Just thinking

Ever just need to sit and think? Thought so. That's what I've been doing this morning and reading and praying. We got a call day before yesterday from the wife of a man my husband had worked with. His cancer has spread and it is not good. We went to the hospital yesterday afternoon. We did what we could--we prayed with them and loved them. He probably has a matter of days left. That is our prayer--for God's mercy.

My dad died from cancer when I was 30 years old. My youngest child was a baby. My children don't remember him. My mom and dad divorced when I was 19 and it was very much a earth-turning-upside-down kind of a thing. My dad was unfaithful and my mom was bitter and is. I felt betrayed. What I had always been taught not to do--they have done. My mom lived with my step-dad for three years before they married all in the name of Social Security. Meaning--she could draw widow's pay because the length of their marriage. To be honest I have done things I have taught my children not to do. I know that we all make choices in life. It's like the children's books that you can choose one way to go and the story is different. I am reading Max Lucado's book "When God Whispers Your Name". It 's been a long time since I've read one of his books. And it's just what I need right now.

I didn't intend for this post to come off heavy so I will post a picture of my beloved Max and later I will get some pictures of our baby pigs. Larry wants to keep the heifer we were going to butcher and breed her and raise a calf.

I don't know how Max got into this position and didn't hurt himself. You do see that his front legs are turned one way and back legs are turned the other, right? I took this through the patio door because I knew if I opened the door he would move. We bought a dog house for him after a wind storm tore the roof off the plywood one Larry made him sometime ago. He rarely used it. The cats did. He doesn't like the new one any better. He sleeps on the patio on a mat I made from some of my practice quilting. Larry found (correction--Max appeared at the sand plant some seven , eight years ago) and was chasing the large haul trucks and Larry knew what the outcome would be and we needed a dog, right?! He brought him home thinking he was a female because he is built slender. I called him back and asked if he had not checked the plumbing any better than that. Anyway, Max is mine -- no doubt about it. He does what I tell him--most of the time. He will help me herd the pigs into their pen. He doesn't work for Larry--he tries. Larry doesn't know how to talk to him. And when you're trying to put animals in a trailer I know now to put him on a leash. It works a whole lot better.
He goes with me to feed the animals. His favorite is when we have baby pigs and when they are old enough to run around. He is in doggie heaven. Max's one fault--he hates water. You know what that means; you got it. He hates baths.