things I learned from my dog

It's been a hard month since we lost our furry girl.  She lived a good, long life...more than 15 years.  We reminisce each day and talk about the things that remind us of KC...sometimes with tears and sometimes with laughter.  She was the heart of our house.  God used her to teach me so many things.

KC was adopted from the Weld County Humane Society 2 years after Joe and I got married.  She was our test child.  Could we handle being parents?  We even named her Kid Canine.  I slept on the floor with her for weeks.  We puppy proofed our house.  She survived and we decided we had passed the test.  She was my middle of the night companion after Christopher was born four years later (and while I was pregnant), and I will always be grateful.

Every day, KC was a living example to me: give enthusiastic greetings, forgive quickly, and hold no grudges.  She lived each day with no regrets, right to the end.  She showed me that sometimes the best thing I can do is simply sit beside someone and quietly love them.  She taught me to love deeply without fearing goodbyes.

I forget the circumstances, but at some point during KC's life, God told me that she would live to be 15.  Even though I wasn't really certain that I had heard from God, I held onto that.  In March of 2016, KC was diagnosed with T cell lymphoma, and her prognosis was uncertain.  She had an obvious growth on the side of her mouth and probably more inside of her.  I am a firm believer that the power of life and death is in the tongue, and I started blessing her with health and telling her that she would live to fulfill the days that were ordained for her.  In April 2017, we noticed that her tumor was gone!  And KC lived to be 15 and a half.  God used this time to remind me #1 that I know His voice and I hear him and #2 that He is faithful and He will fulfill His promise.

I learned more about trusting God during the last months of KC's life.  In July, she somehow got out of our backyard and was trapped between the retaining wall and a barbed wire fence.  God prompted me to look for her, and when she wasn't in any of her usual spots, I called out her name.  She hadn't made any noise for months, and when I heard a grunt/whine from behind our fence, I knew it was her.  It took all 3 of us to rescue her and I knew that angels were around her when she fell because she had no injuries.  I had prayed that God would put angels around her each day...and He answered my prayer.

KC chose life and fought for it as long as she could.  As I sat on the floor with her in the last hours of her life, I wept.  But, I knew it was time to let go of her.  Love made my heart vulnerable, and it broke when we lost her.  Nonetheless, I will keep loving even when loss is inevitable.  I wouldn't live it any differently and I'm moving forward with no regrets!