Taking a walk...

So tonight I finally went walking again. It has been months and I missed it. I stopped when my sweet dog started getting sick back at the beginning of Spring. I just couldn't bring myself to go walking without her. She loved it so much. She would get so excited and bark and dance around when I would get the leash out. When she started to get sick she just didn't have it in her to walk much more than out to the street and to the next door neighbors. It broke my heart. This was a dog that loved to play fetch and would literally wear anyone out that would start playing with her. It was so hard to see that life fade away. I felt like it would just not be fair to go walking, for her to know I was going, and not be able to take her.
We finally had to put her to sleep three weeks ago.

It was a nice evening. There was a little breeze, the sun was going down, and I just walked and walked and walked. I lost track of how far. It was like I was making up for lost time. I thought about people with loved ones close to them that are sick or unable to care for themselves and the sacrifices they make to care for them. I thought about putting life on hold. I marveled again at the strength of the human spirit that God has given to each of us, remembering what I had witnessed while working in chaplaincy. Truly amazing!

I got a text from someone going through some hard stuff in life tonight. They are struggling to be strong in their faith and to persevere. I reminded them that even though it may not feel like it, God is there. They are not alone and they will wake up tomorrow and it will be another day full of opportunities. That is so hard to see when we are in the midst of it. We must remind one another! As brothers and sisters we are called to carry the burdens of others. To exhort and uplift, that the road might not be so difficult. God has not only given us an amazing spirit to persevere, God has given us to one another. How has God seen you through some tough times in your own life through the love and care of others? Who has God placed in your life that need your love and care to know that God is there? That God is real?

1 John 4:12
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.