Sacredness in Tears

Dixie and Josh

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.” Washington Irving (19^th century author)

Have you ever had one of “those” kind of days where life seems to go from bad to worse? Wednesday was one of those days…on top of a week…on top of a month where adversity has parked on our doorstep.

Our beautiful, blue-eyed Australian Shepherd, Dixie, suddenly became ill a week ago. No overt symptoms, just mild diarrhea and some lethargy. She seemed to rebound and then relapsed. Monday we took her to the vet, and all her blood work returned normal except a slight elevation in white count and slightly low red blood cells. They started an antibiotic, but by yesterday she still wasn’t better. Another blood draw revealed a further drop in red blood cells. We were referred to a larger vet clinic with an empiric diagnosis of an autoimmune disorder. With treatment, Dixie would have a 50/50 chance of survival. We had a difficult time wrapping our brains and hearts around this prognosis. Our very small hope disappeared on the ultrasound screen—an enlarged heart with a cancerous tumor in it. Terminal. I’ve never liked that word. L

A few summers ago

If you’re not a pet lover, maybe you won’t be able to relate to our devastation, but for almost eight years, Dixie’s been part of our family. Death is part of life, though it’s never easy, whether it’s a friend, relative, or pet. We will grieve her death and eventually get over it, but that is then and this is now.

It may seem like a trivial prayer request, but would you please keep my family in your prayers, especially Josh, as he grieves the loss of his dog? He has a few days, maybe a couple of weeks, to share some final memories with her. Her passing will leave a huge hole in our lives. Each time we go for bike rides and she’s not there, or go out to play in the yard, she won’t be there to chase tennis balls or squeak toys (her absolute favorite). When we sit on the deck, she won’t be there to nuzzle under our arm to lay her head in our lap. Only memories and empty places where she once was will remain.

God has comforted us during this difficult time, and we have no doubt He’ll see us through what lies ahead. We take comfort in this promise of eternity from God’s Word:

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4

Dixie and me

If you have a prayer request, I’d sure love to hear from you. I hope by sharing my request you’ll see that no matter how small or large you believe others will perceive your problems, if they hurt you, they also grieve God. He cares. Would you take a moment to pray for others who leave comments or are on the prayer list at the top of the blog? Thanks!

God bless,

Laura ✞

©Laura Hodges Poole