home f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

i am going to my very first funeral today...
this may sound bad but i am quite excited...
not only is this my first funeral it is a funeral of a man that meant a lot to me...
a man that i grew up listening to every Sunday morning...
and a man that i even babysat his grandkids for...
this man was my pastor...
now it should seem strange that i am excited but i just can not wait to

c.e.l.e.b.r.a.t.e

the wonderful life he led and made for himself...
the estimate for people is around 500...
how many lives can one man touch?
how many lives have you touched?
what is your funeral estimate going to be for the number of people?
think about it ...
this is an estimate of how many are to come...
but then of course their are ones who can't make it...
i knew a man who touched this many lives, i got to talk to him and laugh with him and his family.
no wonder i am excited he was a wonderful, amazing, sweet, lighthearted man with an abundant amount of faith...
now do you think it is time to

c.e.l.e.b.r.a.t.e.

this wonderful man

When we are weak he is strong...

The people of my small church family
are grieving the loss of our Pastor Rod, an amazing man of God.
He passed through the pearly gates of Heaven yesterday
after fighting the battle of cancer with all his strength.
It has been a hard day and is a continual struggle but we are all in this together and have a King like no other...
We miss you already Pastor and will forever miss you.
Thank you for the faith and hope you have brought to the people you knew and even to the ones who maybe just knew you.
You will be remembered




I don't know for sure what was going through Pastor's head the days that he laid in bed and couldn't communicate, but I love to believe that God was telling him a story. The story of what is going to happen to our lovely church and every single person in it... a story that made Pastor excited to go to heaven, to be with the Lord, so he could see the story become a movie.
I believe that Jesus was sitting right there whenever one of us stopped in and was saying, "And do you want to know what is going to happen with Steve.
OH !!! and Nick I have got big things planned for him
and Jackie don't worry I got her, she will be fine, there is no one better then me to wipe her tears away."
I believe that Pastor heard every last word even though he couldn't communicate back...
sometimes
you
just
have
to
listen...
We didn't want to lose Pastor but
man did God get one of the best
and as I look back at all my prayers
for Pastor
when he was sick, now I notice that
I always just prayed that Pastor would be healed and that Jesus would keep him alive and save him today...
but don't get me wrong I wanted Pastor to be at the front of the church again
I wanted him to be the pastor at my wedding one day, sounds funny but I've thought about that already and he was always there...
I notice now that that was my idea and my way to keep myself going
and God has his...
I realize now that God did heal him
God did save him
God did keep him alive
just not the way I pictured it
but the way I picture things is not the way God does and God's picture is much, much clearer then mine
and for that I praise the Lord
He has bigger plans
and he will keep us all together down here
with another angels help
an angel I am proud to say i knew.

-Pastor Rod-

todays love

a bunny sleeping on one side of my sweatshirt pocket....
and one on the other :)

Snuggles and Bundles

if you are going to ask God to save the big things might as well pray that he will save the little ones too
(the wild rabbits we are working on saving)
:) they make my day...

a dog's thought

When i eat your grass
i'm not sick
i just know how insane youget when it grows
so long
and
when i bark
i am not trying to be an annoying
nuisance
i just want you to know i will
never like the people
who drive those
big trucks
oh
and
when i howl to the music you
play i am not
sad
i just get filled with
the same joy that
music brings
you
or even
when i bight on the ends of your pants
and try to drag you
my way
i am not being stupid
i just want you to take another
second of your day
to enjoy
life with me...
i do these things simply for
you...

a moment in forever

today my dad picked me up from piano and had decided not to go to pray with my mom and brother because of a cold that he is coming down with and told me he would just take me home but he had to stop off at Nelson's for some broccoli... it took him a while and i figured he was gazing and lolly-gagging along like he normally does, so i waited... he came back and whipped out an apple from the bag and took a big bite :) i asked him if we could stop by the Cross Lake dam ( i know he likes to do that and i was kind of feeling it tonight too)... after a few yards in the car and a few bites of apple my dad handed it to me and let me take a bite, how much love i felt when after every few bights my dad would let me take one... it just made my day. We drove to the dam and listened to Klove the whole way there "Amazing Love" was the song on as we were pulling up... i got out of the car as fast as i could and ran to the water where i stood up on a brick wall and closed my eyes and just listened... all i could hear and think of was God's amazing love, my dad joined me and we both just stood and waited, i have no idea what we were waiting for but we were waiting... the serenity so real... i was in love with the sound of the water and the fragrance of spring and the ... simple amazing love and amazing grace of my God ...