March Blog – Women’s Ministry

Our grass was a beautiful emerald green with all the God-given nutrients that had recently been shed from the rainy days we experienced. The colors in our flower garden flourished with pinks, periwinkle blue, plum, and the Shasta Daisies were painted pure white. If you walked past the garden, you could breathe in and discover a faint but distinct scent of mint which graced the center of the raised garden boxes as well as the fresh cool breath of a shower. The rain lifted just enough with a beautiful hue of sunlight that made the colors radiate their most brilliant tones. I love those days when God shows the vibrant colors He has created in the peace and serenity of a fresh rain.

We let out sweet dog, Aspen, into the backyard she loved. She’s one who loves to smell, track those smells down and enjoy the coolness of a freshly dampened lawn. A few minutes later, as usual, we let her back inside. When she stepped onto the kitchen floor, we noticed a trail of blood in her paw print. Asking her to lay-down, we examined her pads to see if there was an injury. Not finding one, we looked further up her legs. She laid still and let us look at her without a wiggle or fight. We spoke over her in smooth quieting inflection, praising her for being so good and “staying”. After several minutes we found that her a dewclaw had been injured in the short minutes she had been outside. We wrapped a cloth around her leg, loaded her in the car and went to a nearby veterinarian. They took her back to the examination area, which had broad windows that we could look through and watch. They gave her a shot to calm her down, bandaged her up, then gave us a prescription to fight off any infection that might ensue. We followed the vet’s instructions to come back for re-bandaging if it came loose, or she licked it too much. Then the dreaded cone would become her daily necklace. We were to return in 5-7 days for the removal of all the patched areas no matter what. As we went through the week Aspen’s bandage came loose so we headed back down to have them redress the area. This, we decided, could be a daily routine so we purchased the necessary items and replace any bandage as needed. We did have to do this a couple more times due to loosening and would have her follow our instruction to “lay down” while we re-dressed the injury. Talking her through each time and petting her reassuringly. We returned to the vet at the appointed time. When they took her from us to remove the bandage, they said they would have to give her another injection to relax her. We told them they wouldn’t need to administer an injection she would lay still for them and gave them the instructions to help them do so. They lifted her onto the table and to their surprise, she laid there like a champ. They remarked how unusual that was.

As I listened to Pastor Kurt give the message this last weekend concerning Ananias, Saul and the found trust of these men in God, this story about our Aspen came to my mind. Here was our pet: she trusted us for her care in a time that she was hurt, unable to communicate with us verbally, remaining calm and trusting us with her injury. I realize there are many ways we experience trust. In our pets, in the way we respond to our children and when we help them or keep them from harm. With a friend, a family member … the list goes on. I asked myself - How does it feel to be trusted? How does it feel to trust? How much more does Jesus love us than we love others? How emphatically do we trust Him? If I equate my trust in my Father in Heaven to my earthly trust, I can better understand the proportion of trust we can have in our faith.

- Traci Hollingsworth