Paying Attention
An homage to the Doo Doo (Lotus) and her Creator
The past few months have been brutal. Anyone who has pets will tell you that they do not live long enough. Especially for those of us who do not have kids. The thing about Lotus is, she never really was a pet. Or even just a dog. We used to laugh and say, “Don’t mind our human in a dog suit”. She was our bestie. Our business partner. Our silent observer.
Friends told us five years ago they felt sorry for us because of how attached we actually were to her, knowing the time would come that she would have to go. They knew when this day came, it would suck. Yep. I said it. Sucks. Kind of a crude word, and not very Jesus-like. But, no other word seems to convey that feeling…that sense of complete bad that I could do nothing about. It’s over. It sucks.
On the dreaded early morning of what would be her last on earth, our sweet baby had a seizure. All of us knew it had been “time” for awhile. I hate that “time” thing, because I still can’t justify taking my dog’s life. I suppose this moment seemed like the “time” because my husband and I were in agreement that a worse outcome could be looming due to her age. I made the call and asked the precious lady on the other end of the phone to please be in agreement with me for the sun to shine when the 1:00 appointment came to take our baby.
The weather was crappy. It was cooler than it had been, rainy and cloudy. Seems fitting for the occasion but I didn’t like it. It didn’t look like what I had pictured in my head when “the day” came. I asked the Lord, “Please would you change the weather for me, for her? Tell the clouds to stop...” And seriously, if I ever heard God, I heard Him say, “Go talk to them.” So, I did. I went out and spoke to those clouds and demanded them to part so my furry child could come outside before she had to leave her earth suit, in the Name of Jesus! (According to Mark 11:23, 24). Nothing seemingly noteworthy happened at that moment.
When the husband came home we gave her a wagon ride around the yard, looking for any hope that we could change the plan… or feel happy… about anything. It had at least stopped raining. Except for the buckets of tears we cried, thinking about all of the squirrels and moments of life that happened in recent years in that yard.
What happened next was so God. I’m so serious…we spread out the mat in our yard when the doctor came, and at exactly the right time, rays of sunshine beamed down on her pretty little head (kinda like the photo above; except she was sleeping on the couch that day). For that short window of time, the clouds obeyed. It was warm and we could all look at each other outside, kiss her head a thousand times and try to feel grateful for the years we had with her!
So as I said before, it sucks. BUT, the truth is, “it” is never over. There are always good memories. Good lessons learned. Good results from bad mistakes. Good outcomes of what could have been a lot worse. I suppose we needed reassurance that we did the right thing and sometimes it’s hard to see “it” in the moment.
Takeaways?
Pay attention to those beams of sunlight. Live in the moment, be thankful for the past and plan for future breakthroughs. For us, we needed to remind ourselves of the 14 amazing years spent with our special creature that had friends who only lived half of that. Miraculous transformations happen when we hand it off to God and allow ourselves to become thankful. (See some of Lotus’s story here.)
Pay attention to the One Who created everything. He gives us so much to steward or to screw up. But, He knows how to unscrew it up… so that it won’t suck. He promises.
In His love-
Chris
(with Marilyn’s help, of course)
(Special thanks to Creature Comforts for you love and help)
…because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God…