God Speaks!

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God is unlimited. To get through to us He may use any method He sees fit, in order to present us His "message" and speak to us.

Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of My mouth. Deuteronomy 32:1

And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. Deuteronomy 5:24

It was during the years that I worked on the long-term floor at the local hospital, and after we bought the farm, that I graduated in the Social field. My work and continuing studies went on for a number of years. Since I arrived home late most of the week days my husband Casey became lonesome at times. He had talked about this with the Lord and asked for some help.

One dreary fall day Casey drove the school bus back home after he had dropped the children off. It was raining hard when he entered the gravel road we lived on. Even with the windshield wipers on, the road was hard to see. That is when he noticed a big dog, soaking wet, crossing the road. He slowed down, stopped and talked to the dog through the side window, and said: “You’re very wet, aren’t you?” The dog sat down and looked at him.

In the mean time my husband, Casey had to make a decision if he should take him home and said to the Lord: “Do You want me to have this dog?” “If so I will open the door and the dog will come into the bus without me coaching it.” The bus door was opened, no word was said, the dog crossed in front of the bus, climbed up the steps and sat down right beside Casey. He drove the school bus home, parked it, walked out of the bus and the dog followed him.

The door to the woodshed, which leads to our kitchen, was opened and the dog walked in. Casey dried him, fed him and gave him a corner in the woodshed to lie down. The dog had been sleeping for hours when I came home around 10:00 pm, not knowing what to expect.

After we talked for a bit and had a cup of tea, Casey said to me: “Come here and see what I found.” He opened the kitchen door to the woodshed, but didn’t turn on the light. Then he brought the dog to the door opening. I could only see his head by the light from the kitchen. I stared in the beautiful eyes of a rescued animal. Oh!... he is big and beautiful... he looks like a younger dog... I see some Labrador and German Shepherd in him, I uttered. How did you find him? The Lord brought me this dog to keep me company, Casey said.

The dog must have been exhausted because he slept for days in a row. Casey named him Brutus, because he looked like a Brute, although his character was very gentle.

We checked the whole neighbourhood to see if someone lost their dog, but nobody missed their pet. We estimated that he was about one year old when Casey found him. Somebody must have dropped him off during the summer and the dog managed to survive on his own. Most likely he would have died during the harsh Canadian winter, if the Lord hadn’t intervened and brought him to Casey’s path.

Since Casey rescued Brutus, he wanted to please his boss in everyway possible. It seemed as if he understood everything we told him because he responded accordingly.

This particular day, Casey was in the woods cutting trees for firewood. Brutus stayed with me. It was about coffee break time but Casey didn’t show up and I didn’t know where he was cutting the trees. So, I wrote a note on a brown luncheon bag “Coffee is ready”. I picked up a piece of binder twine, stuck it through a hole in the bag and tied it around Brutus’ neck. I said a short sentence: “Go to father with a message.” He knew who “father” was, which helped. I repeated myself and opened the door and said: “GO.” He walked a few hundred feet in the direction of the woods, looked back at me and waited until I hollered: “GO”. On he went.

About fifteen minutes later Casey came down on the tractor and Brutus running behind him. Brutus had found “father” and quietly sat down close to the tractor. Casey noticed Brutus and read the note which hung around his neck.

After this we used Brutus as our messenger.

One time we heard him bark close to the edge of the woods when Casey responded and went over to see what was going on. Brutus had chased a mature bear up a tree. He was a brave dog and was not afraid of anything. This got him into trouble many times in his encounters with porcupines, after which Casey had to pull quills from his mouth.

On a hot summer day Brutus was laying in the scorching heat of the sun and I said to him: “Why are you laying in that heat, go and lay in the shade of the car!” Immediately he stood up walked to the car and laid down in the shade. We never taught him anything, he just did what we said. I couldn’t understand how he knew what we meant.

Very seldom we let him in the house. But when we did he never came to the living area, but stayed right beside the door as if he understood that he was an animal and not worthy to sit with human beings. He kept his distance, although he stayed close. He respected us for who we were and he showed it too. Brutus was a very intelligent dog.

On one occasion, he had taken my old running shoe from the woodshed, and took it outside. For some reason he buried it in the field as we later learned. For days I searched for that shoe, but had to give up. The following summer my sister-in-law visited us for a couple of weeks. She loved the outdoors, and while walking with Brutus through the field she noticed something sticking up and pulled up my old running shoe. Right away Brutus ducked and turned his head (in shame), when Margret asked: “What is this?” The shoe was brought home and stayed in the woodshed. Whenever somebody picked up that shoe, Brutus would stick his head under an old little table, as if he wanted to hide.

In the middle of March Casey would get ready to tap the maple trees to make maple syrup for our own use. This is a lot of work if one does it the old fashioned way. It begins with getting up very early, collecting the sap from the pails which hang on the trees, deposit this in the large flat sap pan and get the fire roaring below. The key is boiling this sap down until it gets to a syrup like substance; thus evaporating the access water from the sap. This procedure takes many hours.

Well, this was the time Casey took Brutus to our maple tree stand, which was across the road. The work had started, the sap was boiling and more firewood needed to be brought in.

Brutus was sitting nearby and smelled something and went on a search. Casey was too busy and didn’t miss him at first. After a while he noticed that Brutus was gone. So, he called for him, but didn’t get immediate response. He walked further into the woods to see if he could find his friend. And sure enough behind a few trees was Brutus with muck all over his heavy fur coat. He had rolled in the “you know what” from a wild animal. The stench was something else.

Casey having his hands full with boiling the maple sap did not appreciate the extra work of cleaning his dog. Brutus received some deserved scolding, like... how on earth could you.... and you stink.... blah blah!... Casey chased him away and continued with the work of boiling sap.

After several hours Brutus had not returned and Casey went to check and see where he had gone. He didn’t need to go far, for right in view was Brutus sitting on a large rock formation, waiting at a safe distance. Casey felt sorry that he had scolded his best friend and he walked closer. He looked and thought to himself, do I see this correctly?... and he called the dog to come.

Slowly Brutus walked up to his boss, who noticed to his amazement that the dog was completely cleansed with no bad smell. How did you get all this muck and the stench off of your fur, how did you get so clean, was the question? But Brutus didn’t say a word, he just sat there and stared at Casey as if he was saying: “Please, will you accept me now. I am cleansed.”

At that exact moment the picture changed and our eyes were opened. We saw where we once were; muck and dirt clinging unto our own souls, the stench of our sins was unbearable. We were sent away by the Father because He had no use for us. We were lost in our filth, searching for help to get cleansed. We fled into the darkness. But thank God, we met Jesus Christ in our time of despair and darkness of our own soul. He cleansed us with His Blood. The stench changed into a sweet fragrance of myrrh. Completely cleansed we were now facing the Father. We didn’t have to say a word. He accepted us. HALLELUJAH!!

Tears were running down our cheeks. We got the “message” similar as Brutus used to bring to us hanging around his neck with binder twine.

For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; Ezekiel 12:25a

Didn’t God use a donkey to speak to the prophet?

We had Brutus for 11 years. All life returns to God, but we surely miss him.

May the name of the Lord be praised!

Caught up in His presence,

Minister Dr. Trudy Veerman

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Animals, God's Creation!

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For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Romans 8:22

This is Katie which we picked up from the animal shelter when she was just over one year old. She was an abused doggie, small in size, underfed, underweight, bones sticking out and no fur on her lower back, with cigaret burn marks on her little head.

I rescued her and therefore became "mother" of this very scared little friend. I carefully raised her and mixed beepollen and codliver oil in her food. She didn't know what dogfood was, so I had to give a little bit all througout the day. She was so happy to live with us in the country with lots of room. Although weak, she could hardly stop running in circles everytime we let her outside.

Slowly she gained some weight and strength and began to eat much better. Since she has been abused by male owners, a place where the police was often called, she was very afraid of men, especially in dark clothing. Therefore it took at least 3 months before she accepted my husband. She followed me everywhere and went where I went. She grew into a lovely pet and is now over 13 years old.(added later, Katie died on March 28th, 2009 after I wrote this blog)

"Even the animals are awaiting redemption of the curses that humans have brought upon this planet!" Yes... it is sad...

Just think about all the animals and birds who have died and suffered, and still are, in the horrific fires going on in Australia at this time. I love animals, wild and domesticated, and have looked after many of them during my lifetime.

Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Romans 8:22

Mother duck and her babies are some of the wild pets of my friend Pat, who also loves animals of all sorts and feeds them. These creatures are so beautiful and the Creator is the TOP first class "Artist". What a wonderful Father we serve!

We saved a newborn Heifer calf which got lost and survived on swamp water. We were the first humanbeings she ever saw when we got her out of the woods, and my husband carried it on his shoulders, as a lamb.

I hand-raised her with a little milk each time and some pellets to avoid her getting scours. She knew me as her "mother" and softly mooed when I came into the barn to feed her or clean up. Even when she grew bigger she still greeted me when I entered the barn and even when she was grazing in the field. I brushed her daily and we were the best friends.

Next she gave us a calf and we milked her with a single milking machine. She came into the barn by herself, when it was milking time. Pails full of nutritious milk. I made lots of yoghurt for a hungry bunch of kids.

How the Lord blessed us!

At one time we found an abandoned duck nest with eggs in it. I took the eggs home put them in a cardboard box with straw and rags on the bottom. I rigged up an old lamp and put a thermometer in the box to keep the eggs at the right temperature. I even got up in the middle of the night to check, and sometimes had to adjust the position of the lamp, not to get the eggs too hot or too cold. It took about 28 days when some of the eggs hatched, and the feeding began.

This is our wild racoon friend at our cottage, who did visit us from time to time.

My husband Casey loves birds and he has quite a number of these feathered friends. Several kind of birds eat right out of his hand and some from his mouth...


I had a few canaries for fun, for a number of years, when they started to lay eggs. I didn't know anything about raising birds but I soon learned. The eggs hatched in 10 days and I had to provide special soft food for mother canary to feed her babies. I made the soft food from my own recipe of eggs, fine ground grains and a little honey, mixed well and made into a pancake shape and microwaved for a short while. I then fed small pieces to mother canary and she in turn fed her babies.

Mother canary even allowed me to take her babies out of the nest. And when we went cruising with our boat for weeks we took the birdcages with us, eggs and all... The eggs would hatch right on board ship. No matter what the weather was like, the birds were happy.

What a joy this has been. Thank you Lord!

Here you see my little Froggie friend taking a daily bath in a jam jar lid.

This 1.5 inches cute little treefrog has become my latest "pet". I found this froggie amongst my plants in the sunroom, October 2008. It must have come in the house when I brought the plants home from the cottage. By now it was getting too cold to put her outside. She would freeze to death.

We didn't notice it earlier since it "lived" amongst my plants and must have been feeding on the flies and insects. My husband noticed it sitting on the window sill. I went on the Internet to learn what to feed it, since all the flies had been eaten already. Let's not get in detail of feeding, because you will bend over laughing.

Shortly after I could stroke it, but handling it is not advised. I spray it with a fine mist of water a few times per day and "she" bathes herself daily in the jar lid. True!! I talk to it in a special way and it knows now my voice and looks up at me. Often she hides and is hard to find, but never leaves the plants' area. She is not caged in, but does not roam too far. She is soooo cute, as you can see. It must be a "she", because she likes her picture being taken... smile!

Let me add to this story what happened since I wrote the above.

It became Spring 2009 and our Froggie had been moving around in the house and at times could not be found. Everyday it moved back to the sunroom where I left food and her "bathing water", so I could see the evidence that it was still around. I talked to it even if I didn't see Froggie, and it popped up from time to time.

One sunny morning I went upstairs to my office to work on my computer. I turned on the light beside my monitor and while I pushed the button of the sound system right by the light, I saw to my BIG surprise Froggie sitting on the elevated part of my desk where my monitor stands on. It was not sitting sideways or backwards, but perfectly facing me and staring at me.

I began to talk to it (in my special animal talk) and said: "What are you doing here, how did you find me and what do you want?" It was just sitting quietly, looking right into my eyes.

I was deeply moved by the fact that Froggie knew where I did spend most of my time, and had come all the way upstairs climbing along the walls, through a door opening and taking another wall, then jumped on my desk at the precise place where I would see it, without uttering a sound. I thought to myself: "This must be God's creation trying to tell me something."

Still staring at me, all of a sudden I knew what it came for this far. Froggy wanted to go outside and seek friends. She was tired of eating my lifeless flies, dipped in honey and frog crumbs. I said: "OK, I will bring you outside." Carefully I picked it up and carried it in the palm of my hand to the outdoors. Now it was free! It disappeared in the wooded area around our home.

During the summer of 2009 we walked in our woods and I noticed a treefrog sitting on the ground amongst the leaves and I began to talk as I used to do to my Froggie. It sat there and listened. We came closer, but it never moved away. I talked some more in the familiar way and I knew that it was my Froggie. We left it alone and walked on.

Fall 2009 came and one day my husband found Froggie sitting on the desk in his workshop, 500 ft from our home. It had come inside through a window which was only half an inch left open. Casey talked to it, as I used to do, while Froggie was listening. He picked it up and brought it outside. Froggie wanted to come inside for the winter, but knowing that frogs will hibernate if left alone, we decided not to bring Froggie inside again.

This has been one of the most outstanding and wonderful experiences we have had with God's creation.

We'll see if we meet again in 2010.

I have mentioned above only a few incidents we did have with animals. I have one remarkable story to tell about a God-sent dog, Brutus, we had in earlier years. I hope to write about this in more detail in another Blog post, at some time.

Yes, it is possible that the Lord brings animals on our path for various reasons or purposes. It taught me much patience, determination and endurance.

God's love is seen all around us
if we just would recognize His care
His creation shows us all about this
as we watch the cub and mother bear

She keeps it far away from danger
tenderly caresses and feeds her offspring
With her own life she'll defend it
giving protection as to her baby she'll cling

In a small way this reflects God's love
for He takes care of all that we'll need
Through His Son, who is our Savior
we have His protection in word and deed

So let the things of this world not be a bother
giving it all into the Father's hand
He certainly knows of what making you are
Nevertheless, He will uphold you till the end

I hope you enjoyed me ranting about my animal friends.

Blessings from the Father and Creator of all things.

Minister Dr. Trudy Veerman
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Created from the dust!

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Do you agree that we are made of clay?? Yep? Tis true. It was from the ground that the God made us - that's you and me!! Now we all come in an assortment of colors, sizes and shapes.

The sad thing is that often times people judge us by our shape, size or color. Right? God knows what is IN you, my friend. This fact should help us feel better about our self. The point was most vividly brought out by the story I once heard.

It seems that a Benvenuto Cellini (Italian sculptor) received a huge block of marble. Upon examining it he discovered a small flaw. Because of the small crack, no artist would submit a design for it.

But the story does not end there - it continues like this. In the public square of Florence a fence was built around the slab of marble - and also a small "shack" for the artist. Days went by, months, even up to two years went by with the sculptor working. THEN at the appointed time the fence was taken down as well as the shack. THEN all in the city of Florence beheld the result and just couldn't believe their eyes!!!! There was Michelangelo's DAVID. Wow!!

The bottom line was Michelangelo SAW in that block of marble a stature which the others did not. see. So, in our lump of clay (which you see every day in the mirror) remember God sees something.
To begin with, you have been created in the "image of God" and second God sees in you something very beautiful and most important. The problem is when we get so overtaken by burdens and the cares of life WE fail to realize that and we start believing a lie! Eccl. 3:11

"GOD HAS MADE EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN HIS OWN TIME"

What God says is great and important, let no man say otherwise. You, my friend, are a VERY IMPORTANT person. To me, to others, to God and most of all to yourself!! We see it IN you.

Let me tell you 4 things to remember after you read this:

1. You were known before seen

2. You are fearfully and wonderfully made

3. You cost Jesus a lot

4. You have been called by name

You are a “somebody” .Jesus wants you to feel good in your skin.

Jesus is the “lifter of your head”.

Your prayer for yourself, my friend

Lord, thank you for reminding me that I am fearfully and wonderful made. Thank you that you see in me something that is most useful to you and to others. May I really come to that realization, in the name of Jesus.

Amen

…….and just to add the Word of God: (Psalm 139: 14-18

“I praise you because I (______place your name ______)am fearfully and wonderfully made, your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth (clay body) your eyes saw my unformed body……How precious to me are your thoughts O God. How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would out number the grains of sand….”



Blessings and love,
Dr. Neal and Nancy Carlson

Words for Courageous Living

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Persecution at the doorstep of TRUTH!

Dear Friends in Christ,

As some may know, following Christ includes persecution in different forms.
Jesus says that we are blessed when persecuted for His sake, which means being persecuted for standing on the TRUTH of His word, as revealed by the Holy Spirit.
This does not mean being ridiculed for one's personal or group opinion, which does not line up with the Word of God.

For those who know in Whom they have believed and are persuaded that He is able to keep them, let they reveal the deceit and lies which are threatening the "Flock", and which are continously bombarding the followers of God.

This is a real technique of satan, to drive one to the limits and prey on the weak so they may stumble. For this some are called to warn and reveal what is going on in the spiritual world.... a REAL BATTLE against the deceiver of souls.

But if we are steadfast and standing on solid ground of God's Word, we shall conquer for His Glory.

We MUST proclaim the truth, which brings its own conscequences.
We are called to be OVERCOMERS in the name of the Lord.
AMEN AND AMEN!!

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matthew 5:10-12

God's servant,
Minister Dr. Trudy Veerman

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