Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 20

Oh, Glorious Day

 

I heard a loud voicespeaking from the throne: “Now God's home is with people! He will live withthem, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he willbe their God. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be nomore death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared.” (Revelation21:3-4, Good News Translation)

I think it’s been a while since I’ve given you anyupdates on my chronic pain. I feel like that affliction itself is pretty much gone.Oh, sure, I still get the quirky pains in random places. I’d been doing wellfor a week, and then my left hip jerked me around, and I couldn’t bend for afew hours. But it loosened up, and life went on.

Mostly, my body is constantly stiff and achy. Istretch out my back throughout the day, but it only helps to a certain extent.My neck isn’t too painful anymore, but it is exceptionally stiff, so I can’tturn my head to check traffic while driving. Thank You, God, for the safetyfeatures in my car, like the backup camera and warning lights when someone isin my blind spot.

I can live with what’s been going on in my body, evenmy old nemesis – the kidney stone, which came out of nowhere Monday night.

The Bible passage above was yesterday's verse on the BibleGateway website. It reminds me that someday I’ll no longer have any pain; Iwon’t even have the stiffness and achiness. Oh, what a glorious day that willbe!

And then there was one

Asyou may recall, a year ago last January we made the tough decision to put downour Dino. He had lived with us for over fifteen years and had made friends withall the cats who came and went in our household. But his best buddy was theCheshire Cat, or Ches for short.

Last summer Ches was diagnosed with diabetes. He continued to go downhill, and we knew that eventually we would have to make a decision.

Over the weekend, his breathing got much worse, and he wasn’t interested in his food. When I called the vet on Tuesday, they were able to get him in that day.

Heis once again with his best buddy, Dino.

Ches was by far our most photogenic pet.

And sadly, poor little Emma is all we have left. 

Some Place I Know

Ayear ago, we sold my mom’s land to another relative of ours. On Memorial Day,Hubby and I had the honor of being invited out to visit that piece of propertywith its new owners. I was so happy to see them enjoying it – getting outdoorswith the kids and getting them away from their cell phones and video games.

Icouldn’t remember exactly where I had taken pictures of before, but I gave itmy best shot.

May 2024 July 2017

May 2024 July 2017
May 2024
August 2018
May 2024 Aug 2018They said they were going to put everyone’s hand prints on this rock. I thought it was a cool idea, until I saw the face on the rock. Hmm? Maybe a paint job would cheer him up. 

Someone I Do Know

 On Friday, I wrote about the last words that my parents said to me. My dad's words, I thought, were especially profound. "You are someone I should know."
Here's the really cool thing - when I die and go to heaven, all my loved ones who have gone before me will greet me and my dad will say, "You ARE someone I know."
And then you know what Jesus will say to me? "I know you; I have called you by name." Jesus more than just knows me as someone in passing, He knows me as someone He loves and was willing to die for. 
The Lord who created you says, “Do not be afraid—I will save you.  I have called you by name—you are mine. When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not hurt you. For I am the Lord your God, the holy God of Israel, who saves you. I will give up Egypt to set you free. I will give up whole nations to save your life, because you are precious to me and because I love you and give you honor. Do not be afraid—I am with you!" (Isaiah 43:1-5a, Good News Translation)  Some of my husband's family - grandparents, aunts, uncles and his mom.
Five of them have been called home to Jesus. 

Last Words

 
Mymom would have been 97 years old today. Hard to believe. But she passed away inFebruary of 2017, a few months shy of her 90th birthday.

Thedoctor had admitted her to the hospital that afternoon because she was declining so much. Ihelped the nurse tuck her in bed before returning to work at the clinic justdown the hall. I’m pretty sure the last words I said to her were somethinglike, “I love you, and I’ll be back when I finish with work.”

I’mpretty sure she answered with something like, “I love you, too. Thank you foreverything you do for me.” As if she hadn’t done more for me as my mother.

Twohours later, her doctor – the one I worked for – came out of his office to tellme the hospital had just called him to say my mom had passed away.

Quitethe surprise, but I knew she was ready.

Afew weeks ago, I watched an old episode of a TV sitcom where the character’sdad had died, and he couldn’t remember what his dad’s last words were to him.His dad’s death was even less expected than my mom’s, so why would he saysomething loving and meaningful?

Mydad had Alzheimer’s, and it was getting more and more challenging to keep himat home. Mom finally admitted him to the nursing home on a Friday morning, andI went to see him that afternoon. He was happily pacing the hall, along withseveral other residents who didn’t know what they were doing.

WhenI walked up to him, his face lit up. “You’re someone I should know.”

Ianswered, “Yes, Dad, it’s me, Chris.”

Hesmiled, nodded, and then kept walking down the hall.

Heended up in the hospital with pneumonia on that Sunday and passed away onThursday.

Ifeel blessed that both my parents had gentle words to say to me just beforethey left their earthly bodies. If any of your loved ones had less thankindness to share with you before their passing, please don’t sweat it. It’slife. But you might want to remember to say something loving to those you careabout whenever you see them.

(The picture is of my mom and my sister Pat at my first wedding in 1985. I always liked this picture - they both look so happy. I can't remember what Pat's last words were.)

Turtles, turtles and more turtles

LastWednesday, when we had that rare day of beautiful weather in the Northwoods, Itook a walk with a friend through a local park, and we saw a few turtles.

Okay, it seemed like more than just a few. How many can you see in the picture above?

But I did manage to take pictures of things other than turtles.

Andas nice as those shots were, I kept coming back to the turtles. How many canthere be on three different small bodies of water within a quarter mile of eachother? 

God is Always Fair

God is fair. He will notforget the work you did and the love you showed for him by helping his people.And he will remember that you are still helping them. (Hebrews 6:10, InternationalChildren’s Bible)

I know we all complain about stupid things sometimes. Weargue that things are unfair, that we worked as hard as someone else, and theygot all the credit. Or it’s not fair when a person we see as a bad sinner getsthe better things in life, while we try to always do what is right and feel wehave nothing to show for it.

And then we get so disgusted with life that we saythat God is not fair. And we almost agree with a nonbeliever who says that if Godwere real, then there would be no injustice.

No one said it would be easy and no one said that lifewould always seem fair. But in the end, no matter how we see things, God isalways just and always fair. He loves us more than we can imagine, and He reallydoes want the best for us.

And, in turn, we need only love Him back and then showothers how much we love them too.  

Another Day, Another Sale

Saturday,I attended another vendor sale, peddling my books and bags. The sale was justoutside of Two Rivers, which is a two-and-a-half-hour drive for me. Somehow, Imanaged to get there early (I’ll have to write that down in my miracle book).

Seeingas I had a few minutes, I drove to the end of the road. The actual location ofthe sale was Two Creeks and was on Two Creeks Road and at the end of the roadwas Two Creeks Park. They don’t want to confuse anyone by changing any names.

Right on Lake Michigan, the park was very small, mostly just a boat landing.

But you know me, I can find a beautiful picture where ever I am.  

On a lot of my pictures, I tweak the color just a little bit to make it pop, but I didn’t need to do that on this picture. Isn’t the color of the water amazing?

Then I turned around and there were all these pelicans in the water.

I got back to the sale and set up in plenty of time. Overall, it was a very nice day
  Thank you to the women who helped coordinate the sale and to all the other vendors who were so friendly. 

Happy Mother's Day

             If you can find a trulygood wife, she is worth more than precious gems!

She is a woman ofstrength and dignity and has no fear of old age. When she speaks, her words arewise, and kindness is the rule for everything she says. She watches carefullyall that goes on throughout her household and is never lazy. Her children standand bless her; so does her husband. He praises her with these words: “There aremany fine women in the world, but you are the best of them all!”

Charm can be deceptive and beauty doesn’tlast, but a woman who fears and respects God shall be greatly praised. Praiseher for the many fine things she does. These good deeds of hers shall bring herhonor and recognition from people of importance. (Proverbs 31, verse 10 and verses25 through 31, Living Bible)

There is nothing I can add to that. Wishing mother’severywhere a blessed day today and every day. You deserve it!

My mom with my sister Pat and me in our pickup camper in 1967

Middleton Meanderings

Afterwe left the Farmer’s Market at the capitol last Saturday, we visited theMustard Museum in Middleton.

We walked around the main drag in Middleton for a bit. Naturally I found it fascinating, but restrainedmyself from taking a ton of pictures.

Thenwe ate brunch at the Hubbard Avenue Diner. Don’t you think it would be cute ifthey named it Old Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard?

Theselast pictures are from up on Capitol Square.

Hmm? I don’t think you have much choice but to wait for someone to seat you. 

Havea great weekend!