Remembering Uncle J.D.

Usually I would do a Christmas blog entry, but I woke up with a beastly cold yesterday, and am not feeling tip-top today. So, Christmas news and updates will come later. It was a fabulous Christmas! On the 26th, we got six inches of beautiful snow, and it hasn't gone yet! Gorgeous, white and fluffy world outside. I couldn't be much happier. 

I was just looking at some of our FindAGrave memorials, when I went onto Uncle J.D.'s. I noticed that he died 35 years ago today. Since he was brought to mind, I thought I would post the absolutely beautiful poem that he wrote. It really is a beautiful sentiment and doubly cool since he wrote it. Don't have a lot from him, and I treasure the things that we do know and have. I wish I had known him, he must have been a fabulous person.

A SINNER'S PRAYER
Written by James Denver "J.D." Gillespie (1928-1977)

I went out for a walk one day
on a cold Winter's morn.
Then I saw a vision
of Gabriel with his horn.
I fell down on my knees to pray
and to Jesus I did say,
"Please cleanse my soul of sin, O Lord,
for I repent today.

I am just a lonely sinner, Lord,
who is learning how to pray.
So, won't you shine your light on me,
so I can see the way?
I pledge my soul to Jesus,
to do with what He may,
In hopes He'll take me to His Father
on that Judgment Day.

O, Jesus, can't you hear my plea?
I put my trust and faith in you
who walked upon the sea.
Oh, yes, I love you, Jesus,
I look for you today,
Who gave His life upon the cross
so my soul can be saved.

Yes, I want to go to heaven
to sit by His right hand;
I want to climb those golden stairs
into that promised land,
If I could meet my Savior,
who wore the crown of thorn,
Then I could die in Peace, O Lord,
let Gabriel blow his horn."

Immanuel - "God With Us"

(Charles Spurgeon, "The Birth of Christ", Christmas Eve, 1854)

This is His name, “God with us”—God with us, by His Incarnation, for the august Creator of the world did walk upon this globe! He who made ten thousand orbs, each of them more mighty and more vast than this earth, became the Inhabitant of this tiny atom! He who was from everlasting to everlasting, came to this world of time and stood upon the narrow neck of land betwixt the two unbounded seas! “God with us.” He has not lost that name—Jesus had that name on earth and He has it, now, in Heaven! He is now, “God with us.”

Believer, He is God with you to protect you! You are not alone, because the Savior is with you! Put me in the desert, where vegetation grows not—I can still say, “God with us.” Put me on the wild ocean and let my ship dance madly on the waves—I would still say, “Immanuel, God with us.” Mount me on the sunbeam and let me fly beyond the western sea—still I would say, “God with us.” Let my body dive down into the depths of the ocean and let me hide in its caverns— still I could, as a child of God say, “God with us.” Yes, and in the grave, sleeping there in corruption—still I can see the footmarks of Jesus! He trod the path of all His people and His name is still, “God with us.”

“Immanuel.” It is wisdom’s mystery, “God with us.” Sages look at it and wonder. Angels desire to see it. The plumb-line of reason cannot reach half-way into its depths. The eagle wings of science cannot fly so high and the piercing eye of the vulture of research cannot see it! “God with us.” It is hell’s terror! Satan trembles at the sound of it. His legions fly apace, the black-winged dragon of the Pit quails before it! Let Satan come to you suddenly and do you but whisper that word, “God with us”—back he falls—confounded and confused! Satan trembles when he hears that name, “God with   us.” It is the laborer’s strength—how could he preach the Gospel, how could he bend his knees in prayer, how could the missionary go into foreign lands, how could the martyr stand at the stake, how could the confessor acknowledge his Master, how could men labor if that one word were taken away? “God with us,” is the sufferer’s comfort, is the balm of his woe, is the alleviation of his misery, is the sleep which God gives to His beloved, is their rest after exertion and toil. Ah, and to finish, “God with us” is eternity’s sonnet, is Heaven’s hallelujah, is the shout of the glorified, is the song of the redeemed, is the chorus of angels, is the everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky! “God with us”

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." - Matthew 1:23

Christmas Prayer

I have a little book titled "Hilltop Verses and Prayers: Collected Poems of Ralph Spaulding Cushman". It is a tiny book with maybe a hundred poems in it. But what a lovely little book. Each poem have a matching Bible passage and a little prayer to go with it. Some are just so lovely. So I thought I would post a couple of the Christmas ones. Here is the first. 

Let not our hearts be busy inns,

That have no room for Thee,

But cradles for the living Christ

and His nativity.

Still driven by a thousand cares

The pilgrims come and go;

The hurried caravans press on; The inns are crowded so!

Here are the rich and busy ones,

With things that must be sold,

No room for simple things within

This hostelry of gold.

Yet hunger dwells within these walls,

These shining walls and bright,

And blindness groping here and there

Without a ray of light.

Oh, lest we starve, and lest we die,

In our stupidity,

Come, Holy Child, within and share

Our hospitality.

Let not our hearts be busy inns,

That have no room for Thee,

But cradles for the living Christ

And His nativity.

We pray, dear God, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth! But how can Thy Kingdom come until we love Thee more than we love the kingdoms of this world? Oh, let not our hearts be busy inns. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. - Matthew 7:21-23

Remembering Manly, Our Precious Little Man-Cub

MANLY

15 Apr 2006 - 4 Dec 2012

AKA Man-Cub, Manly-Moo, Cubby, Cubby-Roo

 It is so hard to imagine that Manly is gone. I still expect to see him sleeping on my bed or on the trunk in front of the fire.  He was such a marvelous cat. Actually, Sarah and I were sitting on the sofa on Sunday, just watching Manly sleeping on the trunk in front of us. I told her that of all the cats, he would be one of the two I would really miss the most. Now he is gone.

Manly was born in our dining room at 9p.m. on 15 April 2006. He was the last of the first litter of kittens. Sarah and I had been wanting an orange striped kitten, but one hadn't come yet. We had gotten a grey one, and a tortie one, and a black and white one, and a tabby one, and a black one. We were starting to give up hope, but then out popped the largest orange kitten you have ever seen! He was so big that he never had that baby rat-look. He looked like a baby kitten.

Due to inbreeding and extended labor, Manly was a bit backward. He never learned to give himself a bath, didn't really know how to play, and he would get lost if he walk up to a wall. So he would start howling until someone turned him around and he saw that he wasn't stuck. However, Manly was all love. You could practically see little hearts coming from his head. If you passed by him, or looked at him, or petted him, he would start purring away. And he could purr! He had big, rumbly purrs. He never had a bad thought or a naughty thought. He loved attention. He would gaze up at you with half-closed eyes and a completely flat head, and it was just pure love.

Everything about Manly was big. He weighted 30 lbs, and if he was sleeping on the sofa, he took an entire cushion! We had two dog beds that he liked. Some of the only ones he could actually fit in. Although, his favorite spots were on the beds or on the trunk in front of the woodstove. Sometimes, he would try and sleep in normal baskets and beds. Silly Manly. He would be bulging out all around and could barely lay his head down!

He always thought he was a little baby kitty. He loved to curl up next to you on the sofa or in bed. One time I was in Mom and Dad's bed reading, and he came right up and curled up in the tiniest (for him) little ball up against my stomach. It didn't look very comfy, but he was so happy. If you were lying on the sofa, he loved to curl up behind your legs on the blanket. He would always push himself as close to you as possible, which usually meant he was kind of propped up against you. He would purr for a few minutes and then when he finally went to sleep, he would do the biggest sigh and let out a moan. It was the sweetest sounding thing ever. 

He was always a Mama's boy. Never realized that she no longer wanted to nurse such a strapping, big kitty. Actually, when she was pregnant with the second litter in September of 2006, she went into labor because Manly climbed up on the bed with her and started nursing! Silly Manly! Until the last, he always wanted his mother. Most times, if you saw Olivia somewhere in the house, you would find Manly not too far away. Both of them were soupy nuts. We would put some dry food kibbles in a bowl of hot water and let it sit a bit until the kibbles softened. Manly and Olivia loved it. They would sit at the bowl and just drink every drop of the water. Actually, Manly would go to get a drink and drop a kibble in the water bowl, then try and eat the kibble. It was funny to watch him chase the floating kibble.

Manly had a few toys that he loved. His very favorite was an old rabbit-fur muff. We had had it as long as I can remember with our dress-up clothes. However, Manly found it somewhere when he was a few months old, and we never got it back. He would carry it in his mouth and walk around with it, howling all the while. Then one day, he sat at the foot of the stairs and tore every bit of stuffing out of it. Loved it even more then. ;o) We would come home or wake up and you would find his muff lying in front of the door or in the middle of the floor. Sometimes he would take it to bed with him.

He also loved chasing his own tail. He would work himself up to wild manzies, and then catch a glimpse of his tail (which was the funniest little thin tail, with a bend in the middle and a pencil-tip) and off he would go in wild circles after it. Sometimes, if he got to engrossed in the chase, he would bang into a chair or something. Poor Cubby. It was really funny to watch, though. He also loved catnip. In his own way, he went nuts over it. He would take a toy, and plop over in the middle of the living room floor and roll around with it. He had the cutest buff tummy and the tiniest feet and legs, so when he would be on his back, it was irresistible.

If we had the door to the back room upstairs closed, he would sit in the hall and paw at the door with both paws going full speed. It was really funny to see, if you happened to be on his side of the door. He got into the habit, earlier this year, of doing it all night on our bedroom door. That wasn't so endearing. However, he must have gotten the hint after several months, that we weren't going to let him in. He was really cute to sleep with, but once he got in position, he stayed that way all night. So, he slept great, but you didn't sleep much at all. ;o)

So, now we only have three kittens from that first litter left. They are all a bit lonely. Manly left a large emptiness, which will take a while to get over. On my part, he will always be missed. Time takes away the hurt, but my heart will always have a special place for Manly. You aren't blessed with a baby like him very often! We were blessed to have him for six and a half wonderful years.

Click here to view a photo album of Manly.

Manly

Goodbye, Manly

We lost Manly today. My baby boy. He jumped off the tree house this morning and broke his back leg. So he went to sleep. The house won't be the same without him. No more muffs lying in front of the bedroom doors when we wake up in the morning.

God blessed us with six and a half wonderful years, getting to enjoy our big boy! Now he is with his other siblings, happy and smart. My heart is crying though.