Lara Love's Blog, page 399
April 2, 2014
Rescued and Relentless
My 15.5 year old dog Jake, nearing his trip to heaven, reminds me of the way I want to be with God. Jake is always in my face. Even now, as I sit in the hot sun, Jake has gone in and out of the cool of the house countless times - always making his way back to me. He doesn't come with a plan or purpose. He knows I don't have treats. He may or may not get another pat on the head. But no matter how worn out he is by age and health issues, he is persistent in his perseverance to be in my pr...
Trials, Trials, Fiery Trials
Everywhere I turn, people hurting. Everywhere I turn, people struggling. Everywhere I turn, people walking through fire. Sick. Weary. Hungry. Poor. Hurting. Broken. Wounded. Abused. Lost. Abandoned. Neglected. Rejected. Raging. Violence. Oh, how I could cry out to the Lord, why Lord? Why Lord? And I have. I have cried out to Him about my own trials. And I have wondered about the trials of others. But at the end of the day, I remember what I told a woman in the midst of her own struggle. Jesus...
April 1, 2014
Longing to Love
Whoever said love has to be complicated? As soon as I jammed my peanut butter fingers into the sterilized dog bones and dropped the now sticky bones to the ground for their proud new owners to scurry after at full disabled-doggy speed, the tears flocked to my eyes (as best they could despite my recent bout of dry eye) in my humble realization through this so seemingly insignificant act of how simple, and small, and seemingly insignificant an act of love can be. But when is love ever insignifi...
God's Precious Blossoms
I couldn't believe my eyes. In 24 hours, a naked tree that had but one or two blossoms burst forth with so many precious blossoms that I couldn't possibly count them. And, in another 24 hours, even more. At 46 years old, I believe it's the first time in my life I ever noticed such a phenomenon. Only God could have created growth like this. I suppose, in retrospect, I have been too busy surviving one winter season after another in my life to take thankful notice of spring - of what God does wh...
March 25, 2014
Is It Quitting Time Yet?
Do you ever just so incredibly unbelievably desperately really, really want to quit doing something that you can't figure out whether to tear your hair out, scream at the top of your lungs, burst into five gazillion tears, run and hide under the covers, or eat five gallons of ice cream to try to get rid of all the out-of-control, I-want-to-quit-NOW feelings? Okay, granted, I'm not craving five gallons of ice cream, which shouldn't surprise anyone who knows I've been struggling with the eating...
March 24, 2014
The Greatest Comfort of All
Dedicated to my precious friend who grieves today. She knows who she is.
Some people need comfort. Some need lots of comfort. Some need tons of comfort. I've needed tons and tons of comfort throughout my life. So many losses. So much tragedy. And I cannot help but think of the greatest comfort of all today as a dear friend of mine in the midst of trial after challenge after trial has had to release her precious dog to the Lord. I am reminded of the journey I have taken when it comes to c...
Some people need comfort. Some need lots of comfort. Some need tons of comfort. I've needed tons and tons of comfort throughout my life. So many losses. So much tragedy. And I cannot help but think of the greatest comfort of all today as a dear friend of mine in the midst of trial after challenge after trial has had to release her precious dog to the Lord. I am reminded of the journey I have taken when it comes to c...
Need a New Beginning?
One of the zillions of things I love about God is that He is all about new beginnings. When we repent and confess Jesus as Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead, we are born again and get our most important new beginning. God erases the debt for our sins because Jesus paid our penalty on the cross, and we get the greatest new beginning of all on earth. We not only are no longer headed for hell because of our sin, and are now promised eternity with God through faith in Jesus Christ, bu...
March 22, 2014
Praise Report on Sweet Jake
The Lord blessed sweet Jake, Walk by Faith Ministry, and myself this week with plenty of love, generous donations for Jake's visit to the vet, and the surprisingly good news that what I suspected would be bone cancer turned out to be very severe arthritis. I am well aware that Jake, at 15 years old, may not be with me for an extraordinarily much longer time, but I am thankful for the extra time the Lord has given me. Given my not-so-long-ago loss of my beloved ministry co-founder Red, combine...
A Blind Dog's Lesson - She Can See Love
Sometimes words just pop out of my mouth. Then I see their significance. Surely they are borne in heaven, some of these words. Like these. She can see love. Right in the midst of feeding, medicating, and letting in and out the ministry's 17 mostly special needs and senior rescued dogs, I called out to blind, one-eyed Glory. She couldn't see me, of course, but she could hear me. She has trouble locating sound, too, so she does not take a straight path to get to me. But she knows where love is....
March 20, 2014
BOOK REVIEW: RAW FAITH by Kasey Van Norman
Got faith? How about raw faith? Don't know what I'm talking about? Call me a voracious reader. Sometimes I read two to three books a week; often I bounce around from book to book. While countless Christian books I read are hugely informative and often inspiring, strong in teaching and encouraging, too, many of them are written by authors who stay on the surface rather than diving deep below. Every once in a while, however, I run across an exception. Such is the case with Kasey Van Norman's bo...
