Phil,
That Skip is a wonderful little boy!
The Lord sure does use them to help us many times.
I am glad that he is doing better and so are you.
Huggs and blessings.
Virgie and Hoshi
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 2:07 PM
Subject: Normal Skip


>I appreciated all the comments and prayers for Skip.  He is fine now but he
> has gone through so much sickness in his short little life, Sandy and I
> get
> a little nervous when he starts acting funny.  Let me explain why.  I was
> reminded of what I am about to explain when reading Kathy's story about
> Chris.
>
> Skip is pretty small.  He weighs about 8 pounds.  Over three years ago
> now,
> my second experience with depression and anxiety attacks was coming on.  I
> could feel it coming for several months.  I tried everything to stop its
> advance upon my life.  Reading my Bible in huge daily chunks, praying one
> and two hours a day, and many other such things.  I was an assistant
> pastor
> in a small church at the time, too, so I was very involved in church work.
> I taught the young people's Sunday school class.  Yet, I felt the
> depression
> coming.  I often hear people tell me, with whom I pray, that they are
> told,
> by even those who are in their family and love them the most, to just snap
> out of it.  Get busy.  Keep your mind occupied.  These are meager efforts,
> at best, in stopping depression.  I well remembered the 13 years earlier
> when I had been unable to work for two years due to the depression I had
> then and I fought as hard as I could this time to stop the approaching
> darkness I could feel was coming.  When it struck, it was a thousand times
> worse than 13 years ago.  I became nearly physically incapacitated at
> times.
>
> During the days it was advancing, stocking me if you please, I spent times
> on my knees are our living room rocking chair in tears, praying and
> seeking
> God with all I had.  I often did this during times everybody was gone.
> When
> Sandy was out shopping, for example.  Some of those times on my knees, and
> sometimes on my face, praying and begging God to help me, little Skip
> would
> come around.  I would ignore him since I was trying to focus on the Lord.
> Skip would start putting his front feet on me but eventually, he would
> leap
> up on to my back and walk up my spine to my shoulders where he would stand
> and try and lick behind my ears.  I would put him on the floor but he
> would
> repeat the whole thing over and over until I often found myself laughing
> and
> sitting on the floor playing with Skip.  He didn't stop the anxiety from
> eventually overtaking me but he has special meaning to me just because he
> knew something was wrong and the Lord used him to show love and kindness
> to
> me as I felt the hopelessness all around me.
>
> Phil.