In Your Loving Arms

Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father!

Today Father, my heart grieves for the mother of one of Your Children who lost his battle with cancer yesterday, and has left us to join You in Your Kingdom.  His earthly trials are over Lord, and he triumphs in Your Presence, and for that my heart rejoices.  His mother, family and friends however have a piece missing from their lives that will mourn his passing nonetheless.  I pray for Your Healing and Comfort to all those missing Dorian’s light today Father, and ask that You keep them in Your Loving Arms so they may know the joy he’s experiencing with You now.

Searching for words of comfort Lord, I came across a poetic prayer written by Edgar A. Guest that touched my heart so deeply that I wanted to share it here:

A Child of Mine by Edgar A. Guest

“I’ll lend you for a little while
A child of mine,” God said,
“For you to have the while he lives,
And mourn for when he’s dead.

It may be six or seven years
Or twenty-two or three;
But will you ’till I call him back
Take care of him for me?

He’ll bring his charms to gladden you
And, should his stay be brief,
You’ll have his lovely memories
As a solace for your grief.

I cannot promise he will stay,
Since all from earth return;
But there are lessons taught below
I want this child to learn.

I’ve looked the whole world over
In search for teachers true;
And from the throngs that crowd life’s land,
I have chosen you.

Now, will you give him all your love
Nor think the labor vain?
Nor hate me when I come to take
This lent child back again?”

I fancied that I heard them say:
“Dear Lord, Thy will be done.
For all the joys Thy child will bring
The risk of grief we’ll run.

We’ll shower him with tenderness,
We’ll love him while we may.
And for the happiness we’ve known
Forever grateful stay.

But should Thy angel call for him
Much sooner than we’ve planned,
We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes
And try to understand.”

Amen.

~Phather Phil

P.S. For those who haven’t been following Dorian’s struggle, his mother has a page at CaringBridge.org which can be found here.

Divine Background Music

Dear Lord; Happy Sunday Father!

Last week Lord, the boys and I were sitting down together watching an old episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Riker and a couple other crewmembers had beamed over to a derelict ship and were exploring, when I looked over and noticed that Aidan was covering his eyes.  When I asked him why, he told me “There’s a scary part coming… The music changed.”.  Sure enough, the background music had changed to an ominous tone, and seconds later the first alien body was found.  That got me to thinking…

What if we had our own “background music” in our lives…

Wow… Wouldn’t that be cool!  We could tell when we were headed for dangerous or scary situations, or good news was coming.  We’d have warnings of upsetting events, or that what we were doing was destined for a joyous outcome.  Through that musical guidance our lives could be focused and directed so we knew what we should do with a better sense of clarity…

And then I realized Father, that we already have that… We have Your Voice.

The “music” of Your Spirit is always there with us; It soothes us, warns us of self-destructive behaviors, comforts us and leads us where our true path lies.

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”” – Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)

Such wonderful melodic guidance it is Father, we just need to learn to listen for it in our daily lives.

Thank You so much for being such a Wondrous Conductor, guiding us from one scene to the next in perfect harmony with Your Purpose.  I pray that we may all hear Your lyrical prompting each day, and that our Divine Background Music leads us straight to Your Feet.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Thankful Thursday: More Multitudes

Dear Lord; Happy Thankful Thursday Father!

Following last week’s example Lord, I’m going to add to the list of Your Gifts that I’ve been especially grateful for this past week.  It’s funny, but since last week’s posting I’ve been finding myself making mental notes as I go through the day; “Wow… This needs to make the list this week!”.  I love having the mindset of “filing” all those wonderful Blessings You bestow on me so I can write them down later on.  🙂

Anyways Father, here’s my list this week:

16. Children who remember to say grace at dinnertime… Even when I forget.

17. A caring, God-loving veterinarian who understands what our “furry family members” mean to us.

18. Hunny responding well to the medication after only two days.

19. Good friends who go out of their way to help our family.

20. Live worship messages streaming from Crosspoint.tv on Sunday nights.

21. A staff who “rolls with the punches” in uncertain times.

22. Finding a Bluetooth headset for my phone that fits comfortably and works properly, (finally!)

23. Spring rainstorms that lull me to sleep at night.

24. A wife who likes mowing the lawn.

25. The smell of warm cinnamon bread baking in the oven.

26. Exploring the beauty and wonders of nature with the boys.

27. My hacked Nook Color Android Tablet.

28. Breakfast for Dinner.

29. The online Bible at YouVersion.com which I can access from my PC, my phone and my Android tablet.

30. Chunks of fresh strawberries in my fruit slushie.

Heavenly Father, as always this list could go on, and on, and on… Your Blessings surround us all each day, and I just love connecting with You further by putting them in writing.

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Running on Fumes

Dear Lord; Happy Wednesday Father!

You know Father, I still find it amazing the ways You find to impress things upon my heart.  In today’s case for instance, my morning lesson came from the gas gauge on my dashboard.

I was on my way in to work, when the quiet of my morning ride was unceremoniously interrupted by a loud “ding!”.  Looking down at the dash, I realized that my trusty vehicle was trying to draw my attention to the fact that I was quite low on fuel.

“I’ll be ok” I thought… “I can keep going for a while yet.”

For some reason though, You seemed to feel that this was a good learning opportunity for me.

“You’ve felt that way before.” I heard You whisper.

Ouch!  I knew exactly what You’d meant by that too…

When I was in my early 20s, I knew everything.  I prided myself at always being one step ahead, always staying in control of every situation, and in never needing anyone’s help.  My life was a non-stop roller coaster of work, caring for a rapidly declining mother and grandfather, and one self-destructive relationship after another.  During that period I averaged three to four hours sleep a night, and many of those were obtained through alcohol induced collapse.  Yep, I had it all worked out… I could burn the candle at both ends and deal with whatever came my way.

I was running on fumes.

And like my truck Father, you can only function that way for so long before you just… stop.

In my case, the “dead on the side of the road” moment came with the onset and diagnosis of my son Jonathan’s disease shortly after he was born.  In one decisive stroke, I became painfully aware that I wasn’t as in control as I had disillusioned myself into believing.  I was lost, and terrified, and felt completely disconnected from what I had always held onto as being finite and real.

And yet Lord, in that humbling and pain, You began my rebirth.

Sometimes Father, as I’ve learned, we need to be stranded on the side of our spiritual road before we can begin the real journey.  Thankfully, You pick up hitchhikers.  🙂  Now I keep my “Faith Tank” full, and try to follow Your GPS to where You need me to be.  I don’t always get there directly, but I’m learning new roads each day.

Thank You for Your “Road Side Assistance” program Father.

Amen.

~Phather Phil

P.S. Today marks one year from the very first “Email to God” that I ever posted.  It was simply a tongue-in-cheek message sent to my Facebook Wall that read : “Dear Lord, we thank you for another day and all the blessings you have bestowed upon us. Just a note however, I think you left the water running last night… Amen.  ~Phather Phil” (It was a particularly rainy day.  🙂 )

In His Hand…

Dear Lord; Good evening Father!

Well Father, we certainly did talk a lot today.  From a rough start between Shannon and the kids this morning, to a fearful trip taking our dog Hunny to the Veterinarian this afternoon, I’ve had a lot of prayers in my heart and on my lips.  Thank You for staying by my side Lord… Your Presence was very apparent.

As You know Father, in our house we consider our pets part of the family.  Along with the two-legged members of the household, we have four little dogs, a kitten we took in last year, a couple aquatic turtles and a tank full of fish.  Needless to say Lord, life is abundant in our home at all times.

The two older dogs; Brandy who’s 17 and Hunny who just turned 16 have been exhibiting increasing symptoms of age as of late, so their care requirements have obviously increased.  Along with age however, last year we found out that Hunny has some additional medical issues as well.  It all began when she started having bouts of intermittent “hacking” coughs which would go on for several minutes.  We took her to the veterinarian, and after a number of tests and x-rays it was determined that she suffered from an enlarged heart which was beginning to affect her breathing.  We discussed options with the doctor, and although there was no cure for her condition there were some diet and exercise changes that we could make that would help extend her life and make her more comfortable as well.  She responded well to the changes, and while the cough still showed up from time to time, she appeared to be doing better…

Until last week.

The cough came back, with a vengeance.  This time though, it wasn’t restricted to intermittent bouts of coughing, but hours of deep, throaty hacking.  We tried to keep her calm and comfortable, but the symptoms continued to worsen.  As of last night, the cough was continuous and nothing I could do seemed to help her.  She finally collapsed into sleep after hours of obvious discomfort.

Needless to say Father, rest didn’t come easy for me last night.  I know You heard me, both in my prayers and the pleas I kept silent as well.

I arranged an appointment for Hunny to be seen this afternoon, fully aware of the potential of what could be needed.  The possibilities weighed on my heart Lord, but I felt You with me on that long ride; reminding me that You were with me, that Hunny was Your Creation, and that whatever the outcome that You cared for her.

“In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” – Job 12:10

I’m thankful Father, that Your Voice is always there to comfort and guide me, and that the doctor’s examination showed some room for optimism that she’ll be with us for a bit longer.  We were sent home with some medication to help her breathe, to fight off a bronchial infection, and to get some rest.  While I know that her condition won’t go away, it’s a Blessing that we don’t have to lose her just yet.  🙂

Heavenly Father, thank You for remaining ever-faithful and staying by my side each day.  In the shadow of having to make a difficult decision, It emboldened me to know that I had Your Divine Guidance to lead me.  I pray that Your Presence is felt by all those facing such uncertainty.  Amen.

~Phather Phil