In Memory...

On January 28th, 2009, my best friend of 15 years went to Kitty Heaven. I've gone through a series of struggles over the past several weeks as I've been challenged to truly trust & believe God in all of his plans.

Winnie has been my roommate, co-worker, best friend, keeper of secrets & tissue box for the past 15 years. I'm 30 - so do the math.... As I begun to learn that her days were not going to extend much longer, I have struggled with understanding God's larger plan for the animals that we have loved. They don't have souls, and were not given the same type of redemption as we were.

I've been learning to lean into the belief that God loves all of his creation the same. He rules over all creation (birds of the sky, beasts of the field) - but has given us free will. But for Winnie, God has ordained much about her life.

No one can truly explain what Heaven will be like and how we will recognize our loved ones, or if our pets will join us there or not - but as an Elisabeth Elliot devotional states:

The Bible does not speak specifically of the destiny of animals but there is a
promise in the Letter to the Ephesians which surely must include them,
"Everything that exists in heaven or earth shall find its perfection and
fulfillment in Christ" (Eph. 1:10 Phillips).
Paul expresses his hope in the
eighth chapter of Romans (verse 21 Phillips) "that in the end the whole of
created life will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and have its
share in that magnificent liberty which can only belong to the children of God!"

I can see some of the blessings that this suffering has produced (evidence of God's grace, thoughtfully placed vacation time, sunny skies, etc.)

So in memory of my dearly beloved...