Dinah

Is it silly to love a little doggie so much?
Dinah is our little long haired miniature dachshund who has been part of our family since birth 17 years ago. Her Kennel Club name is Aquarius Black Princess & she came to us with her sister, Loulou (D'Jeatta Dubonnet). Loulou left us to be with our God, 2 years ago & we have had them both longer than the kids.
At 17, Dinah is 81 in human years & yesterday she suffered a form of stroke. Thankfully we have a vet for a neighbour so because Dinah is epileptic (like me) we got her attention quickly.
The stroke was just like a seizure but this time it has taken her much longer to pull around.
She is pulled around & is still the same cheeky, bright eyed, beautiful little thing that came bounding into our lives all that time ago but clearly, whilst her mind is alert as ever, her body cannot keep pace & she will now fall over when bending to eat or drink. Are we being selfish wanting to keep her with U'S despite her clearly being
in no pain or discomfort?
Maybe - & sadly - the reason Dinah (& Loulou) have been with us so long is that they have been better looked after than some folk's kids but even 'though you feel you're prepared for the
passing of any family, you can never be fully ready for that event. One of my daily highlights has always been when Van Morrison comes on the radio, singing "Brown-eyed Girl". That's the time for me to grab Dinah & dance around the living room with her in my arms whilst she looks at me, obviously thinking; "This bloke's lost it"!
We know it's unlikely Dinah will be with us after Christmas &, as she shares our bed, we hope her passing will be peaceful & in her sleep. In this case, our loss will certainly be our God's gain.
Is it really wrong to love a bundle of fur more than you actually even like some people?
Please pray that Dinah's passing will be a peaceful one, that she will quickly find her way to God & that our pain & hurt, 'though expected, will be over as soon as possible.
Thank you.

Prayed
God bless you

Praying for your whole family...may God's love and peace be with you, inJesus name amen

Dearest Shekaniah;

As ever your prayers & thoughts have found their way to my heart, when it's hurting so much & so in need of encouragement, compassion & comfort.
Thank you, so sincerely. I will get back to you tomorrow, after we have been to the vet tomorrow.
Thank you again.

What beautiful accolades spoken of a creature who befriended you, and raised you up in the image of her creature nature.

I will share a secret with you; that all of creation is given a specific purpose; each having a specific nature according to each kind. Every nature is a facet of who you are and why you are that way in God's sight.

She has begged your attention, and known the moments when her her head and ears were lowered, knowing the things she had done were wrong. She is like unto a royal, having proper order in her life. She came when you called, and waited for your return. What a beautiful moment, to know she will soon be waiting for you again.

I hope you do not mind; I do wish to take another step with you in the hidden language. According to Old Testament Law, certain creatures which were considered unclean. Some Jews were known to use the nature of an unclean creature in calling someone else a swine or a dog. What most do not know is the law spoke about natures which can be found in each of us. In the New Testament our Lord brought these two elements together when Peter was shown unclean creatures at the same time some who were thought to be unclean people were sent to Peter. This divided teaching is one and the same.

Even though in the wisdom of the Jews, it was slandering someone to call a person or people a dog because they were considered unclean; Our Lord not only said, "What I have made clean no man shall call unclean"

When Jesus met a woman who was considered unclean by the Jews, she spoke to Jesus, saying,

Even puppies eat crumbs that fall from our Lord's table. Because this woman understood the nature of the creature and applied that nature to a creature who ate crumbs that fell from our Lord's table; Jesus immediately said her wisdom was of the Lord and He blessed her.

The nature which can be found in a dog (according to each kind) is a facet of natures which can be found in you and I. It is because you recognize the nature that you have done good by it (Dinah and yourself).

We are to have dominion over the natures that can be found within each of us; and creation will teach you who you are and why you are that way in God's sight.

I am so glad you have spoken of this lady Dinah, with as much love as Jesus spoke to a woman who was considered unclean...., and called a dog.

Our Lord has given you a precious gem, hidden in plain sight...

Dear yaright;

I cannot explain enough to you just how much & what your wise words, encouragement & empathy have done for me. When faced with such a situation, I have only now realised how rare & difficult it is to find someone else who is "owned" by their dog. I pass this comment because all our family have been so so fortunate that Dinah has allowed us into her life to be loved & cherished by her as much as we have her.
At 17 she has already outlived her expected time by exactly double the margin. I feel very privileged to have been allowed into her life to be educated in her ways & have so much joy& fun.
We are going to our neighbours veterinary clinic tomorrow & have prepared as much as we can that we may return home with her, dead.
I pray & pray so much that she may still return with us but seeing her yesterday & hearing her laboured breathing whilst she lies in bed with us here makes me wonder if this is just selfish of us as we don't want to lose her. I feel so enraged to hear people say "it's only a dog". I want to scream at them "She's not a dog - she's Dinah & one of our family". However Dinah has lived a life much more enriched than these folks kids so their ignorance doesn't surprise me.
I take much heart from your observation that Dinah will be waiting (with her sister Loulou) for me at some future point & I thank you most sincerely.
It may well turn out to be an extremely empty Weinachtsfest this year but at the same time the best present I could ever have been given has been from a little dog, smaller than most cats, but whose capacity to spread love & joy has been, quite simply, unbounded.
Thank you again for your kind thoughts.

Jimsun, you asked, "I pray & pray so much that she may still return with us but seeing her yesterday & hearing her laboured breathing whilst she lies in bed with us here makes me wonder if this is just selfish of us as we don't want to lose her."

If you were raised up in a loving family, and journeyed through life near to its end; where would you choose.....

Praying for you in this sad time, and no, it is not wrong to love our dogs so, for they are Gods gift.

God bless
pickles