Here's The Way It Is

Satan, I've got a word just for you.

You are not going to change anything

Of what God has put in my heart.

I've been on the potter's wheel,

Letting God mold me; yes, mold me

Into what He wanted right from the start.

It won't do you any good to tell me it is wrong.

So shut up, Jack, and get off my back!

I've heard from God and believe what He said.

I believe it and I will confess it,

`Cause I know what He said is true.

Your time is short; you're hanging by a thread.

by Thomas Howard

In Honor of a Good Dog

We had a dog, I named her Rose,

But others called her cur.

She came to us on a sunny day just before Christmas 2001.

Just a pup, abandoned by her mom,

Two brothers also with her lay.

Of unsure parentage she was,

But her brothers looked like most all

German Shepherds do.

She had the softest, silkiest hair,

With just a hint of curl,

In various shades of brown, a striped Brindle, I guess.

She had two white toes on each of her feet and a

Tiny white spot on her chest. Others said that was

A Catahoula trait.

She loved to run and run and run and run,

Just for fun, With ears laid back and tail streaming in the wind.

She raced the ATV and she often won.

This was, it seemed, what she was born

To do except, of course, to love.

She had sharp and vicious teeth, but nary

A person did she ever bite, and

Her eyes were the softest brown.

She would come and lay on your chest,

Put her nose just under your chin

To get a big dose of love and give the same in return.

She came to me on that day just after the breast cancer

Surgery. Radiation every day, but she was here to comfort me.

She seemed to know just what was needed and saw me through

That long ordeal.

Over the years she patrolled our place

Knowing just where the borders were. She chased the deer,

Raccoons, possums, armadillos, and the occasional skunk,

And other dogs, but only to the fence.

She barked at strangers and was better than a doorbell,

Knowing when someone was there.

She scared the guy who drove the Big Brown, Fed Ex and the lot,

But then became their friend.

She hated thunder and the firing of guns. She would bark,

And need to be reassured that no one would harm her.

Sixty-five pounds is a little much to want to hide behind you.

She trained us well. We knew how and when to get the ball to

Throw. She never would bring it back, but we played her game

As often as she wanted to.

She didn't like to take a bath,

But finally knew that it was inevitable, so

She would get in the shower with me and stay

Until the final rinse.

She would lay on her back to look at the sky,

She often watched the hawks and buzzards wheel

Around in the sky.

She would sneak through the grass like a cat stalking prey.

She stalked all the squirrels this way, but

She never ever caught one, on purpose I guess.

She was a good snake dog, barking incessantly until

The offending copperhead was duly dealt with.

This always kept our back porch and lawn safe and snake free.

Over the last eight years, I did not know how very much I

Loved her until she got a deadly illness and

She finally had to leave us.

She was so good, smart, trusting and true,

A big chunk of my heart is now broken in two.

Others say she was just a dog, there will be others you know,

But that chunk that is broken knows, this can't possibly be true.

The vet tried his best but could not do a single thing to truly save her,

So she is now laid to rest under a big yellow Lady Banks rose

Where I can remember her forever.

Rose to Rose.

Dust to Dust.

Running for FUN back in Heaven again.

She can't be replaced, but maybe just maybe

We can find another GOOD dog and start to love all over again.

by L. Yvonne Ikard