This morning,I am calm within my soul and rested

Good morning journal,the time is now 10:03am,I have been awake since 9:15am after a night of uninterrupted sleep having retired to bed last evening at around 10:30pm.Our home is silent for now,my beautiful wife Peyton is asleep on the sofa with Bree,our middle fur child,snuggled underneath the blanket that I covered her human mother with shortly before coming here.Buttons,the oldest child of our canine family,is sound asleep firmly wrapped in the protective care of my old armchair,while Caesar,our youngest,has just settled down for a nap on two huge sofa cushions on the lounge floor.Outside,the weather is dull and damp,it has rained overnight,but the rain has produced a wonderful atmosphere of freshness in the air,it smells clean and crisp,with a sharpness that is almost tangible,it is still,with all the problems and obstacles of every day life,a beautiful world.I feel rested and calm,and,as I gaze at my family,I am completely encompassed with an absolute,and total,sense of overwhelming love for each of them;we may have problems and at times manage to get by with virtually nothing at all,but at the end of the day,I wouldn't change any of them for anything on offer in the world today,if I was given the choice between the biggest lottery win on record,or being here,right now,with the family I adore,I would choose them without hesitation every time.At this moment,before the day has fully swung into it's normal hectic pattern,you can feel contentment seemingly ooze from the very walls of our home,and that my friends,is something which is beyond price,it is something you cannot buy,it is either there or it isn't,when it isn't, then we,as individuals,struggle to cope,and yes it happens to us at times,but when it is there,in the very air that we breathe,as it is now,that is what makes us get up and carry on.When we have difficult times,and we as a family seem to have more than our fair share these days,it is times like this morning that strengthen and renew us as a unit,when our faith as Christians sets us apart from those unfortunate enough to have no belief in a Higher Power,we believe fervently that our Father in Heaven hears us when we call to Him,and indeed,He has proved that He listens to us many times,by His generosity and love which have manifested themselves in our home whenever we have needed,lately,I have been uplifted by God's message to us in the book of Job,
Job 5:8 I would seek to God, and to God would I commit my cause:
Job 5:9 Which does great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number:

this is His promise to me,that as long as I ask,whatever I need to provide for my family,He will provide it,but I have to ask,I have to recognize that the reason we survive as a family is because of Him and Him alone,the clothes we wear,the food that we eat,and the shelter that we have,it all comes because of His love for us as His children.Our home is richer because of our faith,and over the past year while I have been ill,it has sustained us,and continues to do so on a daily basis,THAT is His power,and THAT is His love,thank you Father,we praise your name in the name of your son and our Savior,Jesus Christ our Lord,Amen.Now,as I type,my wife has awakened after her rest and is now enjoying the coffee that I brought her,(wonderful husband that I am!),and Buttons and Caesar have come to life,sensing that their alpha mother has opened her eyes,and our home has finally begun to swing into the day ahead,but my sense of gratitude and inner peace remain,and somewhere in the very depths of my soul,their is a warmth,and the knowledge that no matter what,I am a part of something so precious that sometimes I find it difficult to put into words,know what I mean?,of course you do journal.Now,just before I finish,I have written a little tribute to the nemesis of my dreams sister Sharp,I feel I have been a little scathing in my opinion of her of late,so sister Sharp,although you still scare the proverbial out of me,here is a small token of my esteem,please God you never find this site in my lifetime!.

                         "The Vision in White"

Little did I know what lay in store for me that day,
I expected sister Reilly,but instead she walked away,
I heard my name being called,and I walked into a room,
and the woman that I saw there,filled my very soul with doom,
at least I think it was a woman,she had arms like a bear,
and a smile that chilled my bones as she pointed to a chair,
then as she towered above me,her eyes began to glow bright red,
and the music from the twilight zone,started playing inside my head,
"a short,sharp scratch",she hissed,"with perhaps a little pain",
"now make a fist",she cackled,"and surrender up to me your vein",
I did as she commanded,and said a silent prayer,
and as she plunged the needle in,I squirmed in my chair,
"you won't give me any blood",she growled,as she twisted left and right,
I whimpered sorry,and willed my blood to flow with all my might,
finally,after an eternity,the syringe began to fill,
and as she pulled the needle out,the room was quiet and still,
when I looked down at my arm,where the needle once had been,
it had turned a nasty shade of blue,with intermittent shades of green,
"that wasn't so bad now was it?",said the vision dressed in white,
"not at all",I lied,trying to focus on the light,
as I made my wobbly way outside,grateful to be free,
I whispered,"sister Sharp,you've seen the very last of me",
then I recalled that I had seen,upon her outstretched hand,
the gleam of something shiny,a golden wedding band,
mister Sharp sir,I salute you,your a braver man than I,
when you return home every evening,I wouldn't even try,
your a hero to men everywhere,or at least you are to me,
because of your unselfish courage,the rest of us are free,
but those of us who chanced to meet,the vision dressed in white,
still see her in our dreams,and keep on shivering in the night,
so if I could ask just one more thing,though it doesn't seem quite fair,
keep on loving her when she's at home,and for God's sake keep her there!.

There you go sister Sharp,I hope that clears up any lingering doubts you may have harbored about my feelings towards you,I'm sure in your own way,you are a very nice person underneath,it's just that your not very high up on my Christmas card list,your husband however,might just get one in the mail,minus of course,a return address.Until tomorrow then journal,fair sailing to us both today,and peace and gratitude continue to fill our home.