Family pets….

Our family has had a multitude of family “pets”…ducks, chickens, ants, butterflies, lady bugs, turkeys, hamsters, fish, pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, horses…and of course, several cats and dogs…

We went through the typical “old MacDonalds” part of family life where “living in the country is great”….”having animals is good for teaching responsibility “….both of which are true…and we enjoyed all of those ideas…and now three of my four children and families live rurally…and continue to have animals…it will be interesting to see how the next two living generations land on this issue…choices….

One of my daughters found a cute little poodle for me after my husband passed away…(we had had one before he got ill)….great companionship over the years since he passed away…many, many miles of walking…many, many one sided conversations….many, many times of petting and care….my kitchen floor was always clean of any fallen food…he never met a stranger(not good watch dog  material)…

Age came in slowly for him…he still enjoyed life…but lately seeing, hearing and other bodily functions have been deteriorating…which has been sad…he would look at me like, “what is happening?” And I couldn’t explain…

I have known for a while that the time would come to have him put to sleep, but, I have been putting it off…not wanting to face it…I got the message that I would know the right time…yesterday was it….

I thought of a missionary we support who had gotten her chickens up to a great flock and then they all died from a virus overnight …all the time, care, energy, prayer she had put into those chickens had to have been so disappointing and met with tears…

And then you go on…not forgetting , but, moving forward…not without pain, but waiting to see what the next step is…healing….

We do it…through many big and little disappointments, hard times, good times…with God’s grace….and his healing power…

The deeper the hurt, the deeper the ministry….

Thank YOU….

2Corinthians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

Psalm 119: 50 My comfort in my suffering is this:
    Your promise preserves my life.

Praise you in the rain….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgpaULjZOl8

https://biblehub.com/q/why_does_genesis_1_differ_in_creation_order.htm