During my last pastoral assignment I decided I wanted a lap dog. I went to an animal shelter (we used to call them dog pounds) and found a very small, very dirty, scrubby, yet cute little dog, which I proceeded to rescue for the redemptive fee of $35. Before I went to pick up the dog a few days later I made arrangements to have her cleaned up at a dog groomer, so after getting her in the car and making sure I kept her on the towels I brought along, I dropped her off at the groomer and did some other errands before going to pick her up. Wow, what a change a little soap & water, dog perfume, and a cute little bow can make!
What I found out about this cute little dog we named Mitzi was that she was a runner. Thirty minutes after getting her home from the vet someone came to our door and immediately after I opened the door Mitzi zoomed out and was gone down the street. I chased after her, but of course couldn't find her so I went home and gave her up for lost. In about 30 minutes I heard a bark outside and opened the door to find her across the street. My call was answered by a fast dash to our door where I received her gladly.
This pattern continued with Mitzi for, I'm not sure, a year or so. One day a neighbor about two blocks away came to our house carrying Mitzi saying she had found her in her yard and she easily had allowed the lady to pick her up. The lady said that they had lost a dog and had been praying for another one. I said, Lady the Lord has just answered your prayers - the dog is yours. So ended the saga of Mitzi the stray for me. Not surprisingly, the neighbor had the same problem with Mitzi, but they managed to keep her until she finally died of old age.
Pets were something we always had in our home when we grew up, starting with Old Wren, a German Shepherd we had on the farm just outside of Harper, KS when I was just a small boy, a dog I truly hated to leave when we moved to Illinois. My Mother raised registered dogs about three times to my knowledge, ranging from Rat Terriers to Boston Terriers, to Cocker Spaniels. Since my marriage we have owned a few pets from cats to a registered Miniature Pincher (which ran away or was stolen) to a quite large, black English Mountain Shepherd, to the afore mentioned Mitzi. Actually none of the pets we have had have made me wish for another at this stage of my life.
So there you have my pets story. I'm quite content to visit the pets in our children's homes, although I could do without some of them and not miss them at all.
One final question: Will there be pets in heaven? What do you think?
Pilgrim on the way
2 comments:
I wonder which of our pets you wouldn't miss. Surely not Sam, our goofy black lab. He's such a good boy! Laura recently created a list of 20 reasons not to own a dog. We reviewed it today and added a few more. This is to keep us from getting another when Sam dies. Pets can be a nuisance, but also find their place in the family. I was surprised how sad we all were when Jake the cat died a year ago. We got Jake when Lisa was about 10, so he kind of grew up with our kids. Will our pets be in heaven? Only if they get new bodies that don't poop and shed so much. Meanwhile, we'll put up with them here, and realize that we kind of like having them around.
I enjoyed reading about Mitzi!
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