June 2024 – A Grateful Grace-full Life

UPDATE: A Little Brown Dog at 10 Months

Typical Boykin look, beautiful eyes so focused, and pink tongue poking out.

Happy to share that Jackson earned his Started Hunting Retriever title in May, at just under 10 months. The trainers from Southern Oak Kennel – Great Lakes brought him down to the Kankakee River HRC, and with some great handling by my son Jon, Jackson earned his pass for started. The weekend before that, we had Jackson home for the weekend, and he earned passes and ribbons 2 & 3 at the Great Lakes HRC event in Fenwick, Michigan. I’m so proud of how my “boys” did.

Jackson has been back at Southern Oak for the month of June — he did so well in the 1st 3 months that the trainer recommended 1 more month.

Jon will continue Jackson’s training the rest of the summer, preparing him for the fall bird/duck season. We may try some upland hunting too…. I purchased a 28 guage compact shotgun, and Jon is teaching me to shoot trap at the South Kent Gun Club.

During his time at SOK, Jackson has both grown and become a very curly boy – so cute! 🙂 I am looking forward to having him home in a couple of weeks and restarting our walks.

Today I am grateful for… good trainers for Jackson, for my son Jon who is so willing to teach me and do things with me, for a husband who has always encouraged me to do whatever is in my heart, for summer Friday’s off, and for a God who loves me completely and unconditionally.

What are you grateful for?

Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all. – William Faulkner

Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude.

Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.
‭Philippians 4:6-7 TPT‬

Trust Him, He Hears, He Saves

Under pressure? Busy? Wondering about all the things going on in our world today?

Stop for a few minutes, be quiet, rest, read His Word. Pray. Oh, how He loves you. Trust Him.

The Lord alone is our radiant hope and we trust in him with all our hearts. His wraparound presence will strengthen us.

As we trust, we rejoice with an uncontained joy flowing from Yahweh!

Let your love and steadfast kindness overshadow us continually, for we trust, and we wait upon you.

Even when bad things happen to the good and godly ones, the Lord will save them and not let them be defeated by what they face.

Psalms 33:20-22 TPT‬

Yet when holy lovers of God cry out to him with all their hearts, the Lord will hear them and come to rescue them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to all whose hearts are crushed by pain, and he is always ready to restore the repentant one.

Psalm 34:17-19 TPT

Jerusalem Day Memories

I enjoyed watching the dancing and singing taking place today in Israel (on Facebook) in celebration of Yom Yerushalayim – Jersulsalem Day. I was reminded of my trip there 5 years ago. I was blessed to be in the old city on Jerusalem Day then, and I took this short video of some young men in their way to Ha Kotel – better known to us,as The Wailing Wall.

As I reflect on this tonight, my prayers as always with and for God’s people and His land. And I am grateful fhat:

‭Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.
Psalm 121:4 NLT

I am learning some Hebrew through a free class on Facebook, so let me practice a bit on you.

Yom Yerushalayim Sameach, which means Happy Jerusalem Day. And laila tov, which means good night.

I pray you will receive and take hold of these words from Psalm 3:

[But in the depths of my heart, I truly know that you, Yahweh, have become my Shield; You take me and surround me with yourself. Your glory covers me continually. You lift high my head. [4] I have cried out to you, Yahweh, from your holy presence. You send me a Father’s help. Pause in his presence [5] So now I’ll lie down and sleep like a baby— then I’ll awake in safety, for you surround me with your glory.