Love – Dee2rites Blog

I Didn’t Plan This Trip – Making Choices

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” Deuteronomy 30:9

In the course of our lives, we have to make many choices. Whether to follow Jesus and choose Him is a major one. Choosing whether to marry, have children, where to live, starting or leaving a job, all important choices most of us have had to make at some point in our lives. Daily decisions like what to eat for lunch, what to wear, whether to get up with the alarm or to push the snooze button are decisions we make almost without thought. But for the person with Alzheimer’s, sometimes even simple decisions can be overwhelming.

In the past, when Larry and I would go out to eat, I was always the one who couldn’t decide what to order. It was particularly true if it were a new place, or if they had an extensive menu. Larry could scan the menu and know almost immediately what he wanted to eat. But on this part of our journey, he’s the one who can’t decide, not because of the choices, but because he’s overwhelmed with them.

When we go to our regular places, he’s comfortable ordering because he always asks for the same thing. Now, new places and new menus are overwhelming for him. Ordering our food is easier if I make suggestions for him, after all we’ve been married long enough I usually know what he will like and he goes with what I suggest. But I’ve learned that I need to only suggest one thing at a time; two or more options are too confusing for him. He can’t decide, but he trusts me to guide him to the right choice.

There are days when I have to make decisions, and trust God for guidance. What do I do about this or that problem at the house, who do I call for repairs? These are all things I’ve always relied on Larry for, and now he’s not able to take care of them. Yes, I was very spoiled being married to a man who could fix anything. So far, I’ve learned how to take the shower head off in our bathroom so I can soak it in vinegar and remove all the lime scale from the shower head. And then put it back on with plumbers putty so it doesn’t leak! Yea me! I learned how to put weather stripping around a door that was leaking air last spring when we had major wind blowing.

Yes, I have Someone to guide me, so I know when I need to figure something out and take care of it myself, or call a friend for help.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Dee

July 17, 2025

When I Saw my Daddy Cry

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13

“A righteous man regards the life of his animal, But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” Proverbs 12:10

With all the recent flooding in Texas, my heart aches for the families who have lost loved ones, or have loved ones still missing. Locally, there were no fatalities, Praise God! But many families have been displaced due to flood damage in their homes, some losing everything; farmers and ranchers missing livestock, and I can’t help but remember a time when the rain devastated our family.

When Mother and Daddy married in 1949, Daddy was a cowboy, working for other people in San Saba County. In 1953 they moved to McCulloch County, and Daddy went to work for a rancher there. He leased a farm near Rochelle where we lived until 1958 when Daddy and Mother borrowed money to buy the farm, which we still have, just north of Richland Springs. The Richland Creek ran along the South side of the property.

One weekend in the Summer of 1959, my Mother, my baby sister and I, went to visit my Granny for the weekend in Cisco. While we were gone, heavy rains came and the Richland Creek rose up until it was covered most of the cotton field.

Only as an adult looking back can I understand the sense of loss my Dad was feeling. He had to make an annual land payment, plus he’d borrowed money to plant the cotton. Now that crop was wiped out. I remember sitting on the front porch with my Daddy, looking out at the flooded field and seeing his tears fall as he whispered, “I’ve lost it all”. I’d never seen my Daddy cry, until that day.

But he was a man who believed in the goodness of God, and even in the worst of times, which this was only one, he never lost his faith. I don’t remember the details of the next few weeks and months, but I only know we always had what we needed. We never missed church and we always put in offering to God.

What I learned from my Daddy, is that God is always there and He is always good. Even when our prayers seem like they aren’t heard, God is there and He is always good.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.” Psalm 28:7

Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Dee

July 10, 2025

I Didn’t Plan This Trip – Friends Along the Way

“A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs 17:17

We’ve been blessed with many good friends throughout the years, many of whom we’ve kept contact with over time, even if only through Facebook. But there are a few who were special, and some of them have gone on to be with the Lord.

When we lived in Lubbock, Larry became friends with his brother from another Mother at church. Brent, like Larry, loved bow hunting and they became hunting buddies, which is a whole other level of friendship. Brent taught Larry the fine art of bow fishing. After we moved to Plano, Brent and his family moved to New Orleans, and they continued to take bow hunting trips to New Mexico every January, and Larry would go to New Orleans so they could enter bow fishing tournaments.

Brent was exactly the friend Larry needed when they met. Brent was a very godly man, and was an example to Larry of what it meant to be a man of God. Brent was Larry’s confident, and Larry shared his doubts and struggles with him, and Brent always had Biblical answers and would pray over him. (I only learned this after Brent passed.)

Then, in the summer of 2005, Brent was in a terrible auto accident that left him a paraplegic and no longer to do the things he loved. He was on his way to Lubbock from New Orleans when the accident happened, and the closest trauma hospital was in Ft Worth. He spent months in the hospital, and finally was able to be moved to the Baylor Rehab in Dallas. On October 19^th, Larry fell off the roof of a 2-story house where he was working in Dallas. The ambulance took him to Baylor Hospital downtown Dallas. When Brent heard about Larry’s accident and that he was in the hospital, he got his son to escort him, in his new motorized wheelchair, from the Rehab hospital to the main hospital to see Larry. A true friend in time of need. Brent’s family moved back to Lubbock, closer to their extended family, when Brent finally was dismissed from the Rehab hospital. A few years later, he moved on to heaven, and Larry grieved his friend.

Another good friend Larry met when we moved back to Central Texas. Larry Smith was also a very godly man, a leader in our new church. And he was a hunter! Finally after twelve years, Larry had another hunting buddy! I don’t think they had the same level of friendship that Larry had with Brent, but Larry S. and his precious wife Alice took us under their wing when we were new members at church and helped us feel a part of the body there. Sadly, Larry S. graduated to glory in 2020, and a short time later Alice moved back to Ohio where her daughter lived and she had other family.

Then there was Jim, who was married to my best friend, Lorna. When Larry lost his job, Jim was there for him, inviting him over to help with the pool table he was building. And as soon as it was finished, Jim regularly had Larry over to play pool. Another friend in time of need.

If I were to talk about every person God has brought into our lives, this post would be way too long. But, even now, as we’re walking through this hard time of life, God is blessing us with true friends. My circle of friends at church are so special, allowing me to cry on their shoulders at times, and praying with me always. There is one couple who always invite us to sit with them when we all go out to lunch after church, even though they understand Larry can’t carry on a normal conversation, partly because he can’t hear well in noisy places, and partly he can’t always remember what he wants to say.

But even as precious as all these people are, and many many others as well, have been, there is One who has always been here with us, and has promised to never to leave us, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. I rely on my friends for support, but in the dark hours of the night, it is Jesus Who I call on for guidance, comfort, and peace.

“…but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24b

Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Dee

June 27, 2025

“Come With Me”

“Come to me, all of you who are tired and are carrying heavy loads. I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (NIRV)

I was recently asked by a friend to write a short Bible study lesson on love. That was her only directive – just write a short study on love. Wow, that a huge subject. As I prayed about what to write, God kept bringing me back to the directive He had given me years ago when I first started writing. “Tell my daughters how much I love them.”

You may wonder, doesn’t everyone know God loves everybody? Probably, in their head if they ever been in or near a church. Most people can quote some version or form of John 3:16 “For God so loved the world”, but in their hearts they may wonder if or how He loves them personally, individually. Even Christians who have a real relationship with God can have periods of doubt, they may wonder about God’s love for them.

This week in our ladies Bible study at church, a lady shared that she was coming out of a period of darkness, she’d been through some struggles with her faith. As I listened to her, I thought about how I’d been through my own periods of darkness and struggle. I knew right then that that was the reason God had led me to write about God’s love for us.

In 1981 Del Shannon recorded a song originally written and recorded in 1959 by Phil Phillips called “Sea of Love”.

Come with me my love
To the sea
The sea of love
I want to tell you
How much I love you

When I hear that song or read those words, I think of Jesus and what He said in Matthew 11. “Come to me, all you who are tired…” Yes, there was a time when I was very tired, and not just physically but emotionally and spiritually.

In 2001, about a year after my mother had graduated to heaven, I went through a deep depression. I was angry at God for taking my mother and not preparing me for her leaving. I felt that some of the people in my life had not given me the comfort and support I thought I needed. I was fighting with my sister over care for our dad. Some individuals at church, instead of reaching out to me, judged me because I wasn’t acting right in their opinion. So I dropped out of church for a period and stopped reading my Bible. From there I continued to spiral downward. My husband and I began having problems in our marriage. Sins I’d not struggled with for decades began tempting me. I don’t know what would have happened had God not loved me enough to pull me back. But He did and He did it in through a secular magazine of all things! But since I’d stopped reading my Bible, listening to Christian music, or going to church I hadn’t left Him a lot of options. I opened a Woman’s Day magazine I’d bought that day on a whim and saw these words:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 The Message

As I read those words, it seemed as if Jesus were sitting right there beside me, speaking directly to me. “Are you tired and worn out?” He asked. Yes, I was very tired and worn out from my hurts, doubts and fears. “Are you burned out on religion?” Yes, I was totally burned out and let down by church members. “Come to Me, not the church, not other people. Just come to Me.” Jesus gently and loving wooed me. There was no condemnation in His words, just love. Tenderly and lovingly God reached out to me when I was at the lowest point in my life.

I’ve learned about the “unforced rhythms of grace”, I’ve recovered my life. I’m leaning how “to live freely and lightly”. I run to Jesus every day to hear Him tell me how much He loves me. Good circumstances or bad, I rest in His love.

Jesus calls you to come with Him, come to the sea of His great love and let Him tell you how much He loves you. Wherever you are in your life, He calls “Come to Me. Come learn about my grace. Come with Me and learn how to live. Come receive My love. Come with Me, I want to tell you how much I love you.”

Jesus loves you, my friend!

Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Dee

September 3, 2014

Obituary for Skeeter

We lost our Rat Terrier, Skeeter, last night. He probably had cancer, but when he got sick he declined very fast and thankfully didn’t have to suffer.

Skeeter was born in December 1995 and went to be with his companion, Shellie, October 16, 2009. He would have been 14, that’s almost 98 in dog years.

Skeeter was a contrary little fellow, and not everyone loved him as my daughter Rachael and I did. When we got him he had been abused and like so many abused children, he carried the emotional scars all his life. Those scars sometimes made him not trust people and seem unlovable. But he did love us in his own way and even thought he could be unpredictable, he never growled, sniped, bit or even turned his lip at my grandson Christopher. Not even when Christopher tried to crawl into Skeeter’s kennel with him – a sacred place to Skeeter and not to be broached by humans.

Skeeter loved to play fetch and would bring you his toy to throw as long as you would throw it. He’d drop it at your feet and if you didn’t reach to pick it up in a timely manner, he bark as if to remind you it was your turn.

The strongest attachment he made was with an older woman – our dog Shellie, a lab mix. They would sleep next to each other and howled at the fire truck sirens together. As Shellie aged and seemed to have trouble getting around, he would stay by her side as if to be her guide. When Shellie died, Skeeter went into a depression for several days and would not eat or even come out of his kennel.

The first time Skeeter fell into the swimming pool, I ran to get him out because he was sinking and about to drown. Instead of licking me with gratitude, he tried to bite me. Not because he was angry at me, but because he was scared and he lashed out at the closest thing to him. He just wanted to get to his safe place and dry off by himself. We later learned that Rat Terriers are the only breed of dog that do not have an instinct to swim or dog paddle.

What God showed me is we are often the same way. We react out of hurt or anger and in so doing hurt the very person who loves us the most. Instead of receiving the love and help we are being offered, we reject it and end up feeling alone and wet. We’ll even lash out at God as if He caused our hurt, as if He pushed us into the pool. But He is the one who truly loves us most, warts flaws, hang-ups and all.

1 John 4:10 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Warts and all God loves us.