Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 34

Dino the Wonder Dog

My handsome Dino
  He always liked the other animals. Here with Wesley. 
And baby Buddy  With Buddy nearly grown up With baby Bleu
With all the pups
And even with Lady, who didn't like many other dogs
He especially got along with the cats. Little Alice
Difficult Fred
Special Emma
And even visitor Brewster
His best four-legged friend, tho, was Ches What a handsome pair.

He even liked our bear
But his favorite activity was camping
And favorite thing to do while camping was playing fetch in Lake Superior


He went through three different campers with us even. Two pop-ups
And the travel trailer

Oh, sweet, sweet Dino He had always loved Christmas too. But this year? Not so much. Didn't even open any of his presents.
I guess that's when we knew it was time. 
I don't know why or when I started calling you the wonder dog.
But you will always be the Wonder Dog in our hearts. 

God loaned you to us from April 16, 2007 to January 4, 2023, and it was time God had you back. 

Do Not Be Still

 Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God! (Psalm 83:1, New King James Version)

Last Sunday, I introduced you to my Bible verse for this year. “Be Still and know that I am God.”

I thought today that I would follow up on that, cite other verses with the same message, that sort of thing. Instead, I stumbled on the passage above. It looks like, while God is telling us to be still, we are asking Him to not be still. We want His voice heard. We want Him to roar like a lion. We want Him to declare Himself to be God above all the heavens and earth.

Why do we want that? The last verse of Psalm 83 answers that question.

That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalm 83:18, New King James Version)

The thing to remember, though, is that God has it under control. Yes, He listens to our prayers and our pleas. But He will be still when He chooses and roar like a lion when it’s the right time. He knows way more than we do. And as we wait for Him to act, we just need to be still and know He is God. 

Be Still and Know

 I’ve blogged about this Bible verse before. And it looks like I will keep right on (write on!) blogging about it.

Every year, I choose a word to help guide me through the next 365 days. Last year the word was “Faith,” and the Bible verse to go along with that was “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1, New International Version).”

That’s pretty powerful. But 2022 was another brutal year. I did so much praying to God for so many people and so many situations, that my praying started turning into pleading and begging. If I have to plead and beg to have my prayers answered, is that really having faith in God?

The other night, as I lay in bed, once again praying, pleading, and begging, God's still Voice reached out to me. “Be still and know that I am God.”

“Yes, keep praying,” the Voice continued. “But once you have sent your prayer, let it go, because I have heard it, and I will take care of it. I will take care of you and your loved ones. Be still. Be calm. Be at peace.”

Okay, maybe He didn’t say all of that in so many words, but the sense of peace did flow over me. And, so, instead of a word for this year, it is this verse, because I know God

Sheets to the wind, or to the trash

 I’m sure this is going to be one of my more bizarre posts. I mean, look at that picture! So, it was the week before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even whatever this face was on my bed.  Ok, just kidding. Seriously. The week before Christmas, I washed the sheets and was putting them back on the bed when I noticed this grimace. I knew the sheets were getting thin, but I didn’t realize they were this worn until these rips started staring at me.  Good thing I had bought a set of sheets for Santa to give Hubby and me on Christmas morning. Except that my OCD would definitely not allow me to leave a fitted sheet in this condition on the bed.  I didn’t have time to wrap the new sheets, much less get them on the bed – “Surprise, Honey, looks like Santa got us sheets a week early and even put them on for us!” as we were crawling under the covers that night.  Looking at the calendar just now, I should have been really quick-thinking and wished him Happy Hanukkah!  Anyway, that’s how my week before Christmas began. Yes, it got better, and actually, the thing with the sheets was just that – a dumb thing that happens to us all. And it’s not like Hubby really thought Santa was bringing him any presents this year. Or was he? Hope you had a good holiday and that we all head into the New Year safe, healthy and prosperous. 

The Everlasting Light

           That night, some shepherds were in the fields nearby watching their sheep. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord was shining around them, and they became very frightened. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people. Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord. This is how you will know him: You will find a baby wrapped in pieces of cloth and lying in a feeding box.”

Then a very large group of angels from heaven joined the first angel, praising God and saying:

“Give glory to God in heaven, and on earth let there be peace among the people who please God.” (Luke 2:8-14, New Century Version)

Merry Christmas one and all.

Light in the Darkness

“The sun shall no longer be your light by day, Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, And your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, Nor shall your moon withdraw itself; For the Lord will be your everlasting light, And the days of your mourning shall be ended.” (Isaiah 60:19-20, New King James Version)

This picture is of the moon about to set early one winter morning in March. Sometimes we watch the moon come up in the eastern sky, but I don’t remember ever seeing the moon this bright as it was sinking in the west. I wanted to write something about the first Christmas today, but nothing came to mind, except this picture of the moon.

The Old Testament book of Isaiah is filled with prophecy, some pretty obvious (such as Isaiah 7:14 – “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”), but many more are quite obscure.

The verses above, for me, seem like the obvious kinds. God is sending a Savior, One brighter than the sun or the moon, One who will never dip beyond the horizon to leave us in darkness. A Savior who will be the Light of the world, who will last forever.

And it all began when Jesus was born on that dark night in Bethlehem.  

LIGHTS

 A year ago this past Monday, my blog post here told about an amazing pre-Christmas gift we received. The linemen for public service showed up at one a.m. to fix the power line that had been down for three days, leaving us without electricity, which meant no lights, no heat and no water. When their trucks pulled into our yard, lights lighting up the entire yard, it must have been what the shepherds witnessed when the angels appeared, declaring Jesus’ birth.

This morning I was thinking about that Christmas miracle, and it brought tears to my eyes.

We take so much for granted – that our houses will be warm in the winter, that water will come out of the tap when we open the valve, that the food will stay cold in the refrigerator.  Even that when we flush the toilet our waste will magically disappear!

But, man, those lights in our yard that night! The lights in the field on the night Jesus was born. And as much as I like heat and water and power in my house, I really like the thought that a tiny Baby came to this earth so that I have received the greatest gift of all – eternal life.

We’re in the home stretch to Christmas now. Remember what it is all about.

I took this picture yesterday afternoon looking in the general direction of where that power line
was down. God is good. 
 

What is in your head? What was in Joseph's?

      As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21, New Living Translation)

It's so hard to believe that it’s only one week until Christmas. There’s so much to do yet – cards to get in the mail, presents to buy and to wrap, cookies to bake.

I’ll never understand why we get so consumed with preparations this time of year. Every year, I tell myself that I’m not going to make myself crazy doing all this stuff, and every year, I’m right there, running myself ragged.

We all need to step back to that first Christmas. Joseph, who just found out the woman he was betrothed to was pregnant with a child which wasn’t his. My head spins with all I have to do, but can you imagine what went through Joseph’s head? Yet, the only upcoming task he had to accomplish was getting Mary to Bethlehem so they could be counted in the census. When they left on that trip, I’m sure he never realized the Baby’s birth was so near.

This time of year, I think that’s what we need to focus on – the one and only thing that is truly important. Jesus Christ was born as an innocent Baby so He could grow up to save us from our sins. Everything else at this time of year is just frosting on the cookies or snow on the trees.

     Heavenly Father, bless us this time of year, when we need help remembering what we are really celebrating. And thank You for sending Your Son to us as a tiny Baby. Amen 

The Best Day

As I write this, a winter weather alert is in effect in my area. The roads are just beginning to ice up, and the weatherman predicts we will have a foot of new snow on the ground within 48 hours. What better time to post pictures from my best day ever on Diani Beach in Kenya this past October. Where, by the way, the forecast for today is mostly sunny and 85 degrees.   

Goodness, I can’t believe it has been a full two months since we were there! Seems like a lifetime ago.

Anyway, one afternoon, Denise, Val, and I took a walk up the beach just to see what we could see. The tide was out, leaving behind a wide swath of jagged rocks, pools of seawater, and stranded sea creatures.

As we were wandering around, a young man pulled a five-armed octopus out of the water to show us. It is actually a brittle star, a relative of the starfish. 

Pretty soon, two of his friends joined us, and we all walked and waded back down the beach.

The boys continued to pluck sea creatures out of the brine and tell us what each one was.

I wish I remembered the names of them all. Some are easy, such as the starfish.

The middle one is pregnant and upside down so we could see her belly.

No idea what these were called, but the boys said that if a man ate a handful of them it would be like nature’s Viagra. No thanks.

 A crab.

Can’t remember.

A sea urchin.

What a fun afternoon! . 

And beautiful too. 

And what nice young men they were. They offered to take us on their boat the next day, but we already had plans. We did give them a nice tip, though.

Who Do You Recognize?

    When Jesus was at the table with them, he took some bread, gave thanks, divided it, and gave it to them. And then, they were allowed to recognize Jesus. (Luke 24:30-31a, New Century Version)

Hubby had a Santa gig yesterday here in town. It gives us a warm feeling when kids walk in the door, see him, their faces light up, and they squeal, “Santa!”. He’s probably the most recognized character in our culture.

I’d like to think that the face of Jesus is just as recognizable. How many of us have seen that iconic picture of Jesus, where He is looking to the right. His beard is neatly trimmed, His hair is shoulder-length, and His eyes are looking ever so slightly upward. Type iconic picture of Jesus in any search engine and it will come up.

Wouldn’t it be exciting if Jesus was walking down the street of your town, and children ran up to Him, calling in delight, “Jesus!” And then, when He asked what they wanted for Christmas, they would say something like, “Just to always be with You!”

That’s what I want for Christmas – for everyone to recognize Jesus, know Him personally, take His hand and tell Him what they want. And even more so, for everyone to know Him without having to see Him in person, to know Him in their hearts.