No   ordinary   cat

Yes, Peanut was no ordinary cat. This is a hard article for me to write because out of mercy to him we had to have him put to sleep last Wednesday.

He had severe kidney failure that was shooting poison throughout his whole body. On one of his tests the numbers were supposed to be between 10-30 and his was 143. For extreme kidney failure, there is no chance of recovery, only pain and more pain. So we made the hard but necessary decision.

Now I have to do my early morning devotions by myself. Peanut always crawled up beside me in the chair and did his part by sleeping until I was finished. If I didn’t start my devotions on time—his time—he would stare at me until I stopped what I was doing and go head for my “devotion chair.”

I am so thankful for the almost 13 years that we had Peanut. I didn’t pick him but I think God picked him out for me. As a tiny kitten he came to my mom’s garage in Eldon, scared and hungry.

My mom was getting ready to move to my brothers home in Laurie, so now what do I do with this homeless kitten. I asked a neighbor if he would take him, and fortunately for me he said no.

So I put little Peanut in a box in the front seat of the car and headed for Adrian.

Only he didn’t stay little very long. He soon grew to 18 pounds. I called him my bobcat look-alike as he did look just like a bobcat with his short tail and pointed ears and brown coloring. It’s possible he was part bobcat, but we have since found out that there is a breed of cats called pixie-bobs that look like bobcats and weigh 18-22 pounds.

Peanut didn’t have a mean bone in him. He was so gentle. He would follow me around like a little dog. When I was working outside, he would be right there beside me. And he loved Christy, our other cat. They would always curl up together in a chair or on the couch.

Yes, I thank God that He allowed me to have this marvelous loving cat for the time that He did. God has indeed made some mighty fine creatures to share with us.

“The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all he has made.” (Psalm 145:9 NRSV)

Love in Jesus,

God’s “Peanut-loving” servant,
Liz Ray

Written February 20, 2012

Finally   winter

If only for one day—Monday, February 13. It even snowed. It was a luscious day!

I got to stay inside all day except for getting out early and taking snow pictures and feeding the birds.

Although I love working outside, it was good to have a day where I was hemmed in and couldn’t get outside to work.

I have been taking advantage of this unusual winter of warm weather however and have worked outside nearly every day, getting things ready for spring.

I’m way ahead on spring weeds like henbit and chickweed that come up early and try to take over before you know it.

And I already have 108 bags of leaves shredded and spread on my flower beds. Actually if they were unshredded it would translate into 1080 bags since the shredding is on a 10 to 1 ratio.

I’m ready to get my paths between the beds in shape with putting down landscape fabric and then a matting of hay on top to make them “walkable on” wet or dry.

But even though I have gotten a lot done outside because of the abnormal winter weather, I’ve sort of had a feeling of nervousness and uneasiness overall.

Although I have certainly enjoyed it, it just doesn’t feel right at this time of the year having this kind of weather.

I’m definitely not complaining, but I guess I’m such a creature of habit that it throws me off balance when things aren’t as they usually are.

I do know one thing though Jesus is the one constant in all of this. He never changes. I can count on Him to love me, and not only me but everyone,  no matter what the weather is—whether winter is hot and summer is cold.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8 NIV)

Love in Jesus,

God’s “weird weather” servant,
Liz Ray

Written February 15, 2012

Heart   gift

  

“You are a strong person. You WILL be able to stand up under this. You have strength in the Lord and you will make it through this.”

Perhaps one time or another, all of us have had someone give us encouraging words that kept us going or in fact actually kept us from going under.

As the circumstances got darker and darker, and we were ready to give up, the only thing keeping us going was the echo of these encouraging words in our heart.

Although she is in heaven now, I can remember years ago my friend Louise Schmidt giving me encouraging words just when I needed them, and usually they were over the phone.

I can still visualize her standing straight as a board and hear her confident and almost authoritative voice saying, “You can too make it.”

And that was the end of the matter. When Louise spoke, I knew that was the truth and I had better heed it.

So from experience I know the power of encouraging words. They live on even though the person speaking them might no longer be on this earth.

Since Valentine’s Day is coming up shortly, the idea occurred to me that a great Valentine gift to give someone might be “an encouraging word” gift, a true heart gift.

It’s a gift that doesn’t cost money which allows anyone to give it, whether rich or poor.

It doesn’t take a lot of time searching through stores, and it gives the one giving it as much joy as the one receiving it.

And I guess, best of all, it can be given any time. It doesn’t have to wait until Valentine’s Day.

And to me I have found the Greatest Encourager of all is Jesus. His Book is full of encouraging words. And He asks all of us to continue this “encouraging word” gift to others because I guess He knows how good it is for us.

“So encourage each other and build each other up…” (I Thessalonians 5:11 NLT)

Love in Jesus,

God’s “encouraging” servant,
Liz Ray

Written February 8, 2012

Blink   sync

“And just when I was getting my eyes to blink in sync with its blinking!” laughed my husband Jim about the flickering LED light we just got rid of.

It was a clip on goose-neck light that we used at the computer desk. We both just loved it, the way it looked, the way it worked—until it started blinking.

It had 24 tiny LED bulbs in the head. At first two of them or so started blinking. Then a few more, and then a few more. And then a few more.

I tried to ignore the blinking and concentrate on what I was doing at the computer. That worked for awhile. Except I could feel myself gradually getting a slow rage inside me.

At one point, I wanted to grab that beautiful little light we loved so much and throw it across the room. I couldn’t stand another blink, no matter how much self-control I tried to have.

It was so pretty though. Perhaps we should have been suspicious however when we bought it as it was in a bin with a whole bunch of others just like it with a much-reduced CLEARANCE price on it.

Oh, well, we enjoyed it for a little while. We do have it replaced now with one that is working just fine. And I’m beginning to think it’s just as nice, especially since it isn’t blinking.

I have to watch myself that as I go through life I don’t buy into things or ideas that look nice and seem to come with a small price. But later I find out that they can start blinking and mess up my life big time.

I find that if I stick with God-centered ideas revolving around love and concern for others rather than thinking only of myself, I’m on solid basis and am operating under a light that never blinks—God’s light.

“God is light; and there is no darkness in him at all.” I John 1:5 NLT)

Love in Jesus,

God’s “non-blinking” servant,

Liz Ray

Written February 1, 2012