NEVER HOPELESS

Every piece of magnificent sculpture is merely a broken stone made marvelous by the loving hands of its creator.
More to come….

For small animals, survival depends on their every move and unlike us, they seem to make all their efforts count. They criss-cross the roads in search of food sources, new dens, boroughs or secret hide-aways. They gather, connect, mate, separate, roam and settle all in order to be what they are meant to be according to the grand design set in place so long ago. But inevidibly, our necessary intrusion into their world results in tragedy.

The things we allow people to see of ourselves often is much different than what lies beneath the surface, no?

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How can it be that so many years have gone by? Today is my daughters birthday.

It seems like just a few days ago that she was born in that Bucks County Hospital. Any of you who have had children can remember what it was like on the day your first-born came into this world. Oh man, what an experience.

It came to me today! And then it floated away: a memory.
I felt helpless and my mission pointless, as I gathered the buckets drawing feed for the cows from the old gravity bin dad had built in the far corner of the barn beyond the three pens the cows were in. I climbed the ladder to the hay mowes and hurled the heavy hay bales and much lighter straw bales down that we’d need for the day. But my mind was distracted. I knew an era would come to an end on this seemingly perfect day. A life would be over. A friend would be lost. Dead.

Its been about six years now since that terrible night.

It was a rainy evening during that 2002 summer, dark and not a whole lot was going on in our communities and so most people were enjoying time at home with family. As happens during those evenings, disputes break out and some arguments escalate and the police are called to quell the mounting tension. Such was the case on the night of May 18th, 2002.

The call came out of a disturbance and a veteran officer responded to a local trailer park and signed out on scene. As is routine, after a few minutes the dispatch began to call the officer to check on his well being but those calls went unanswered.

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Although its been said that when one door closes another opens, it’s Hope that strengthens us to act, faith that causes us to see, and courage that moves us in a new direction despite the pain we feel.

What does it sound like when hope is birthed?
Have you ever thought about that?
How do you know what to look for, to listen for, in the worst of times that lets you know that hope has entered the picture?
Children of divorce hope for one thing: Mom and dad will get back together. They long for that. They dream of that. Wishes are made over birthday cakes and stars without number are lassoed with rhymes that dreams are tied to. “Star light, Star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight……………..” Prayers to our Heavenly Father are repeated over and over again. All that comes out of hope. It never dies.

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Having the courage to face the day on our knees is the greatest act of Hope, for faith drives us there and assuraces move us ever towards home.

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I think I finally “get” the Pet Cemetery movie. On August 27, 2008 I had to make the decision to put my baby to sleep. You all have heard the stories of people, friends, family members or neighbors who have felt compelled to lay upon you their tragedy in which ultimately their pet has met their demise and the owner had been left grief-stricken and you are found to be nodding, shaking your head and awing at the appropriate times, perhaps even genuinely compassionate to their pain. Then it happens to you.