been because of our attending our old church for over 18 years. You grow attached to people when you fellowship and worship with them each week.

So, then we went to another church for the past three weeks. We have tried, but don't think it is home for us either. It is a larger church than we are used to. We attended the sunrise service there for Resurrection Sunday this morning. Some of the things that were presented seemed to be a bit off to me. So my husband and I came home and chewed on it for a while. We both agreed that some of what was shared didn't seem scriptural to us. The pastor said that Jesus was put on the cross by Satan. I don't think that is the case. If the old testament had so many references to Messiah coming and dying, was that not Yahweh's plan for our salvation? Also, the church places alot of emphasis on "the pre-tribulation rapture." I know that in the case of Noah, God removed his people before the flood. And we all need to be ready to go at any time. But I think there is too much emphasis on "the rapture." For goodness sakes, maybe we should be ready to withstand some persecution should this not happen before the tribulation. Just like they are encouraging people to be spiritually ready because we are expected to be taken out, I think we should be getting ready to withstand some times of trouble. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Then we went to the 9:45 a.m service at The Gathering Place (our old church that we left 6 weeks ago). We were greeted with such love from everyone there. The crowd was small, but it felt good to be home. When asked if we were settled yet in a church, we had to admit that we feel like we are going through a wilderness experience. So many emotions have been surfacing for me lately. Please pray for God's direction in our lives. We will be in prayer also, Friends.

Our First Day at Our New Church

Today was our first day at Horizon Church in Victorville. I am still going through separation anxiety from leaving The Gathering Place. I watched a few minutes of worship on Ustream from TGP before going to service. It is very difficult to go to a new church. I know it takes time to find out where we fit in, but initially it is an uncomfortable feeling.

Pastor Larry White and the worship team were very good. Songs were sung, praises were lifted high, and we entered into the very presence of Yahweh. He is so good to us! Without His presence, life is not worth living here. He is the reason for life!!

The sermon was about the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Pastor Larry drove home the fact that the sword was a small sword (not big like I had always pictured) which was used as an offensive weapon with absolute pinpoint accuracy. The Word of God must not be used in a sloppy way. It is to kick the enemy's tail.

He shared how the Word of God is infallible and is God's manual to us. Through the Holy Spirit, we are able to experience God through His Word. He gave us three truths about the Word of God.
1. God's Word strengthens (nourishes) us. Psalm 19:7-14
2. His Word guides us. It is a moral compass for our lives. Psalm 119:105
3. God's Word empowers us. Hebrews 4:12

One more important thing (perhaps the most important point that he made) is that we must be obedient to what the Word says. When we read or hear the Word, it will only be effective if we obey. May the Lord bless you as you walk in the Spirit and be obedient to the Word of God!