How Animals Make our Lives Better

We’ve had a post locked, loaded and ready to be published for the past week, which for me is nothing short of New Year’s Miracle.

Please be impressed. But because we’d never want to speak anything into you that feels inauthentic, would you allow us to hold off on that post, in order to give you a very genuine piece of our heart.

A piece of our heart, that we had to offer up earlier this week.  

15 ½ yrs ago Gunther “Bear” Rea came into our lives at the ripe old age of 9 weeks.  He was an energetic little lover without an ounce of ill will in his cocker spaniel frame. He was tender, cuddly, and pretty whiny those first few months giving us then 21 year olds a run for our money.  Gunther had an insatiable appetite for life, love and food. Being a cocker spaniel, it was in his blood to be a hunting dog. And hunt he did in the “wild suburbia” of our then Rochester home.  He hunted through purses, coat pockets, leather jackets, Express jeans, area rugs, wedding albums and at one point even devoured the first 7 chapters of the book of Genesis. Chris had unknowingly left a gum wrapper in his bible. We joked that Gunther was hungry for more of the word.  God knew he had better make puppies irresistibly cute, otherwise, they would never last in your house for more than 7 hours.

Through the years, Gunther taught us more than I think we can even comprehend.  He reminded us of unconditional love. He exposed our selfishness. And even in the midst of retrieving pizza slices from garbage cans, running halfway across the yard with a steak that dropped from the grill, and devouring a ½ pack of birth control pills in his third month of life, he remained a massive source of joy for us.

Having a dog will change you in ways that only dog owners can understand.  Over the past 15 years Gunther has been that solid, stress relieving dog that is always excited to see you when you walk through the door. Seeing his silhouette at our front door as we rounded the corner to our street was our constant “welcome home.” He was always there to cuddle with you after a rough day, and like most animals, was a non-stop source of entertainment. So many times, we’d see him doing something hilarious (i.e. sitting on the couch like a human or vertically sticking his treats in the carpet like he was staking his claim of the land) and yell out, “Honey… come in here, you have to see what Gunther is doing!”

Bottom line, our lives are better, richer, because we are able to share them with this beautiful-loving creature that God created just for us. He added so much joy and value to our lives!

Maybe you are reading this and can relate to the pain of losing a furry little one. Maybe you have experienced another type of loss that feels so painful right now. We get it friend. Let us leave you with this thought:

The only reason it hurts so bad is because you have experienced a love so deep.  

Recently, I heard a speaker say that once you’ve dug an emotional well in pain, take heart, because you now have an equally deep reservoir within you that can be filled with joy. That’s our prayer for you friend, to the same degree that you’ve known pain, we pray that you can now be a well filled to overflowing with the love of God and every fruit of the Spirit that is now ours because of Christ.

We are allowing ourselves to grieve and be sad right now and we’d be outright lying if we said our hearts haven’t broken in about 15 directions this week. But for us, that’s a sign that you’ve loved well. And when you’re well acquainted with grief, you also know that life will move forward and so much hope for a bright future is right around the corner.

Thank you to all of our incredible family and friends who have rallied around us with prayer, encouraging words, sweet cards and gifts. The love of your people is truly a soothing and sustaining balm to a hurting heart.

Thanks for letting us honor the memory of our best buddy with all of you today.

Chris & Megan Rea  

PS. If you’re struggling with pain of any kind, we have an entire blog series designed to help you move forward. Check it out here, here & here

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