Bending Angel

Prayer for Dimes for Times to Reflect Kindness – March 19, 2021

March 19, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Click here for Jack’s video of this prayer.

My mother knew that my favorite birthday cake was chocolate with her smooth dark buttery chocolate icing. Every year in my youth she placed before me a beautiful single-layer homemade chocolate birthday cake. I blew out the candles which glowed with the light of her love for me. As I was her birthday boy she cut the first piece of the cake just for me. Mom always gave me the piece which contained a shiny dime wrapped in aluminum foil. That tradition for me and my siblings and that dime reflected my mother’s kindness. That simple act made me feel special and valued by her. Even though polio changed me and the number of the candles on each cake in the years which followed were different, I always received from Mom that same simple token of love and kindness from her.

My mother died in 2010. Yet, the remembrance of the dimes she placed in my birthday cakes keeps reflecting her acts of kindness to me.

After the polio epidemic in America, the March of Dimes campaign raised millions for victims like and thousands of others. Those acts of kindness in donating dimes even paid for the Iron Lung I used for four years after contracting polio.

In the early 1990s, I took a Rainbow Trout fishing trip on the White River with my dear friend, Bill. (I name him Bill as he and his beautiful wife are private people). Bill and I had one of the best guides on the river, “Hot Dog Curtis.” As we peacefully floated down a portion of the White River near Bull Shoals, we were catching Rainbow Trout right and left. Bill was so impressed with Hot Dog’s talents he asked for his business card. As Hot Dog leaned across the boat and pulled his card out of his wallet, a dime fell out of it and into the river. The water was moving nearly 14 miles an hour because a large number of flood gates were open at Bull Shoals Dam. The spring-fed water was nearly 40°. When the dime hit the water, Hot Dog screamed, “Oh, No. I’ve lost the dime my father gave me before he died. It’s my good luck charm.”

Instantly Bill said, “Don’t worry, Hot Dog. I’ll jump in the water and get it for you.” Hot Dog replied, “No, you don’t have to do that for me.” To that Bill said, “Yes, I do. No problem.” To my amazement, Bill took off his shirt and jumped into the frigid water. Under the conditions, I thought the chances of recovering the dime at the bottom of the river was impossible. After the first dive into the water, Bill came up empty. After a deep breath, Bill dove back in. Again, for the second time, Bill came up empty. Then, on his third attempt, Bill rose to the surface with Hot Dog’s dime in his right hand and gave it back to him. Hot Dog profusely thanked Bill for his sacrificial act of human kindness.

I had an occasion to speak to Hot Dog last week. Hot Dog is 62 years old now. We spoke about the trip he took with Bill and me many years ago. Hot Dog said that he doesn’t know where the wallet or the dime is anymore. But, he said he will never forget Bill stepping out of the warmth of his comfort zone that day, diving into the frigid water, and doing an exceptional act of kindness for him.

Acts of kindness never die. They keep on living and keep on giving to us purpose and self-worth. Acts of kindness are not confined to those from my mother or those from Bill. All of us have received them from others. We all have the capacity to be kind to others.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about kindness.

Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such, there is no law.

Let us pray,

God, in prayer please help our hearts to see and seize opportunities to be kind to others. It is in giving acts of kindness to others that we receive pleasure in knowing we have truly helped them.

God, please enable us to know that when we are kind to others for their sake, not ours that we are serving You, our Creator of everlasting life, love, and light.

Last, God, may we acknowledge that a small act of kindness can have profound consequences for another. Stopping to give a bottle of cold water to a homeless man or woman on a hot day; paying for a cup of coffee for the person behind in the line at Starbucks, or just listening to a person recounting a loss or personal difficulty, or a receiving a dime in a birthday cake for a young boy. Well, God, like Your love for us, our kindness can shine in the memory of others for a lifetime. Kindness can even author a prayer like this. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click here to go to Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Jack-H-Emmott/e/B01BZFHSBW?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to www.BendingAngel.com website.

Prayer for the Bit of George the Pelican in Each of Us – March 7, 2021

March 7, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Click here for Jack’s video version of this prayer.

Last week’s prayer on the Everlasting Legacy of Love originated from observing George the Pelican and witnessing his return to the place he received love and acceptance from our neighbor Mertz. Mertz’s legacy of love touched many on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. I appreciated all the comments on Facebook. In particular, an email from Michael Craig, one of my dearest friends and wonderful collaborative divorce attorney, struck me in the heart. So much so Michael’s remarks became the basis of this week’s sequel prayer and the title of this prayer.

Michael wrote:

Dear Jack, A marvelous prayer and a wonderful illustration of love and devotion. This legacy of love is truly something to hand down to our children and our children’s children. Sadly, it also reflects the nature of a widow or widower after a half-century with a devoted spouse. Old habits and committed love die hard. Many of my continual habits of affection with Betty, even during this last chapter of her life in a cloud of Alzheimer’s, will continue by virtue of habit after she is gone. And so there is a bit of George in each of us. A habit that is not so much a longing as one that retains a fond memory.

In this long time of the Long Goodbye, Michael has made sure that as there is less and less of Betty there is more and more of him. More and more of his love. More and more of the Light of God in his service to Betty, his devoted wife, and bride.

Michael observed that soon Betty will be gone to make her final journey to Heaven to join the God she faithfully served in her ministry at The Foundry United Methodist Church in Jersey Village, Texas. But like George, Michael knows that as long as his heartbeats and his mind can remember, he will return each day to the place where Betty was with him and where he received her devoted love and care.

Whether due to Alzheimer’s, cancer, a tragic accident, the Coronavirus or just old age, the truth Michael speaks is that there is a George the Pelican in all of us. The person who is left behind. The one who remembers. The one who returns to the place love was received. The place where love was given. To feed on glorious memory and the innumerable blessings God bestowed on the one left behind through the kindness, care, and love of the departed. God has spoken to us in Scripture about what happens to those left behind and what fills the void and the darkness in the wake of the death of loved ones.

Luke 1:78-79

Because of our God’s deep compassion, the dawn from heaven will break upon us, to give light to those who are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide us on the path of peace.

Revelation 21:4-5

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

Let us pray together.

God, we thank You for Michael Craig’s enlightened words that there is a bit of George the Pelican in all of us.

God, we thank You for Betty and all others who have lived, served, and loved in Your name. God, when we sit in the pain of loss and in the darkness of grief, please give us peace and light.

God, please embrace the bit of George in all of us with Your never-failing love, comfort, and healing. Amen.

If you like this prayer, please share.

Photo credit: Parade.com

Prayer for the Everlasting Legacy of Love – February 28, 2021

February 28, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Click here to enjoy Jack’s video version of this prayer.

For the last five months Dorothy and I have sought refuge from the Coronavirus at Camp PawPaw. Camp PawPaw overlooks Tres Palacios Bay with a myriad of water fowl to entertain us from dawn until sunset each day. Some of the water creatures seem to perform the same way day after day. Others appear for a few weeks and will not be seen again for a while in observance of migratory habits rooted in ancient history.

One repeat performer is a beautiful Brown Pelican who lands nearly every day on the stair rail of Sissy Taylor’s pier a few houses down from us. The Pelican is an elder by human standards. He has an 18-inch-long bill and a large throat pouch. His head is white in front and dark brown in the back. This regal bird has silver-gray feathers that adorn the rest of his body.

Judging by his appearance our frequent Pelican visitor must be about 25-30 years old. Clearly near the end of his time on Earth.

Countless times Dorothy and I have wondered why the Pelican returns to this unlikely perch. All the other Pelicans sit on the ends of the neighboring barnacle encrusted navigation posts in the bay or lined up like a platoon of Army soldiers on the ends of the piers at the conclusion of their exhausting day dive bombing for fish in the bay. But not our Pelican. He is committed to always return to the same perch. But, why?

The mystery became clear a couple of weeks ago. Our friend, Sissy Taylor, explained it to us. Twenty years or so ago there lived in a neighboring house a Magnus Mertz. Known to everyone simply as Mertz. Each day Mertz cast for bait fish with his casting net. A Pelican landed near him. He stood there as if to ask Mertz to be served him a meal, his daily bread from man to a feathered friend. Mertz gave the Pelican part of his catch. After that first meeting, the Pelican and Mertz repeated that ritual nearly every day for the years which followed. They eventually, became such good friends Mertz named the Pelican George. Soon George was following Mertz into his garage to be hand-fed mullet and just hang out with him.

Mertz moved away from Palacios a few years later to live closer to his family. Relocating to be with family was a huge win for Mertz. But, it was a big loss for George.

So, even now, many years later and without receiving his daily bread and friendship from Mertz, George still returns. Still remembers. Still sits on his perch. To be at kind of holy place. A place that Dorothy and I witness and appreciate Mertz’ everlasting legacy of love to George. George officiates the sacred happening that we are fortunate to know and celebrate because we understand the mystery revealed to us by Sissy.

God has spoken to us in Scripture as to the legacy of love.

Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.

Psalms 78:4
We will not keep them from our children; we will tell the next generation about the Lord‘s power and his great deeds and the wonderful things he has done.

3 John 1:4
I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.

God, I thank You for the lesson in the everlasting legacy of love as represented by George, the Brown Pelican, on Tres Palacios Bay.

God, in prayer please guide, support and enable me to leave an everlasting legacy of love in my service to You and Your children.

God, when I have joined You in Heaven, please show to others on Earth the signs of my works in Your name as I have witnessed in watching the George, the Brown Pelican. Each day he pays homage to the blessings he received from his friend, the fisherman and the giver of daily bread that feeds George’s soul forever and ever. Amen.

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer in Thanksgiving for the Life of Mary Ann Maxwell – February 21, 2021

February 22, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

With her life-long devoted friend Carol Waldrop at her side in Rockport, Texas on February 6, 2021, Mary Ann Maxwell left the Earth.

In sending her to us God had special plans for Mary Ann’s life. The gifts which He bestowed upon Mary Ann enabled her to become a world-renowned bridal authority. First, working at Saks Fifth Avenue in Hollywood, California. Then, at Neiman Marcus and Sakowitz in Houston. Thereafter, Mary Ann opened her own extremely successful bridal consulting business in 1978.

For more than 40 years Mary Ann was chosen by brides in Texas, in America, and from royalty to be adorned with glamour and beauty.

At the age of 9 in 1936 in Dallas, Texas at the Texas Centennial Exposition (Texas State Fair) Mary Ann was selected to hand over to child movie star and Honorary Chief of the Rangerettes, Shirley Temple, a cowgirl doll made in Shirley’s image. Now, it is only fitting that the angels have handed over to God Mary Ann’s spirit to hold in His arms.

God, in prayer we thank You for the life and love of Mary Ann Maxwell.

God, we trust that our dear Mary Ann through resurrection and Your grace has now become one with You, the Father of us all. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer in Grieving for the Loss of Pets – February 7, 2021

February 6, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Click here for Jack’s video version of this prayer.

I have a picture of my dad, Jack, age 2, holding his favorite chicken in the backyard of his grandmother’s house near Washington and Heights Boulevard in 1922. On January 23, 2021, he would’ve been 102 years of age. Dad died in 2015. His grandmother, Catharine Mary Emmott, the Mother of Memorial Park died in 1948. The grand home is gone too. But, the memory of my dad holding that chicken endures. It is somehow timeless.

Dad was stationed in Italy for five years in WWII. He talked to me about the beauty of Rome, Florence, and Milan. But like the Greatest Generation, he never talked about the war. Another thing he almost never did in my presence was cry.

I recall only two times I saw him cry. He wept in our living room when his bird dog, Pirate, died unexpectedly during the veterinarian’s attempt to kill heartworms before they ended up killing his beloved dog. Dad was so grief-stricken he did not even wipe the tears from his eyes and face.

The second time was when he had to put down Rudy, his black German Shepard, when the dog was so ill, he could no longer get up from the ground on his four legs. Dad petted Rudy’s forehead several times. Then, Dad loaded his WWII German Lugar 22 Caliber Pistol. With a trembling hand and broken heart, pulled the trigger and gave his dear pet, Rudy, a merciful ending to a life well-lived.
Don’t get me wrong. I am sure that Dad grieved for the loss of his wife, my mother Lucile, his parents, siblings, and close friends. But, openly crying in the sight of others was not something I ever witnessed except for Pirate and Rudy.

On Facebook, everyone sees and shares the grief which happens when their four-footed pet dog or cat becomes a memory of the past and another of God’s angel creatures in Heaven. I think the tears of my father and such sharing of grief on Facebook demonstrates just how much the relationship with our pets teaches us about the unconditional love of God. How great it would be if every one of us as God’s children could be as unconditionally loving as Pirate and Rudy were to Dad or as loving as your pets have been to you, my friends.

God has spoken to us in Scripture about what can be taught to us by our pets and uplifting words to heal our grief for the loss of them.

Job 12:7-10
7 But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish in the sea inform you.
9 Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?
10 In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind.

Revelation 21:4-5
4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new! Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.

God, in prayer, we thank You for our beloved pets for through them You’ve taught us about Your unconditional, everlasting love.
God, in prayer, please help us to love one another as we are loved by Your creatures, great and small.

God, in prayer, please provide to each of us the comfort and care we need to heal the grieving for the loss of our pets.

God, in prayer, may we receive Your holy hope that one day we will be reunited in Heaven with our pets. That our barking and purring fur angels will be seen racing to greet us. That we may share with them in Heaven the love which lasts forever and ever. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Jack-H-Emmott/e/B01BZFHSBW%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Prayer for Angel Eyes Who See Something and Say Something – January 17, 2021

January 17, 2021 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

For the video of Jack’s prayer, please click here.

I believe in God.

I believe in angels.

Angels in Heaven.

Angels on Earth.

Angels, God’s holy messengers of love and protection.

Angels who are not confined to history and the Bible.

Like the Angel Gabriel or Jacob’s Angel or the Guardian Angel Michael.

Living angels, here and now.

Like the twelve living angels in my book, Bending Angels.

Living angels are everywhere, like Flaviane Carvalho, a Florida restaurant employee, who opened her angel eyes. She saw with her heart a sad 11-year-old boy seated with his family at a Mrs. Potato Restaurant in Orlando, Florida on Dec. 31, 2020.

Flaviane noticed the boy had scratches and bruises. She became more concerned when his parents didn’t order him anything to eat.
Flaviane asked herself, “How can I know that this boy needs help?’ Instantly, she wrote and flashed a note to the boy when his parents weren’t looking. “Do you need help?” When the boy nodded and crossed his arms across his chest, she called 911. This living angel was a messenger to the police of God’s love and protection for this boy.

The police arrived within minutes. The police took the boy to a hospital, where doctors found numerous bruises. He also was 20 pounds underweight.

The boy told detectives that he had been tied up and hung upside down from a door in his home. Also, he had been beaten by his stepfather, handcuffed, and denied food.

The boy and his sister are now out of harm’s way. The angel saw something. Said something.

The abused boy was saved by a note and the angel eyes of a waitress.

God has said in Scripture that angels see, act, and have a place on Earth and in Heaven.

Exodus 23:20
Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.

Hebrews 1:14
Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Psalm 91:11-12
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up…

Hebrews 13:2
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained

God, in prayer we thank You for Your angels on Earth and in Heaven.

God, in prayer may we see the guardian angels You have appointed to watch over us, night and day.

God, in prayer please call us to be Your living angels on Earth. That we may have the eyes of angels to see and say something to protect all Your children from harm as Flaviane did for the 11-year old boy in Orlando.

God, if we see others in harm’s way or in need, please help us to take the next step, like Flaviane, to say something, to do something, and to lead them to the place You have prepared for them.

God, we may not have the chance to save a child from abuse. But, we can see the lonely neighbor next door and pay a visit, or the poor lady counting pennies in the grocery store line and buy her food, or a cold homeless man sleeping on the street and hand him a blanket. There are tens and tens of thousands of Your angels, may we each be one for You. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to www.BendingAngel.com website.

Photo credit: GoFundMe.org

Prayer for the Spirit of Forrest Gump to Dwell in Us – December 13, 2020

December 14, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

To see the video of Jack reading this prayer, please click here.

During this Pandemic, it is interesting how unexpectedly things come out of the blue and hit your heart with the force of a locomotive. To take you from where you are at the moment. Then, propel you backwards in time. Then, sling you forward into the future. Then, take you back again to where you were originally. In those few fleeting moments your heart is in a much different place than where you began.

Recently, Dorothy and I had just finished dinner. As we ate pecan pie, I noticed Forrest Gump the movie, was on YouTube TV. I turned the movie on.

As a young boy with a curved spine, Forrest wore braces on his legs. Like Forrest, I, as a young boy with polio, wore a Milwaukee Brace to support my curving spine. With prayer and hard work, I had hope that brace would disappear. When Forrest ran in the movie, his leg braces miraculously broke into pieces. At that moment I was a young boy running next to him. Unlike Forrest, my back brace did not disintegrate. I was never able to run with or without the brace. But despite that, like Forrest, I was born and blessed by God with the kind of hopeful spirit we all need. Hope and dreams I still have. Gifts I received from God.

Then, came the scene when Forrest sat in a chair by his mother lying in bed. Forrest’s mother announced that she was dying. Forrest asked his mother why. She said, “Death is just part of life”. Just like birth. It was her time. That time comes for all of us.

Then, I found myself with my mother ten years ago when she was near death. Receiving the Last Rights. As experienced by Forrest in his mother’s death, a part of me died when my mom’s heart stopped beating.

Then, there was Jenny, the girl Forrest loved. The girl who loved him even though Forrest wasn’t the smartest kid on the block. When Jenny refused to confirm her love for him, Forrest said “At least I know what love is.” Even though Forrest was different, Jenny came to love him. Suddenly, I was 23 again. I was next to my bride, Dorothy. Dorothy was my Jenny in 1972. Like Jenny for Forrest, despite my own disabilities and differences from other men, Dorothy loved me as I was. As I am. As I am not. As I will never be.

My mind then drifted to the future and to the New Year 2021. How many Americans might have given up hope? Would Forrest’s childlike wonder and innocence be near the brink of extinction in the hearts of most Americans?

What I like about Forrest Gump is that he believed all things are possible. Unlike Forrest Gump, our dreams don’t always come true. And many times we lose our hope. Despite all his challenges, Forrest Gump always had never-ending hope. Like death and birth, dreams and miracles were just part of life too

For me, at present no more is needed than that. Forrest had Jenny. I have my Dorothy. Maybe that feather of God’s hope for us, that feather floating in the wind, like Forrest’s, lands some place in your heart or mine, in the mystery of life itself and God’s love for you and me. With God’s help, we may each live the lives we dream and the hope to love with all the joy and innocence of Forrest.

God has assured us in Scripture that hope is part of the life we are gifted from Him.

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Romans 12:12
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

God, many of us are going through a troubled time. Many of us struggle every day to see hope amidst Advent darkness. Amidst all the death. All the hunger. All the poverty. All the unemployment. All the doubt and despair.

God, in the mystery of Your Grace and love for us, please help us in prayer to see that miracles still happen for all of us.

God, with prayer, please help us see the hope and innocence which dwell in us and in Your Child born in Bethlehem. For at Christmas with Jesus’s birth, Your love, Your Holy hope and everlasting light was born. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer in Thanksgiving for Parents – November 22, 2020

November 21, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

To watch a video of Jack reading this prayer, please click here.

Like many of you, I owe my first and deepest gratitude and giving of thanks to God because of Mom and Dad. When I was thirty-something, young and married with kids, I penned, A Child’s Thanksgiving, a poem to God in awe of them.

Because of the Pandemic, many of you cannot be with your parents on Thanksgiving. Even if the Pandemic did not exist, many of you, like me, have parents who have died and are unable to be with you and your family on this special day of giving thanks.

For another year, Mom and Dad will not be with me in the physical at the Emmott Family Thanksgiving Table. Instead, they will be seated at the Lord’s Table feasting on the Light and Love of God.

Happy Thanksgiving, Mom and Dad. Enjoy the Love, Peace, and Joy you gave me.

A Child’s Thanksgiving
Lord,
Today is Thanksgiving Day,
At least for another forty-five minutes,
As it is now eleven fifteen at night.
Even though thanks giving is the theme of this day
I have yet to say enough thanks
For the life you have given me.

Thanks for life,
Life so precious, so rare,
Life of mine which might have ended
So long ago in my childhood years,
Years filled with respirators, syringes,
Bedpans, creamagal, prayers, oxygen
Tents, braces, casts, and hospital
Rooms.

Thanks for Mom and Dad.
For all their love, patience, and care,
For just being there
When I so much needed them.
For the untold sacrifices they made,
Which I could never hope to repay.
For devoting their younger years
So that I might live more of my own.
For instilling in me
A happy outlook on life,
Despite physical limitations,
Which chained me down,
Which prevented me
From doing what others did.
For giving me the courage
To endure the painful years
And those unhappy tears.
But most of all,
Thanks for their love,
Love which gave me comfort.
Knowing that whatever I was or was not,
I was always accepted
And had the potential to become a bigger “me”,
Because of what we had been through.

For giving me gifts,
Gifts which have kept on giving
Year after year.
The gift of warmth,
Of being held in their arms as a child,
Totally dependent on their nurture for survival.
The gift of being held in my mother’s arms,
Clutched near her breasts.
Of being lulled to sleep in the music
Of her heartbeats,
Of her song
And of the rocker squeaking on the oak wood floor.
For giving me a greater vision
Of this world and other worlds.
For allowing me to believe in
Fairytales,
Santa Claus,
Rudolf,
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
Jack and the Beanstalk,
The Sand Man,
The Tooth Fairy,
Superman and
The Savior.
For the gifts
Of toys
Of cowboy boots,
Of water pistols,
Of cowboy outfits
Of my first Roy Rogers lunch kit,
Of toys brought back from Mexico,
Of hidden treasures,
Of Playland Park,
Of malted milks,
Of donuts,
Of not making me quit taking
Those shiny half dollars,
From Mr. Logan at Ed Snapp’s therapy clinic.
Of fishing trips,
Of bedtime outings,
Of the best medical care,
And of too many gifts
To write down all of them.

Thanks for keeping them here
For as long as you have
So that I could come to know them better
And love them better also.
The same is just as true for Grandmother and PawPaw.

Thanks for Dorothy, John, and Catherine.

Thanks for giving me
The happiest and most joyous moments
I am now experiencing.
Thanks for the community
We have shared.
And for my partaking of a communion
With each breath of air,
And with each drop of rain.

Lord,
Thanks most of all
For answering my prayers.

Love, Bubba

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer for the Unconditional Love and Loyalty of Dogs – August 30, 2020

August 30, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

Please click here for Jack’s video version of this prayer.

My grandfather, PawPaw, was far from a perfect man. Basically, he was good, like you and me. Yet he said things and held beliefs that were hard to accept.

He drove the most ugly and colorful mustard yellow automobile that was the cheapest one on Kitzman’s Chevrolet car lot. PawPaw had holes in the cuffs of his khaki pants, holes because he used his pants cuffs as ashtrays for his Camel cigarettes. In winter he used opened pages of the Houston Post to warm his legs in his recliner when he could’ve used a nice woolen blanket. Playing cards in the den and inconsiderately leaving cigarette butts burning in the ashtray to choke his fellow card players. After playing a game of cards, he would stand up from the table. Turn off the lights and the ceiling fan. Then, close the door and leave his guests behind him in the darkness and not say a word. That was his nice way of saying, “It is time to leave my house. The party is over. Don’t overstay your welcome.”

Although PawPaw’s family and friends had trouble accepting such behavior and imperfections, his dogs, Popeye, Smokey, and O.D. did not. None of that mattered to them. They unconditionally accepted PawPaw the way he was. They did not want or expect him to change. They fully loved him as their perfectly imperfect Master and Creature of God.

In return PawPaw loved and cared for his dogs in ways he was not able to do for his own family. PawPaw refused to give $20 to his wife, Jennie, to buy a dress at Sears. Yet, he would willingly spend $100 on a veterinarian to repair a dog’s broken leg or treat a dog’s illness. Popeye, Smokey, and O.D were family above all of PawPaw’s human family.

Every day after eating his breakfast, PawPaw would step out the back-screen door. The three dogs were waiting for him. They knew PawPaw had saved for each of them a little piece of toast. A little piece of daily bread to taste and to savor. All the dogs showed their appreciation in the wagging of tails. Popeye always went one step further.

To show his appreciation Popeye did much more every day than just vigorously wagging his tail when greeting his PawPaw. With his tail wagging behind him Popeye sauntered up to his PawPaw. Popeye always gently held a freshly fallen Live Oak Tree leaf in his mouth to present to PawPaw as if saying, “I have something to show you, PawPaw. In this simple gesture of giving you this leaf, I show you that you are highly valued and respected by me no matter what. You are mine and I am forever yours.”

In the doggie version of Driving Miss Daisy, PawPaw served as Popeye’s, Smokey’s, and O.D’s chauffeur. PawPaw always held open the car door for them to crawl into the back seat before he sat down in front behind the steering wheel. He made sure a soft wool blanket was placed on the back seat for their comfort. PawPaw treated them like royalty as he drove them everywhere in the car. That was because he knew his dogs saw him, their PawPaw, as their King, their Lord of the Manor. And because the dogs were so loyal and so in awe of him, the dogs never made a sound or complaint as to words they heard PawPaw scream in the car about those reckless and discourteous drivers on the road.

Like Sarah in the Bible, Popeye, Smokey, and O.D. went wherever PawPaw went. In the garden. In the car. Walking around the neighborhood to visit his children and grandchildren like me. They could not have loved a two-footed human being more as their owner, Master, King, or companion than any four-footed canine on Earth. Sitting in silence at PawPaw’s feet was to them the happiest place, the most sacred ground in Emmottville.

Suddenly, one morning in December 1978 I woke up. My son John, two months old, was crying uncontrollably. Something he had never done before. I looked out the window and saw my brother Gary sprinting across our front lawn running toward PawPaw’s house. I knew that something was terribly wrong. Dorothy and I immediately went over to PawPaw’s house. Popeye, Smokey, and O.D. were sitting on the back door steps of the house as if they were waiting for their usual pieces of PawPaw’s toast. The toast was not coming. I walked down the hall and looked into PawPaw’s bedroom. I saw PawPaw was laying on his right side clothed in his khaki pants and soft blue flannel shirt. A dog owner’s lifeless pose of a very old soul who had taken his last breath.

Soon the hearse from Waltrip Funeral Home pulled in the driveway. It parked by the three seated dogs and by the steps leading to the hall and to PawPaw’s bedroom. PawPaw’s body was placed on a gurney. After the gurney carefully navigated its way down the hall, out the door and down the steps, Popeye, Smokey, and O.D. witnessed PawPaw’s body being placed in it. The hearse’s rear door slammed shut. Yet, PawPaw’s loyal dogs did not flinch or move. They stood their ground in reverence for him.

As if Popeye, Smokey, and O.D. knew that this was their last time to spend with their Master and King, they needed to show their love, respect, and loyalty one last time. As the black hearse began to roll forward to leave the home, Popeye, Smokey, and O.D. stood up. Emulating what I saw when President Kennedy’s caisson carried his body to its final resting place in 1963, these three devoted dogs walked in silence and in unison with the hearse as it made its way down the driveway under the canopy of the Live Oak Trees PawPaw planted 50 years before.

As the hearse stopped before turning left on Emmott Road, the dogs stopped too and sat down. Popeye, Smokey, and O.D. knew that this was the end of following PawPaw, the one they unconditionally loved in all their dog years on Earth. The dogs watched the hearse turn left on Emmott Road. That marked the moment of final farewell, the final goodbye had truly come to them.

An hour or so later, the dogs were convinced that the hearse was gone and that their PawPaw was not going to return. Popeye, Smokey, and O.D. got up on their four paws and carried their collective grief and memories of their Master back home. Their unconditional love and loyalty for PawPaw was for them an Eternal Flame lit with grace and gratitude for him.

Many of you have dogs and know what I mean in sharing my story about Popeye, Smokey, and O.D with you. Haven’t you looked in your dog’s eyes and seen the unconditional love of God? Haven’t you seen in their wagging tails the joyous gift you are to them from God? Isn’t that what God wants us to see in our fellow men and women? In the kindness of others on Earth? In others’ acceptance of our faults, differences, and imperfections amidst the perfect spirit God has given you? How much do we need that today? In our families? At our workplaces? In our Nation? In our world?

In the Bible, God may not have directly spoken about our pet dogs. But, in Scripture God has abundantly spoken to us about unconditional love and loyalty. My favorite quote is:

1 Corinthians 13:4-5, 7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

God, in prayer we thank You for our dogs, Your four-footed angels that bring to us Your unconditional love despite all our human faults and imperfections.

God, please help us to extend to others those qualities within our dogs- qualities of love, acceptance, and tolerance of our fellow men and women in America and around the world.

God, please help us treat others the way our beloved dogs have treated us, for in doing so we honor You and show our loyalty to You and to all Your creatures, great and small.

God, may we bring offerings of love and acceptance to all our brothers and sisters, exquisite and sweet gifts, such as the Live Oak Tree leaves held tenderly in Popeye’s mouth to present to PawPaw and all his guests in the comings and goings of daily life and even in death. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.

Prayer to Open Doors for Others – August 9, 2020

August 9, 2020 by Jack Emmott Leave a Comment

For the video of Jack reading this prayer, please click here.

Last week’s prayer was a Prayer for Dreamers and Dream Killers. I believe that dreams and the hope that they can come true are gifts to you and me from God. But having dreams and making them come true requires more than the vision of what can be and more than working hard to achieve them.

How many of you have lived your dreams because someone opened a door for you? Given you the opportunity to succeed. To flourish. To flower in God’s Kingdom. How many of you lost a dream because a door did not open? Worse, a door was slammed in your face?

Today, I sit here before you being the best me that I’ve ever been because a man of faith helped open a door for me at a time when I needed it most. His name was Ron Trull.

After graduating from the University of Houston, I applied to 5 law schools in Texas. Every one of the law schools to which I applied sent me letters denying my application for admission. I was devastated, frustrated, and bewildered. One of the reasons my applications for admission were denied was my low LSAT test results. This was partly due to the fact that I did not take a test which allowed for additional time needed because of my slowness in writing due to polio.

I pled my case to each of the law schools explaining why my LSAT test results were so low. I thought the admissions committees would understand. I would be given the chance to prove my worth as a law student and a future lawyer.

After receiving the 5 rejection letters, my sole focus was the University of Texas School of Law. My mother graduated from Austin High. My father attended the University of Texas. I knew that the University of Texas School of Law was where I belonged. A place that would surely launch a career would fulfill my dream if only the door to the Law School would open for me.

I filed a passionate appeal with the Admissions Committee to reconsider my application. Dorothy and I met with T. J. Gibson, Dean of Students. I pled my case. The Admissions Committee heard my appeal. Shortly thereafter, Dean Gibson called me. My appeal had been denied. I was crushed. Immediately after Dean Gibson’s call, I drove to the Law School. I parked in front of the Law School building. As we sat in silence together in the car, I looked up at the Law School and said to Dorothy, “I belong here. I cannot give up on my dream. I must find a way to make this happen.”

The next day I called my counselor, Ron Trull, with the Texas Rehabilitation Commission. I asked Ron if he would please go and meet with Dean Gibson to request that my appeal be considered a second time. A few days later Ron drove from Houston and met with Dean Gibson.

I asked Ron, “What did you say to Dean Gibson?” Ron said he showed the Dean a record of all the money the State of Texas had paid for my rehabilitation and for my undergraduate education. Ron said to Dean Gibson, “The only way for the State of Texas to get a return on its investment in Jack would be if the Law School reversed its decision to give Jack the chance to get an education and become a lawyer.”

Neither Ron nor I knew what the outcome would be when the Admissions Committee reconsidered my appeal. My LSAT and grade point average were still the same. The members of the Committee were still the same. The dollars invested in my rehabilitation by the State of Texas were still the same. But, one thing had changed. Ron cared enough for me and had gone to meet with Dean Gibson. He asked that the Law School open its doors for me. He told the Dean that he believed in me and my ability.

Several weeks later when I had given up any hope that I would be admitted, a fat envelope from the Law School came in the mail. I called Dorothy on the phone and told her that I was about to open the envelope. I prayed over the envelope asking God for the letter to please say the words I needed to hear. I pulled out the letter. It said, “Congratulations you have been accepted to the summer class at the University of Texas School of Law.”

Sheer pandemonium broke out in my house. I called for my mother who ran down the stairs and to my bedroom. When Mom saw the letter she started screaming like the house was on fire. Or, like someone had just died. But in fact, a dream had just been born. My father was so alarmed by my mother’s screams he ran down the stairs and into my room clad only in his sleeveless t-shirt and boxers.

Today, as you look at me on this video, the person I am now and the person you see would not exist but for Ron Trull. I might have lived other dreams and contributed in other ways. But being my best and truest calling as a collaborative divorce attorney would never have been.

God has written in Scripture that the doors of Heaven are always open for every one of us who is faithful and asks for forgiveness of wrongs. In our births and in our God-given abilities seeds of Holy hope and opportunity are planted in each of us. Scripture says that we have a duty to open doors for others like Ron did for me. To help others harvest the fruit of their dreams.

John 10:2
But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

Revelation 3:7-8
I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Matthew 7:7-8
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

These three Scriptural quotes demonstrate not only what God does for us but what God asks us to do for others. God holds the key to the Gates of Heaven. The place where we all will be. Our final resting place for us and in God’s dreams for us.

God, please help us to do for others what Ron did for me. He opened the door for me. Let us all be shepherds of Your sheep. Please show us how to walk others in need through doors of opportunity so that their dreams come true.

God, we thank You for all of those who have opened doors for us, as Ron Trull opened a door for me.

God, as we strive to keep Your word on our lips and Your hope in our hearts, let us all act to open doors of opportunity for others.

God, when we knock on the doors of opportunity for others, please use Your power and grace to cause those on the other side of the door to swing the doors wide open. To invite dreams of Your children to step in. For their dreams to come true. For a life without dreams is a life lived without hope. With You, our God, hope never dies. Amen

If you like this prayer, please share.

Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.