Bushboy gave us a fun challenge to post a favorite picture. Those of us who take lots of pictures for fun find it hard to choose a favorite so I give you today’s favorite.
Hello? Anybody there?
Daisy did not learn from Mimi, my other dog who recently passed, how to knock or scratch on the door when she was ready to come inside. So instead, she has learned that the window works both ways. She jumps up at the window to let me know she is ready to come in. That is a sad looking face of being left out alone in the cruel world. LOL
Our pets become a favorite source of photos as they have part ownership of our heartstrings. They remind us of the value of kindness, compassion and love. So I remind you tonight to always be kind. It will bring you as much joy in giving as receiving a like response.
When I first started blogging in 2018, this was one of my first posts. It was before I started adding pictures and scripture references. I am a firm believer in a picture being worth 1,000 words. Some will look through to just see the pictures and if I can get the message in the pictures as well, then we may reach that one person that needs reaching with a message showing kindness.
I was reading back through some of my old post and thought this message was still very relevant, so I have revised it by adding pictures and scripture references. Last month, I lost one of my precious babies, Mimi, and I firmly believe she did have a soul. I could see it in her eyes.
July 2018
You know that look you try not to show when someone makes a really stupid comment, or maybe they just need to be slapped back into reality for other reasons. You want to do the honors of the reality slap but you reframe due to the kind person that you are so you just walk away shaking your head.
I react this way when I hear people make comments about dogs or animals not having a soul. Hey, they were created first. Okay, so what defines a soul. After much research I found three “definitions”, and I use that term loosely as the soul comes from God and who can ever know the mind of God. So below are the three definitions that I thought described this concept of a soul the best:
The spiritual immaterial of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.(immortal meaning not dying but crossing over to God at death)
The principal of life, feeling, thought and action from those attributes.
my favorite – The part that consists of mind, character, thought and feeling.
Our soul is what makes us who we are. The ability to analyze a situation, and act on it through our personality or character with compassion. Now that compassion can be either gentle or strong. In scripture, the bible is descriptive in explaining God creating all life and gave it as a gift.
It is important sometimes to understand the original language the scriptures were written in so that you have a better understanding of the words used.
The above verse describes animals having hayyah (life). However, in the Hebrew it also has the word nephesh in combination with hayyah, which is the exact same wording as the description of the soul in the creation of Adam. In other words, though nephesh is only translated as “life” here, the Hebrew speaks of the soul. Animals thus have a nephesh hayyah just like Adam. Marianne Widmalm
Think of the things dogs do for us, not only with their protective abilities but all things. Think of your worst day and your dog comes to you to quietly sit by your side, sometimes with its head in your lap or they pushed under your arm to let you know “I am here”. How about the occasional lick on the face to wash away the tears you shed. Dogs KNOW the feelings of people and are especially tuned into their masters. They laugh with us when we are happy by bouncing around. Picture this, you just get home from work and are greeted with 100% tail wagging, circle turning unconditional love. How about if you trip and fall. You are immediately surrounded to assure all is well. And if you are hurt, they are by your side offering assistance.
Think of the times when this is all reversed, your dog is terrified of the vet or a thunderstorm. Now they are looking to you for love and support and when you give it, it strengthens the bond. Even when dogs are mistreated by their owners, they remain loyal. Dogs reflect God’s love for us. Always there, always protecting (even though we may not see it) and ALWAYS loving. Even when we don’t deserve it.
I saw a video on FB the other day of two dogs, one on the floor and one on the sofa. The one on the sofa had a cookie and as he bit into it, it broke in half. After eating the half in his mouth, with his nose, he pushed the other half over to the dog on the floor. Now I know not all dogs would do this but why would even one? Because of its inner being, the soul.
Think of the times our dogs let us know of dangers heading our way. We understand that the dangers may not be real for us but still the dog sees something they feel is not right and they let us know. How many times has your dog looked at you asking the question “Do you not see this?” Yes, we do. But we know how to handle the wind tossed scary plastic bag that is moving up and down the street. We laugh at them sometimes but they are always in protective mode – some more and some less – because of their love for us. And the more we love them, the more they love us. An ever evolving circle. Kind of like hoe God loves us..
My whole point of this is to remind us (in my opinion) of dogs and all animals having the gift of a soul. Everything that has breath is a creation of God and the soul is a gift given out of love to all living things. All of it reflects God’s love for all of creation.
And to help drive my closing comment – even though I know it is a controversial point – how can any creature who shows love and shows kindness NOT have a soul. Its part of the inner nature of God.
Those of us who are dog owners, know the close and valuable relations we have with our furry friends. This morning I say goodbye to Mimi. She was a loving friend and mighty protector of mommy but she could not get past her illnesses.
Queen Mimi
At 3:30 this morning she went on to join the rest of her family in heaven.
The companionship from a dog shows a pure form of love and devotion to its caretaker. When that companion departs from us, we can feel the severity of that loss only to acquire another – not to replace the companion we lost but to strengthen us and to expand that love we had been shown. May we always be deserving of that love. Anita Neal, from my book Our Home of Love
Mimi, may you enjoy the beauty of heaven and the rest of your family as y’all wait for me.
Yes, I believe they are in heaven. Remember to love on your fur babies and be kind to all kinds. Their quest of love is short here on this earth but they remain in our hearts for a lifetime.
This is a picture of Dittims. His given name was Junior but he had so many handicaps that he earned the nickname of Dittims. Dittims was a 185 pound Harlequin Great Dane. A marvelous breed. I wish I had discovered the breed sooner as they are gentle giants that think they are lap dogs. They can be clowns and some individual ones are very protective of the home. Due to Dittims’ being mostly deaf, fully blind in one eye, only 80% vision of in the other, this made him an unbelievable gentle spirit…that loved to sit in your lap; front legs fully planted on the floor but his butt would be in your lap. Those who are familiar with danes know this is a fun quirk that many of them do.
How many of you know what the Rainbow Bridge is? Is it real? Could it really happen? Those of us who are avid dog lovers pray and believe it is a real possibility. Two years ago I started writing a book about the fun adventures of my life for my children through the eyes of the dogs I had all through my life. The book’s main character was Dittims at his arrival in heaven at the Rainbow Bridge. Once he was in heaven, he met with all previous dogs I had had and they told him stories of my life while they were with me. The book also brings in God’s love of all creation and how God uses all creation for his purpose of showing love and kindness. The book, Our Home of Love, got such great reviews from friends that read it that I wrote a sequel about Dittims further adventures in heaven. The sequel includes many of my friends dogs that they loved that have gone to heaven and how they are all working together to enrich all of heaven with the canine love all of us dog lovers know is a real thing. This book, A New Understanding, is more about the Christian beliefs of what we believe is God’s love of all of creation. None of us really know what heaven will be like but studying the scriptures gives us a glimpse. I took the opportunity to try to explain God’s love of all creation from an animal’s point of view to give some fun and truth together to show God’s infinity love for all of us. We are his creation.
If you recently lost a furry member of your family, this fun book may bring you a little comfort. While I am not one to push my books on anyone, a neighbor told me that I needed to share with others in case they may be interested and need the comfort. So here you go, including few pictures from the book of friends Dittims meets in heaven.
And as always, remember the value of kindness. It may be the one thin g that get a person through the day. Always be kind.
There are always two sides to any argument. Some will always agree with you and some will fight you about it letting you know you are so wrong. Today I am going the do the pros and cons of a concept that while everyone may agree with the cons, they are far outweighed by the pros making everyone…well, you will see.
The Pros and Cons of Dogs….how can their ever be a con? Well, okay, walking them in the rain is a con…
Look at that precious face…
but it’s better than them going in the house…
Oops, sorry…but its raining outside…
Then their is the con of pet hair on you clothes… but the pro is you are making a fashion statement.
Black hair on white pants is even better…
Beside the obvious attributes that can be cons, lets talk about the gut wrenching emotional pros…like cuddling
Cuddling, touching, companionship is a powerful pro for dog ownership.
And their love is timeless. They are all in with their owners. Totally devoted to us.
And their devotion sometimes make us laugh temporarily forgetting the day’s trials.
So very true…they give us an emotional support that sometimes surpasses anything we may run into during any given day.
We just have to make sure we are deserving of that devotion and try to mirror that love and devotion out into the world showing the world it possibilities through kindness as was first started at creation. Always be kind to all kinds.
Do your pets have spacial awareness issues…like mine thinks “Your leg, my chair.”
Guess cuz the lap was already taken…
Come join in with Linda G Hill and 1 liner Wednesday to share some important life lessons…or humor.
And as always, remember the joy and smiles your pets bring you and show them kindness and smiles they deserve. They depend on you as the head of the pack.
There are many types of creatures on this earth, some we call solitary but I don’t think anything is truly solitary. It is not how God designs anything. I have been concerned for my dog Mimi as there seemed to be a sadness about her. She was a rescue and although I got her when she was young there are still underlying issues of trauma from her youth that still show 6 years later. I can tell from her behavior. I just wish I knew what they were so that maybe I could remedy her stress or fear.
Instead, I got her a playmate. At first it was “Whaaat is this???” But then a light started to shine in Mimi that I had not seen. She began to show tenderness and love. She has never been an affectionate dog and I had learned to accept that but it shied me away from rescues as while I knew many needed rescuing, I am not sure I am the best one for it. As the days have now turned into 3 weeks, Mimi now wags her tail and she comes up to be loved on – is it a jealously thing or is it a beginning of understanding of tenderness and love? I don’t know but I am glad to see it. I have a baby gate setup in the hall to the bedrooms and when Mimi has had enough, she whines to go to her room which is where she would spend a large part of the day before hand because that is where the bay window is for guard patrol of the front of the house. She is definitely a guard patrol dog – the entire street knows it.
I bought a rubber chew bone, puppy size for Daisy, but Mimi feel in love with it, playing with it as well between the two of them until it was destroyed. Today we got a new bone – a Kong large bone for them to play with and it is amazing how gentle they play together. But there are the crazy chasing moments where they are both running circles around the ottoman, a happy crazy that sometime has to be slowed down for my sanity.
But even crazy dogs get tired and need to rest…
So I remind you of my thoughts, that we are all created to share love and kindness. As God shared his love with us, we in turn need to share it with others – sometime inter-specie as well. And in all things regardless of specie, try to be kind. It is a true reflection of who we should be.
Going to church today, I bumped into the marathon. A 26+ mile run for fun? In the rain?As those who read my blog know I live on the Mississippi river within a 4 city metropolis called the Quad cities, with 2 cities either side of the river. This is the runningest place I have ever lived in, or maybe because of the size and layout of the land here, I see them more. This particular marathon hits all 4 cities. It takes major amounts of commitment, courage, perseverance and love of running. Some run for a cause, some for themselves to beat the last run time and some just run for the fun and enjoyment or it, regardless of the weather. I don’t get it but I admire it.
I realize these picture are not clear, I was driving at the time, but that folds into what my true purpose of this post is about.
Runners train endless hours to be able to preform the endurance that is required for any given race. They train their bodies to withstand the pressure they may encounter, they revise their diets to help strengthen their endurance and they gear their minds into the proper mindset to be able to finish the race. Sometimes it not about a clear manor in running but that clearly you finish.
For me, walking .2 miles can be a challenge on some days depending on what the weather is doing to my arthritic knees. But I admire the training of the runner and this morning I thought of a different thought pattern for running a race, which includes all the training mentioned above in different forms.
What if we turned our life into a race of…Running TO Jesus. What if we put a marathon’s passion of running to run toward the one who loves us more than we can imagine. I look at it as a child being lost and then being found like the prodigal some spoken of in scripture. The father running with love toward the some. Our heavenly father is forever running to us, and if we will just turn toward Him…of course it is easier to say than to do.
Or for animal loves, tears come to my eyes as soldiers are reunited with their canine loves upon their return from service. They RUN to each other with love overflowing.
That really is what God wants from us…to run to Him with His overflowing love for us. Scripture talks about running the race of life and to run it with Christ as our goal, while in fact He is running beside us to make sure we finish with Him.
So when you see runners cheer them own and remember to run your own race to God. He never said it would be easy but it did say it would be worth it.
And while you are running, remember to reflect the love he is showing you and share it with for other to see His love.
Judy of lifelessons wrote an awesome poem celebrating our canine counterparts for this National Dog Day. They are without a doubt part of our family as we take pictures of them all the time and post them to bring laughter not only to us but to others. We tell their stories, write poetry about them and even a few songs show the ability for them not only to steal our supper but also our hearts. Below are Mimi and Max. Max is the basset.
How can you not laugh at their patience of “NOT BEGGING” for people food.
While these two are my and my daughter’s current household loves, below are well remembered loves of past that I thought I would share.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
This is Junior, aka Dittims. 185 pounds of the most gentle dog I have ever had. If you can ever adjust to the size of this breed, they are awesome. He is the main character in the book I have written, due out soon.
Nope this is not Mimi. This is Baby Ruth. She was my heart throb for 16 years. Still miss her. Yes this is a favorite breed. Our other favorite breed is below, bassets.
In all fairness, Muffin, the tan one in the first picture is half basset and half beagle. Ruby, the middle picture was one of the first dogs from my early adult years and Sam(Samantha) actually belong to my mom when I was a teenager…but she loved me best.
Yes, our canines are our 4 legged children who love us unconditionally and only want to be loved by us. May we always be deserving of the love. In watching NATGEO special on the white wolves of the Arctic this week proves that all creatures just want to be loved. So lets remember that as we go day to day to show love where we can and kindness always.
For the Love of 