Works For Me Wed: Italian Greyhound

OK, I intended to share with you why the breed "Italian Greyhound" works for me. But my eyes are falling - so sleepy. So I am turning this into a "Wordless Wednesday post too. (I know.. I am typing words ... just to explain). Here's a link about Italian Greyhound (click here), and you'll know why it works for me. Oh, if you would like to visit more Wordless Wednesday posts (the real Wordless ones:) - visit 5 Minutes For Moms.

RELATED POST:
Then I Agreed To Adopting An Italian Greyhound
Sonny, Our Italian Greyhound

Dear Anonymous... This Steve Job's Inspirational Talk Is For You.

I was moderating my comments tonight on my post on "Trust" when one of the comments touched me so deeply. It came from an anonymous commenter sharing how the post encouraged her in this time of uncertainty when both she and her husband was laid off from their job. I felt that all the hours I had spent on writing on this blog is so worth it when I get comments like this, when I come to know that my scribblings and ramblings become an encouragement to someone who needs it.

I wish I can do more to help her. But I can't. Yet I know our God can and He already is. This morning while doing my usual twitter visits, @j_doss provided a link to a YouTube video of Steve Job's message given on the Stanford's Commencement Exercise in 2005. I have never heard Steve Job speak before so I was curious and watched the video. My, oh my - it's one of the most inspirational and encouraging video I've watched! And the thing is, I believe God led me to that video not only to encourage me, but to encourage Anonymous as well. And so without further adoo, I embedded the video and here it is (especially for you, Anonymous):

Trust

There in one Proverb in the Bible that I know by heart. It is found on Proverbs 3:5-6 and says:

"Trust in the Lord With All Thy Heart,
And lean not unto your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him
and He will direct your path".

This proverb gives a very simple instruction, yet in our modern world it is something that is hard to grasp. How can we trust someone or something we cannot even see, hear or touch? How can He direct my path and how can I follow when I cannot see Him leading the way?

One can only truly understand this by experience. In my life, this Proverb is so true. I do not practice it as I consistently should, but when I get to that point when I really "trust" God and not lean on my understanding", things go so much better.

One example is my job. When I got "laid off", many people felt "sorry" for me, but in my heart I actually felt a huge relief. Not that I hated my job because I loved it. It's just that I know God has something for me that I need to do for the time being and the only way that I can accomplish those is by having the freedom to stay at home more and spend more time with my kids. The first fear that comes out after the phrase "laid off from a job" is "where are we going to get the money to pay our bills". That's when "trusting" God's Word when he said "but my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches" comes in. I will not discuss in details how God is supplying our daily needs daily, but I can truly say that even with my unemployment we have everything we need right now and even a bit more.

For the sake of the skepticals, here's one example of how God specifically provided for us: When I got "laid off", I needed to surrender the company car back that our boss let me use while I was employed with them. That means I won't have a car, which is extremely inconvenient on Maui. A few days before I needed to return the company car, God provided the money specifically for the car. Now we had to find a good used car that would fit the money we got. A day before I returned the car, we found a car for me. My husband just happened to mention this need of a car to our friend, who happened to hear that day they their secretary is thinking of selling her daughter's car because she got a newer one from her grandfather. The long and the short of the story, is we got a great car for the right price at the right timing. Only God can arranged such great timing and provision.

I can go on and on sharing about how "trusting God" works in my life, but I would stop here for now. Today is Sunday and when I went to the Sunday Scribblings page to see what the prompt for this week is, I was amused to see that the prompt is "Trust". Go check out some of the other scribblings there too :)

Wordless Wed: Sonny, Our Italian Greyhound Puppy

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And Then I Agreed To Adopting An Italian Greyhound

There are so many alternative titles to this post, like:

And Then I lost My Mind and Said Yes To A Dog, or

I Can Only Resist For So Long ...

On Wednesday morning, February 4th, my husband called me from Oahu. He was at this pet shop and "fell in love" with a puppy Italian Greyhound. You see, he was supposed to be there "just to look". Tell you how much "just looking" does. And how much it can cost us. Don't ask how much - it's a lot!

And so he called me to ask my opinion about getting this Italian Greyhound puppy for our daughter who had been pleading for a dog for more than a year now. I mean pleading and begging. On her birthday last October, she wrote "a puppy" as her only wish. I got her a stuff toy puppy, well - that's a puppy in my book. Last Christmas, she again wrote a "puppy" for a Christmas wish. She even wrote to Santa about it. I bartered. I told her I'd get her her very own Ipod, but not a puppy. And so I thought it was all settled. But wait ...

The husband, started researching puppies. And now he was a collaborator of this scheme to wear me down, and finally said yes to a puppy. I can only resist for so long. I mean, I already was getting the reputation of being "the mother who deprived her daughter a dog". I can only take the guilt for so long. Finally, I had to say yes to a puppy. The problem is, not just an ordinary puppy. My husband has already set his eyes on an Italian Greyhound because it's the best breed that would get along with our two cats. You see, we love out cats. (yes, I said we, as much as my husband would contest that because he says I hate our cats. Yes, I did not want to adopt these cats either as much as I did not want to adopt a dog, but that's another post/story). Back to the Italian Greyhound story, so my husband had researched dogs and thought that the only dog he would allow in our house is an Italian Greyhound.

My husband was on Oahu last week for a work related training. Not for a dog. But the Pet Store from Oahu that he called a few months back called back saying that they a new arrival - an Italian Greyhound puppy. And since he's already on Oahu (must be God, maybe he thought!), he said he's going there "just to look". Rrrrright...., "just to look"...

Oh well, I don't think I can contain all my venting and whining, as well as my joys and pains, on adopting and raising this Italian Greyhound on just one post, so this is going to be an integral part of this blog from now on. Oh yeah, my husband told me that he got this dog so I can have something to blog about. Yeah right!

Now, I know you are now curious to see what this puppy looks like. I am not going to let you wait any longer. Here's his homecoming. His name is Sonny. The name might change to Vito later on. Hubby is still undecided. But it has to be an Italian name. Something from the Godfather movie. That's worth another post. Maybe my husband is right, this Italian Greyhound is going to give me a lot of blog post ideas. Maybe he is worth it that way, at least for me. Nah, Sonny is really cute, and lovable. And when you see the "happy tears" on my daughter's face when she saw the puppy, then you'd know why I had actually allowed myself lose my mind and say yes to a dog. Here's Sonny's homecoming photos:

God's Help Is Near

The Lord is close to everyone

who prays to him,
to all who truly pray to him.
Psalm 145:18

Healing begins when we do something. Healing begins when we reach out. Healing starts when we take a step. God's help is near and always available, but it is only given to those who seek it. Nothings results from apathy...

God honors radical, risk taking faith.

When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jerichos tumble. When staffs are raised, seas still open. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed. And when garment is touched - whether by the hand of an anemic woman in Galilee, or by the prayers of beggars in Bangladesh - Jesus stops. He stops and responds.

This passage is an excerpt from Max Lucado's book "He Still Moves Stones" and republished on "Grace By The Moment" devotional book. This is actually the February 4th devotion and nothing could come close and relevant to my situation right now that this passage. My dear friend Cassie gave me this devotional book for Christmas and it never fails to encourage me. Interestingly, she knows everything I am going through right now and I know she would agree that this is a perfect devotion for me today.

Risk Taker - that's what I am right now.

***
UPDATE: Adam posted this on Facebook. I thought it'll be good to post it here too:

Thankful Thursday: Your Love Broke Through

Like a foolish dreamer,
trying to build a highway to the sky
All my hopes would come tumbling down,
and I never knew just why
Until today, when you pulled away the clouds
that hung like curtains on my eyes
Well I've been blind all these wasted years
and I though I was so wise
But then you took me by surprise

Like waking up from the longest dream,
how real it seemed
Until your love broke through
I've been lost in a fantasy,
that blinded me
Until your love broke through

All my life I've been searching for
that crazy missing part
And with one touch, you just rolled away
the stone that held my heart
And now I see that the answer was as easy,
as just asking you in
And I am so sure I could never doubt
your gentle touch again
It's like the power of the wind

Like waking up from the longest dream,
how real it seemed
Until your love broke through
I've been lost in a fantasy,
that blinded me
Until your love,
until your love, broke through

I Need A MacBook, Period!

Oh I spent the last 30 minutes frantically trying to find the photo I took of our last day at work where my bosses took us out to a very nice luncheon at the Cafe Ole at the Dunes at Maui Lani. Sigh! They are gone! They are all gone! I mean the photos. I must have accidentally deleted it out of the scan disk thinking that it was already transferred to the hard drive. Not only were there photos of our luncheon, there were other photos on that batch that I needed for my A Maui Blog. Lots of great photos I took. I am bummed, big time. And so I spent the last 30 minutes lamenting over this loss. Such a bummer because I was ready to do my post about Cafe Ole for A Maui Blog. I was going to tie it up with the post about our last day. Anyhoo - they are gone! bummer!

This bring me to my next point which is my title. I really need to get a computer for me for my blogging business (notice - I called it a business - ha! ha!). As of now I am using this old dying lap top who is older than boo and can't handle the newer programs many blogger and twitters use to make manage their time wisely while blogging. This does not even have a pot for me to easily transfer the scan disk from the camera to here, hence the lost as I was transferring to the blog computer to the USB drive to here. I really am wasting a lot of time trying to work on this computer. I need a Macbook. I really do. It's only a matter of justifying the expense, and explaining to my husband why buying a lap top will really help my blogging business and eventually it will bring in lots of cash :) Yeah, right. Lots of cash. He's heard that before. But then again I know I am in this for a long term so it's worth investing. I also know that I am almost at the turn around in monetizing my blog - but if I keep on losing photos and posts I .... hmmmm...

The other day I learn a new abbreviation and phrase. It is ROI. Return of Investment. I like that term. It's like a farmer planting seeds and then one day the seeds will grow and bear much fruit. I had been planting a lot of seeds lately, and even watering a lot of sprouts and bushes. I know the harvest is soon. Oh, if only I can buy a Macbook now instead of waiting for that harvest to come.

Oh well... I think I'd just go to bed and dream about it for now. Good night everyone.

Liza

Wordless Wed: Coconut Post Card

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My Rainbow Color Is White

I saw this test in Julie's blog and I decided to take it too. Julie is a white and since we are so alike (known her a bit through her blogging), I guessed I would be white too. And yes, I am:

Your rainbow is shaded white.

What is says about you: You are a contemplative person. You appreciate quiet moments. People depend on you to make them feel secure.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.