Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
I have always been a cat person. While I like dogs, and my previous dog Halo was the best pet ever, in general I have a thing for cats. There is one problem with cats. They die. One of the pets that we have had the longest was a cat named Whitney. We got her … Read More “Goodbye Whitney” »
This past week we took our cat Whitney to the vet. Whitney is about fourteen years old, has a significant limp, and does experience pain. We know that one of these visits to the vet will be her last one. We went to the vet open to hearing the options. We understand that at some … Read More “Good News: Some More Time” »
One of the things that we have noticed since we started having dogs and cats as pets is that addition or subtraction of one animal significantly changes the dynamic of all of their inter-relationships. This is not always for the better. But sometimes it is. We recently added Maggie, a young kitten to our household. … Read More “Good News: The Animal Dynamic” »
I grew up always having cats and for the last fifteen years or so, our family has had cats. A number of months ago we lost our cat Pekoe. Would we get another one? Apparently so. Today, Maggie came to live with us. She is about seven weeks old, which is far younger of kitten … Read More “Good News: Meet Maggie” »
I have always been a cat person. Growing up, we had more cats than I can remember. For about the last twelve years, we have had cats. I love cats but there is one thing I don’t like about them. Cats (and all pets) get sick and die. Until recently, we had four cats. The … Read More “Goodbye Pekoe” »
Growing up, we had pets for most of the time. We had two different dogs, one I don’t remember at all and the other I have vague memories of. However, I do remember our cats and we had a lot of them (I think we have 14 at one time because two of our females … Read More “Good News: Our Pets” »
We have had a lot of change in our life lately. So we thought it was the perfect time for us to get a puppy! So a few days ago we welcomed Iris into our family. We have had dogs for the majority of our married life. However, this is the first time we have … Read More “Good News: Iris” »
My Good News for this week is that we got a new dog yesterday. She is a Pyrenees named Lily and she is adorable. If you have been reading my Good News posts for a long time, you might be thinking: “Didn’t you get a new dog last summer, named Boomer?” Yes. Yes we did. … Read More “Good News: Lily” »
It was not that long ago that our dog Halo, after being with us for over ten years, died. We talk about having a God-shaped hole, but there is also something like a dog-shaped hole in people’s lives. We had talked about the possibility of getting another dog but were not sure about the timing. … Read More “Good News: Okay Boomer!” »
We have had an emotional few months with our dog Halo. Halo is our 11 year old black lab. People are surprised when they find out his age because he looks like he is only a couple of years old. Unfortunately he has developed arthritis in his front and back legs. He was limping pretty … Read More “Good News: The Dog is Feeling Better” »
I love having pets. While I really enjoy my dog, I will confess that I am more of a cat person. That may make me unpopular with some. Until recently, we had one dog and three cats. But an opportunity came up to bring in another kitten. It is grey cat, similar in look to … Read More “Good News: Gandalf the Grey!” »
There are a number of arguments for euthanasia. One that is convincing for some is the argument for how we treat our pets. Many of us have been in that unfortunate position of having to put a beloved pet to sleep. We had a really nice Siamese cat that had an adorable personality. We all … Read More “Is Animal Euthanasia an Argument For Human Euthanasia?” »
Despite all my seminary training, much of what I have learned about ministry comes from life circumstances. One of my teachers, believe it or not, is my dog. I will give you a little background on my dog. Halo is a black labrador retriever. He came to us as a service dog to support our son … Read More “What My Dog Teaches Me About Christian Ministry” »
Today is our dog’s eighth birthday (he is exactly one week older than our youngest child). Why would I bother blogging about a dog? I’m glad you asked. Halo is not just any dog. We originally received Halo as service dog from the organization National Service Dogs. There was a lot of fundraising done for … Read More “Our Halo” »
My good news is easy this week. I recently shared how we moved about a week ago. One of our cats, Pekoe, slipped out while we were bringing some furniture in. She was not an outdoor cat and had no survival skills. It was not looking good. The kids held on to hope that we … Read More “The Cat is Back!” »
We had a loss in our family tonight. That’s right. We sold our four guinea pigs. I never expected to have guinea pigs. Just over a year ago, Amanda came home with a guinea pig. Then she came home with another one. And then another one, but that one was pregnant. And that is how … Read More “Pets as Family” »
For decades I have said that I am a cat person. Don’t get me wrong, I do like our cat, but I have definitely become a dog person. Halo is a great dog (it helps that he was trained as a service dog). When I am out, Amanda tells me he waits at the window, … Read More “I Love My Dog” »
