Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Hi TexaCan,

I'm so sorry you lost your little companion. Fifteen years was truly a blessing.

I lost my last dog, an Australian Shepherd, several years ago, but will always have him in my memory. He, too, lived fifteen years.

I believe the answer to your question, which, to me is definitive, in the first and last chapter of Job, the oldest book in the Bible.

Job 1:2: "He [Job] had seven sons and three daughters,

Job 1:3 and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys..."

We are told that God permitted Satan to take away all that Job possessed to show him that Job's faith and love for God was not based on the possessions that God had given him, both his children and his animals.

Then, in the last chapter of Job, we are told that God doubled the number of animals and children that Job had before losing them.

Job 42:10 "After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.

42:12 "So the LORD blessed the last part of Job's life more than the first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

Job 42:13 "And he also had seven sons and three daughters.

To give Job twice as many animals as he had before, God had to double the number Job originally had in the first chapter.

To give Job twice as many children, he gave him only the same as Job's original number of children in the first chapter.

This is because he still has his original seven sons and three daughters.

They are waiting for him in heaven.

The animals are not.

That is the only conclusion I could reach from the Biblical text.

Again, I am sorry for your loss of Charlie, but glad you were blessed by his presence for 15 years.

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Good morning Zemirah,

Thank you! I was hoping you would give your opinion on this subject. You know how much I admire and trust your interpretation of scripture. It’s not exactly what I would have chosen, but my faith is strong enough to just have faith and trust in the plans that our Lord has for his creation. It will be perfect, nothing less would suffice!

When my son was a couple of months old my uncle gave him one of his Australian Shepherd puppies. We named her Ellie Mae. She was an outside dog until I divorced and my son and I moved to Dallas to work. She then became my son’s body guard. She had never taken on that roll until then. She came through an old wooden screen door when a man that I was dating raised his voice at my 4 year old son. She had an insight that I had not seen. Animals are so amazing! They have an instinct that has not been explained yet!

Jack and I are slowly changing the everyday routine that we had for so long.......closing the bedroom door, looking under our recliner before we let it down, stepping over Charlie’s toys.....so many little things!

We were sitting in our chairs yesterday and I realized how quiet it was. I hadn’t realized how much time we spent talking to Charlie and talking and laughing about Charlie to each other! So, I quietly go up and went and found one of the balls that our babies had left. I drew a face with pointy ears, cross- eyed eyes, big lips, unruly bangs.....really ugly! I placed it by the patio door where Charlie spent most of the day. Jack looked at me and said, “ what in the world are you doing?” I told him that we were entirely too quiet and that this was our new non-species pet! The ball was orange so we named him King Donald! We thought that was an appropriate name for these times! We should have some interesting conversations with our new pet!


Our life goes on and I have found that a little humor helps with the pain! Charlie would have expected no less......he was a fun loving dog!

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Through the years I have read many stories of how animals were used as therapy for people that have been abused and for those with debilitating illness. I think the use of dogs makes the most logical sense. You and your husband are fulfilling a very special roll in the lives of these abused boys. It takes special people to take on this responsibility! As I’ve said before, I admire you both immensely!🙏🏻

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and beliefs! I really do appreciate it!

SWMBO

Thank you so much. The dogs have been part of the plan since we started working with kids. We have a close friend who breeds terriers, has had Airedales, Wire Fox terriers and Welsh terriers for ever. We love the Welsh for their great temperaments and nice size but someof the boys over the years wanted BIG dogs, to improve their masculine image and to protect them so we have had Cane Corsos also (look the breed up and see why they would appeal to boys who, because of sexual abuse, need something to make them feel more masculine) Several of "our boys" have gone on to train dogs proffesionally, and own boarding kennels. That is why we have felt these dogs were so much a part of the program. One of the boys (Pete) who was adopted by really great people actually has trained a few goats to perform tricks for 4H and wants to go to Veterinary School, so the dogs have been a help there also.

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Thanks for sharing your stories!👍👍👍👍👍. It’s always good to hear when the story has a good ending!😌