The Portal: Portal-ity Thoughts

Last Friday we took our beautiful German Shepherd, Sarge, in for surgery.  He had a baseball sized tumor on his spleen.  The surgery went well, but he was 10, and within an hour of bringing him home, he passed away.  It was quick.   By the time we figured out that he was in trouble, he was gone. I'm so glad he knew that we came back, that we tried, that he was home, and that he was loved.  He never complained, he just loved.  He was such a good guy, our Shep.  I am going to miss him so much.   He passed away on the 8th anniversary of my Mom's death.  In a way, that is a comfort to me.  It's one of those dates that you hold close to your heart, but don't really allow yourself to visit mentally - too much.  I'm the type of person that just can't allow myself to think or dwell on sadness too long, or I'll fall into a place that's much harder to get out of.  However, watching that beloved dog leave this earth was a little too much like watching my m

Last week our Bible study lesson was on complaining.  Wow, did we have a lot to discuss! It's a great study by James MacDonald called "Lord, Change My Attitude Before It's Too Late."  So, do any of you complain?  Really?  That's fantastic!! 😇  I kinda figured it was just me;)  Okay, seriously, maybe there are a couple of you who are curious about what the Bible says regarding complaining, so this is for you . . . Complaining is sin [missing the mark, failing in regard to God's holy standard and just demands] and God hates it. Tough stuff.  Stick with me. He defines complaining as: "Expressing dissatisfaction with a circumstance that isn't wrong and I'm doing nothing to correct it."     If we ask ourselves, I'm pretty sure we all know in our hearts when we have crossed the line into full on complaining.  Pastor MacDonald talks about the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and their time in the wilderness.  Did you know that t