Your Dying Spouse 686 - Rooted in Christ, Rooted In Love {FMF}

It's been a stormy week, from the passing of Barb's da (click here if you'd like to read my tribute to a great man) to my own physical fabric failing to the point where "Don't give up!" feels like a hollow joke.

Especially when one has the runs that...wait for it...don't give up.

The thing is, what keeps you going isn't determination to push through the obstacles.

It's the Love that lifts you over them.

There's a storm about, I won't deny,

but I'm rooted where it's still.

Cancer wants me, yea, to die

but I'm very hard to kill.

I'm rooted in the love of Christ

and in the love I give,

saved by what He sacrificed,

and choosing life, I live.

Sure there's unimagined pain,

but no unconquerable sorrow,

for though I die, I still remain

in His bright tomorrow.

Though there be hard nights yet a-borning

in Jesus' world it's always morning.

Music from Barry Manilow, with I Made It Through The Rain.

Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.

Your Dying Spouse 685 - A Giant Passes

Barbara's da, Richard 'Dick' Schmeisser died today. He'd been ill for a long time, so it wasn't unexpected.

But still.

He was my wife's beloved father. And he was the greatest man I ever met.

Barbara, this is for you.

Where have the golden days all gone
that defined whom I've become?
Why am I left all alone
under a cold and burning sun?
Where's the rock that was my shield,
why has he gone away?
How could such a giant yield
unto a dying day?
They say that parting's not forever
and that we shall meet again,
but years ahead seem to cry, "Never!"
and in the meanwhile comes the pain.
Please help me, Lord, I am undone,tell me Your morning's yet to come.

Music from the Dropkick Murphys, with Forever.

Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.

Your Dying Spouse 684 - Golden Crowns

It's hard to want to try my best now, because my 'best', at least in terms of quantity, is a shadow of what it was in the Good Old Days.

And those Good Old Days were last month.

I'm hoping the quality is still there, in writing and other things, but it takes a lot more efort to achieve.

Nonetheles, in spite of walking being sudenly more difficult, and a necklace of tumours making any head turning painful (or impossible), doing one's best is simply the only option, for a simple reason.

It's what we have to offer God. He gave us the tools of our abilities; it's up to us to mae us of them, in the circumstances into which we have been placed.

When the best that you accomplish

is the worst that you can do,

and the devil seems to vanquish

every dream you ever knew,

square your shoulders, stop your crying

and step up to face the test

which requires, unto dying,

that you always do your best.

It’s not the winning or the losing

that defines what you will be;

it comes down to your own choosing

that showing up is victory,

and even lives that are defeated

by golden crowns are God-completed.

Music from Barry Manilow, with Daybreak.

Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.

Your Dying Spouse 683 - Keep On Swimming {FMF}

Well, gee. I can't turn my head to the right anymore. There's a tumour in the way.

So, like the eye-patched Nick Fury in the Avengers films, when I want to see something on that side, I turn.

"Sounds exhausting," said Tony Stark.

It is.

But, whatever. You do what you can until you have to do what you must.

I'm swimming very far from shore,

beyond the outer reef,

bottom's a thousand fathoms, more,

and kraken rides beneath.

I feel the salt in the spray,

and it mingles with my tears

that are quickly washed away

leaving just my fears.

I'm tossed and turned, spun about

and dropped from crest to trough,

with no one to hear cry or shout

but the wandering albatross.

Chin up, lad, swim on, be brave,

till Jesus walks out on the wave.

If you want to read about real courage, the ultimate keep-on-swimming attitude, look to Paul Batura's wonerful tribute to Alex Trebek.

And, of course, the musical theme has to be provided by Dory from Finding Nemo...

Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.