Lara Love's Blog, page 397

My Broken Heart, My Jake Is In Heaven

This is dedicated to Jenna,  whose heart is also broken. My she pour our her heart unto the Lord and know Him as her hope and comfort, her light and peace,  her all, her everything. May she rest in His everlasting love. 
When I sent my beloved, sweet, 15.5 year old dog Jake to heaven early yesterday morning, I had no idea how broken my heart would be after 12 beautiful years of him in my life since his rescue from a life outdoors, unfixed, with no veterinary care, flea/tic prevention,...

Donations for Dying Dog & More

Sunday. Resurrection Sunday. I stayed home from church because my beloved 15.5 year old dog Jake, rescued years ago from a life outdoors with no veterinary care, no vaccines, and heart worm disease, who has sacrificed years of love and attention as I have attended to the needs of the countless other people and dogs who have come into my care, is dying. Right in front of my eyes. I took him to the vet recently believing it was time for heaven, but the vet diagnosed him with bone cancer and sug...

A Different Kind of Happy - Do You Know this Happiness?

Tired. Blessed. Happy. A different kind of happy. As I started out in my car this morning on day two of gloomy, rainy weather after wading through inches of rain yesterday that created mini-ponds in my sopping wet yard, I couldn't help but think of how happy I am. Me, happy? Yes, me, happy. Not the world's happy. Because in the world's scheme of things, by the world's standards and measures, I am an utter failure who can't possibly know happiness. But here I am now, peeking out the gigantic w...

Rain to End in 83 Minutes - What About Jesus?

This is how far technology has come, or this is far people think it has come anyway. In the midst of a major rainstorm that has already piled up several inches of pond in my back yard, I just learned the forecast is calling for 83 minutes more of rain. That's right. Eighty-three minutes. Do you know what the Bible has to say about weather forecasts?

It's plain, simple, and a hard truth. Jesus rebukes the people because they can look up at the sky and tell the weather forecast (and that's witho...

Finding Purpose in Desolate Places

Desolate places aren't always fun and pretty, are they? The dictionary defines "desolate" as dismal, gloomy, lonely, "having the feeling of being abandoned by friends or by hope", forlorn, solitary, dreary, dismal, and gloomy, according to dictionary.com. The Greek word that translates into "solitary" includes in its definition lonesome, desolate, wilderness, and solitary. None of these definitions describe an exciting, glamorous, joyful, happy, enticing, and inviting place to be, do they? It...

ELECTRIC COMPANY'S POWER-FULL LESSON

My electricity was so whacked out today that I figured either a ghost moved into my house or I had a major problem. I don't believe in ghosts, so wasn't too surprised when the electrician told me to call the electric company to come fix the issue. There is nothing quite like getting electricity in some parts of the house, on and off in other parts, dim and partially working in others, just totally off the map. Yet another reminder of how important it is to be plugged into the power, and God s...

THE BEST GETAWAY EVER

Why is it that people always talk about getting away for a break, going away on vacation, escaping for a weekend, and running away from everything for a retreat and so very seldom speak of drawing away from their day-to-day lives to spend a time away in the presence of the Lord? Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior of the world, even He had to get away at times. But He didn't go to the number one vacation spot, or sneak away to a spa for a weekend. He drew away from the crowds to spend time with...

Wrong Person, Wrong Place, Wrong Thing.......

Not supposed to be there. The words came to me today as I sat in the waiting room of a doctor's office thinking of an evening I spent last year with someone in what seemed like the perfect person, the perfect place, and the perfect thing. But it was all wrong. It made me think. And I had plenty of time to think because waiting rooms aren't called waiting rooms for nothing. This was one very long wait. The perfect time to reflect on how when everything seems perfectly right, it can all be perf...

Dying Dog Used by God to Teach Lesson in Faith

DYING DOG USED BY GOD TO TEACH LESSON IN FAITH:
"The Joy of the Master"

When I cried my heart out and took my beloved 15.5 year old dog Jake to the vet last week to "send him to heaven" (my version of euthanization), the Lord answered my prayer to give me wisdom through the veterinarian when the veterinarian diagnosed Jake with bone cancer and emphatically stated he wanted to try a special procedure and see if Jake could have a few more months of life. The procedure was exceedingly painful for...

Remembering to Rest

If God has told me anything over the past few years, He has told me this. Over and again. And again. Rest, rest, rest. And rest. And as much as I believed He wanted me to get physical rest, I now understand more than anything else He has wanted me to learn to rest in Him. To trust in Him. To cast my cares on Him. To give my worries to Him. To not have anxiety over the future. To not be buried in the past. To not re-play conversations in my head all day long. To not concern myself with how I w...