Some weeks come and go with little change of scenery or events any different than the previous one.  You wake at the same time, do your same routine, set to the same work and finish the day in much the same matter you did the week before it, and the one before that and the one before that.

Then there are weeks that stand out with great awareness that this week is totally different than the last one. In some cases this can be a good thing. Maybe there are joyous occasions to make such a week stand out, such as a birth, a marriage, a move, a push forward on a dream.  However, not all weeks that break from the routine of life are due to exciting moments.

Some weeks stand apart because one may be dealing with some form of disheartenment.  That was our week.  It was a long week to begin with.  A heavy work load lay ahead of us all. We had a few odds and ends issues that were causing some growing pains that we were dealing with and a huge transition we were starting (no plot spoiler here though, that will have to be for another post).

Anyone who knows us knows that we are animal people…..wait, we aren’t animal people but we are “animal people”.  Easier to say, we love our critters. Josiah has had a faithful friend and companion since he was 8 years old.  They had been side by side for 14 years so she was up there in age for a dog.  We had been able to see the years taking their toll on her for the past year and half.  Arthritis had set in, her heart was having some issues. She no longer played ball the way she once had, the which had been her favorite of all things to do except to be with her boy.  She eventually gave her tennis ball up altogether over the last couple months.  She was going outside only when nature called, which was a sure sign that things were changing for her.

Sunday night things took a sudden and certain turn for the worse.  We knew she was not to be with us much longer.  When we took Josiah all those years ago to pick out a puppy from a very large litter, he was instantly drawn to her. It is not an overstatement to say that both Ron and I were stunned. We looked at her and then at each other with raised eyebrows and then at Josiah and said “you are sure she’s the one?!”  His wide, sea blue eyes looked into ours, with sheer elation on his face he simply smiled from ear to ear and nodded.

Ron and I have never like to make a point of looks with the children when it comes to a living creature but we both saw the same thing with this puppy, she was dog ugly!  There were all types of cuteness around us with puppies and our son had just picked out the ugliest one we had ever seen.  It’s hard to imagine a puppy being ugly, let alone that ugly, but this one was. The problem was this, she had hair that made her look like she had just been removed from an egg beater. This went from the edge of her nose, to the tip of her tail, from the top of her head to the pads of her feet. She had one continuous cowlick and it was distracting!

What were we to do?  We had prayed with Josiah before we had gone to look at the puppies that God would guide him to just the right dog. Josiah himself had two request of the Lord at that time; one that God would guide him to a dog that would come to Josiah’s whistle and two, that the dog would love to play because none of our dogs had ever loved to play despite Josiah’s best efforts.  We had talked about getting a dog for Josiah for a long time and those were always the two constances that Josiah spoke of, whistles and play. So being parents who wanted to encourage his enthusiasm we kept our mouths closed and headed home with boy and dog in tow.

We had never discussed a name for his puppy even though he knew we were planning for some time to get him one.  I don’t believe he had ever considered a name.  So on the drive home, his father and I said “so what are you going to name her?” he quickly replied “Flower”. Of course Pillsbury crept through my thoughts but I quickly dismissed it from my wondering mind and followed through with “Flower? Why Flower?” Flower, the name she was given by an overly excited, head over heels in love with her at first sight 8 year old boy.  A boy who answered the question with every ounce of enthusiasm he had said as if we should already know why, “Because she is as pretty as a flower!”  All I can say is it was a good thing neither Ron nor I had a drink of coffee in our mouths at that time because we would have spit it out all over!

Ron raised his eyebrows and whispered “It’s true, beauty is in the eye of the beholder! She looks like a cauliflower!” Ron can not stand cauliflower.

But from that moment on Flower and Josiah were as thick as thieves.  She slept with him on his bed, she learned to come to his whistle and no one else’s.  And she loved to play!  Like no other dog I had ever seen, she was obsessed with her favorite toy, her tennis ball and it had to be a green one…because of this I do not believe dogs are color blind.  And she stayed ugly……on the outside.  After a couple years she did outgrow that, or I should say her hair outgrew that.  She was Josiah’s “girl” and the families “Flower Pot and the Squirly Girl With the Curly Curls”.  She looked after everyone but paid special attention to her boy.  As he grew she found her perimeter of protection expanding.  When we brought Zeb home 6 years later, she did to him the same she had done to Josiah, watched over him. Josiah who of course was older now and did a few more things on his own without her, maybe because of this she acted like she didn’t always feel she needed to be looking over him all the time. She was now Zeb’s protector as well as her boys shadow.  It was as though she sensed that Josiah would be okay on his own more often and now she had to watch over a boy that couldn’t take care of himself. So with Zeb, if he was inside, she stayed inside, there was no persuading otherwise. If he was outside she was outside, and nothing you could do would keep her inside.  She didn’t go out to play though she was more than open to Zeb throwing the ball, but her real purpose was to watch and make sure all was well.

She was a dedicated friend to all of us, a member of our family for so many reasons I won’t get into here.  I watched Josiah this past week preparing himself for what was inevitable to come and it was heart breaking for all of us. Not just because Flower was coming to the end but because Josiah was in mourning.   Ron and I saw our grown, strong willed, talented son turn back into that little wide eyed 8 year old boy.  RJ saw is best friend and companion become his little brother that he wanted to help stop the hurting.  The little ones, Zeb and Simeon wanted to make their big brother smile.  When Flower finally did pass in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, when Zeb woke to find her gone, he offered to share his dog, Molly, with Josiah. “She can be yours too” were Zeb’s words of compassion.

It has been a long week.  A week where I haven’t had much heart to blog, vlog or even work.   We’ve mechanically gone through our needed task. But despite the ache and emptiness that our hearts are feeling right now this week hasn’t been totally bad, because we know God has been there.  I am one who firmly believes that God never closes one door without opening another. Josiah’s tears will dry and somewhere in this great land all of us are praying that there is a pup that God will guide us to that will come to a whistle and love to play catch for a young man who someday will be ready for another fur buddy. If you are not an animal person or if you have never allowed a four legged creature to hold your heart you won’t get this. You will read this post and think “it was just a dog!”.  But see Flower was more than a dog, she was a teacher, something beautiful God used to teach us all things about God’s love for us….such things as

~Never judge a book by its cover.  Some things just have to be experienced to comprehend the amount of beauty it contains. When something may not resinate with beauty on the outside, it doesn’t mean it is not overflowing on the inside. Don’t shun things because of how they look, you will miss out on blessings for sure!

~God showed us there is love at first site.

~Love should be blind and unconditional.

~God used Flower to teach a little boy that every prayer is important to God. Whistles and balls matter.

~He used Flower to teach a young man to prove his love and pray for a friend to go peacefully and quickly instead of being selfish and pray for her to stay for his own needs.

~God reminded us that it is okay to cry when your heart feels like it is breaking and that he is holding us during that time.

~God used Flower to teach a little boy that there can be enough love to go around for everyone and still make that someone special who holds your heart feel special.

~God used Flower to remind us to appreciate the simply things because little things such as tennis balls can bring the most amazing joy.

~The angels are in the details, she looked after the little things with us such as night time noises, sounds, she worried about them making sure they were okay so we didn’t have to. We knew she would wake us if it were important.  Josiah returned the the little details and made sure she had a tennis ball with her when we laid her in the ground.

~He used her to teach us to listen for the voice of your true love(for her it was Josiah’s whistle) because when they call you, they usually have something special for you.

~God used her to remind us that we never get enough time with the ones we love. No matter how much time you have together it will never be enough. So love deeply, give of yourself freely while you can because tomorrow is not promised.

The Bible is very clear that an animal does not have a soul in need of saving, and it also makes clear that animals do have a spirit and that spirit does return to him, the Creator upon their death. But the Bible being full of hope is also clear in 1 Corinthians 2:9  “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”. Based on this I believe that it is more than possible that Flower will be there to greet Josiah when it is time for him to go on to glory…… she will have a tennis ball of course and be waiting to hear his whistle.