As Close As Possible

There is something our beagle Ellie does that I absolutely love.  In fact, each time she does it I find myself softly chuckling.

Ellie usually starts the night out in our bed and in the night leaves to sleep in some of her other favorite places.  Then, early in the morning, she returns.

Knowing she wants to be under the covers, I lift them up for her and then she snuggles as close to me as possible.  As I curl my body around hers, as if she wasn't already close enough, she snuggles a little bit more. It is this second snuggling that brings out a chuckle. I usually drape my arm across her body and the two of us go back to sleep.

The rhythmic rise and fall of her chest as she breathes relaxes me, and I think my breathing relaxes her as well.  We both benefit from her choice to cuddle next to me.

This interaction reminds me of this verse: 

"Draw nigh to God; and He will draw nigh to you."

James 4:8

The Lord desires us to come to Him, to "draw nigh" to Him:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, 

and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28

Let us all choose to "draw nigh to God" and to find He draws nigh to us in return.  He gives us a full and complete rest.  He restores our souls and strengthens us. If we have placed our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus, we have nothing to fear by drawing nigh to Him, and everything to gain.  There we will find Him to be everything we ever need.

Trust in the Lord always for having Him, we have all.

All Things Ellie

Ellie loves people and they usually seem to love her, too.  

This was evident when we took her with us to a local home supply store.  This store welcomes dogs and we were visiting the garden area.  Ellie had a great time smelling all the plants, planters and especially the bags of compost and manure. (She is, after all, a dog!)

Several of the employees  stopped to talk about Ellie as we passed by.  They all politely asked if they could pet her and Ellie seemed to really enjoy the attention.  Except for one lady.  She was polite and kind like the others, but when she reached out to pet Ellie, Ellie became frightened.  I think it was because the lady had very long fingernails, and the sight of those nails coming straight at her was probably more than she could handle at the moment.

The lady backed off and we joked that today just wasn't the day for her to pet Ellie.  I told her we would come back another day (which I am certain we will) and we will try again later.

I think we all have moments like that with people sometimes.  We may not know what it is specifically that puts us on guard about a person, we just know we feel that way.  Then, on another occasion, we may feel comfortable and at ease with the very same person.  Perhaps, if we choose believe our purpose on this earth is to bless others and be ministers of the love of Christ to everyone, we will find it easier to keep trying to connect with most people.  Sometimes that may mean we need to try again another day, but if we remember it is not about us, but about the Lord, we may yet succeed.

Friday Photos

 

I don't remember where this was taken, but I do recall what this flag represents.  It stands for countless men and women who gave their time, their health, and their lives so that our country may remain free.

When I see these stars and stripes, I think of all the families throughout our nation who have said goodbye to loved ones being deployed to war-torn places. They had no reassurance that their loved one would ever return.  So many didn't.  We owe all these families, and especially those who serve, the utmost respect and appreciation.

Knowing that my son and my daughter-in-law have pledged their lives to defend our Constitution, I cannot help but take pride in the flag that represents that most precious document of our nation.

So, to everyone who calls America their home and loves this country, I say "Happy Independence Day," and to those who fought for and maintain that independence, I say "Thank you," and "God bless you!"

All Things Ellie

Today is Tuesday, so this post should be about Ellie.  But it isn't.

That's because today is Sparrow's birthday, and Ellie would want me to talk about Sparrow.

Sparrow Jean

Sparrow was our first female beagle.  We have had five beagles now.  The first, Grunt, was a gift to our youngest daughter in 2001. He was her best friend until he died in an accident at three years old.

 In 2004, we purchased two beagles, a tri-color and a chocolate, as brothers. They were taken out of our backyard during the next hunting season.

Baby Sparrow

After those losses, we weren't ready for another dog for a while.  Then, for my birthday in 2006, Glen surprised me with Sparrow.  She was eight weeks old and weighed only three and a half pounds.

Sparrow was a sweet, loving dog.  Whenever we returned to the house, she had a distinctive greeting for us.  It was a combination of a howl, a bark and a whine, and it was very loud.  She would make this sound until everyone who was returning would stop and pet her.  You couldn't just speak to her, you had to actually touch her.  

Unlike our first beagle, Grunt, Sparrow was not a very athletic dog.  Probably because of her heart issues, she preferred to sit and watch the world go by outside through her window than to actually be outside.  An example of this happened one day when we went to run errands.  While we were out, our neighbor called and asked if Sparrow was supposed to be outside.  We didn't even know how she got outside.  We told Ralph that no she wasn't and he said, "Oh, she's okay.  She's just sitting on the front porch looking at everything."  Graciously, he took her to his house until we returned home.  No other beagle we have owned would skip the opportunity to explore the neighborhood!

One thing she did not like was to ride in the car.  If the window was down and she could stick her head out, she was good.  But if not, you had to be prepared to listen to a howling beagle until the car stopped. On one trip to the beach, we tried to let her hang her head out of the window, but wind from our 65 mph was drying her eyes out.  We had to endure the howling for the entire hour.   

Sparrow and Emmie

Like Ellie, Sparrow loved to be cuddled. She would jump up in your lap, and if that wasn't possible, she would just scoot up as close to you as she could.

We had Sparrow for 13 years until she died of congestive heart failure, precipitated by her mitral valve prolapse.  When we knew Sparrow was close to the end, we had a wonderful hospice vet (who knew these kind, tender people existed?) who came to our house and made Sparrow's passing the gentlest thing possible.  

It was due to our love for Sparrow and our profound loss of her that we began looking for another beagle and found Ellie.  Interestingly, Ellie was born eight weeks after Sparrow died.  We have always believed that, in some way we can't understand, Sparrow and the Lord send Ellie to us.  We love Ellie doubly because half is for Sparrow.

I firmly believe one of the sweetest scenes we will see in heaven will be all our beagles running up to us.  And one will be especially loud until we pet her.

Katie Sparrow Jean Louise Davis