The Canada Free Press is probably my favorite online news source and one of the reasons is because of writers like Lloyd Marcus who gives us articles like this one. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :) Lloyd’s Life Lessons: Are Our Pets Spiritual Assignments
I believe our pets are spiritually assigned to us. Mary and I had a Border Collie which apparently was not meant to be with us. He dug his way out under our backyard fence and disappeared. Mary searched for him at three dog pounds without success.
At one of the pounds, Mary and a big black Border Collie connected. She told an attendant, if no one claims him, I will come and get him.
The next day, the pound called to inform Mary the collie was scheduled to be “put down” that day. Mary was headed out the door of our Maryland home to visit her parents in West Virginia. She asked if they could hold the dog until she returned a day or so later. They replied, “No”.
So, Mary picked up “Rush” and took him with her to visit her parents. Mary said Rush appeared extremely nervous and fearful and never left her side. Every time she fed the dog, he would take his paw and tip over his bowl. He would eat a little of his food and bury the rest for later.
It took a while before Rush grasped the concept that we would feed him every day. The slightest raise in our voices would cause Rush to shake, run and hide with his tail between his legs. If anyone walked within five feet of Rush, he would get up and move. Obviously, the poor dog had been abused.
Rush also had a fear of being left behind. Whenever Mary brought out our suitcases, Rush would follow us from room to room.
You can imagine Rush’s panic seeing us filling the moving fan to relocate to Florida.
Rush had several health issues which baffled our vets. Numerous drugs did not stop Rush from periods of losing hair and emitting a foul odor. Still, Rush was our dog. God had assigned him to us.
There are people like our dog Rush who have been kicked around and abused so much and for so long, they expect it. When true love, care and understanding comes along, it takes awhile for them to believe and accept it.
During a thunder storm, a frighten, shivering and almost blind little Cocker Spaniel appeared on our front porch. We called him “puppy”. We thought by not giving him a formal name, we would not get too attached and stay open to finding him a home. We paid for surgery on puppy’s eyes.
When we relocated to Florida from Maryland, the moving van went ahead of us. We drove down in our car with Puppy and Rush who was stinking to high heaven in the back seat; twelve hundred miles.
God truly does give you the grace to do what He has called you to do.
We had both dogs for at least fifteen years. Puppy still eventually went blind. Rush became Puppy’s seeing eye dog companion. When Rush died, Puppy died a month later.
We gave both dogs, Rush and Puppy, good extended lives.
Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American
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