Animals

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Psalm 8:6-9 

I was raised with all types of animals in my childhood. Horses, pigs, cows, chickens (Indian, Silkie, Polish, etc). We sold green and pink eggs. We raised fryers and so we cleaned many a chicken coop and chickens. We had lambs, rabbits, peacocks, etc. We always had our dogs and cats. It built a love and companionship of animals. The bond between man and animals is the learning process of taking care of, loving, and, unfortunately, the grieving of the loss. 

My nephew and his family just lost their faithful companion Rebel. He was a rough collie. My nephew got him when he was still a bachelor and now he is married with three kids. When their first son was born Rebel took upon himself to guard the baby. He loved to sleep under the crib, or go and nudge mom or dad when baby needed them. He had an instinct of how to deal with children, he was a calm, forgiving dog when the little ones may have pulled a little too hard on his hair or when they tried to ride him. He would run circles around with their kids almost everyday.  

I always think of the Paul Harvey [essay], So God made a Dog. 

“And on the ninth day, God looked down on his children and said they need a companion. So God made a dog. ....”

Prayer: Thank you Father for the wonderful array of animals you have blessed us with, your creative hands in making animals with breathtaking colors, with all the different characteristics that amaze us. Each is created with uniqueness and purpose. Thank you Father for our many blessings. Amen

Lori Hood