Animal Lover?

I am not an animal lover by nature. We had a few assorted cats and dogs as kids but never really a "family pet"-- one we loved as one of the family and depended on for protection and companionship. Then, in college, I lived with three girls who had two INDOOR cats each-- enough said. I was determined that I would never have an indoor cat and couldn't imagine myself with more than one outdoor dog at a time. And then, only because Ryan loves them so much.

Well....

I am convinced God wants me to change my perspective on all this. He has hand-picked each animal we have and given them to us at a specific chosen time. I won't go into all that now, just suffice it to say, it is true and they each have their own story. Also, I see the love the children have for their animals and it brings me such joy! They will choose to play with them and see taking care of them as a joy--WOW! That is really something to me, especially considering we have so many. I never have to remind them to feed them or water them, they just love to take care of their friends. They love to include their animals in whatever game they are playing or drama they are creating. They truly are their best friends!

A few weeks ago, I was asking God to show me what our family "thing" could be. You know, some families sing together, some play baseball, some ski.... I wanted to know what common love we could share that would keep our family playing, staying and praying together even through their teenage years and beyond. Immediately our animals came to my mind! So, now I have seen firsthand how God not only hand-picked each of our animals for us, brought them to us at a specified time, put a love in our children's hearts for them, is changing my perspective on the whole affair, but also, that He has already arranged to have this "animal thing" be one of the things that draws us together as a family. Who can argue with that?! Isn't the Creator God
amazing?

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