God's Creatures

My home has gone through a lot of changes in the past few days. These changes involve life, death, our capacity for love, and most of all, God’s creatures.

It all started a few days ago. My wife and I took the children to a local animal shelter to look at the cats and dogs. We left with a new addition to our home: a still growing eighty pound mixed breed puppy. Hearing from the shelter worker that most of the animals would soon be put to sleep if not adopted seemed to outweigh the inconvenience of adding a fourth dog to our household. The puppy was gentle, loveable, and brought an instant increase in joy to our home. 

The second change was a sad one. I found our daughter’s beloved pet ferret dead under her bed. He had already lived well past his normal life span and had died in his sleep. I buried him in the woods near our home. My daughter and I visited his grave and both cried over the loss of our furry little friend. Walking back home we talked about the pain of losing something you love. I asked her if she ever wanted another pet of her very own. She answered yes. 

At ten years old she already knew that you don’t stop loving even when loving sometimes hurts.
That brought on the third change. My wife and I bought my daughter two young guinea pigs.
That brings us up to a house of sixteen. We have five people, four dogs, two birds, two gerbils, two guinea pigs, a turtle, and a house overflowing with love.

All of these changes have reminded me that God put us on this world to love. We are to love God, each other, and all of God’s creatures. We are to love every second we possibly can, because our time here is brief. We are to grow in love and joy always. God bless us all.

~ Joe Mazzella