Aspen...On Eagle's Wings

Some dogs are the greatest companions in the world.  There’s an old cliché that says, “If you want a friend, get a dog.”  Though I think there are plenty of people who make great friends, my dog Aspen, without even trying, was simply the best friend imaginable.  Visit  “A Good Friday to Remember” for the story of how our relationship began.

We became such a team that most people didn’t know my name was Karen…they thought it was KarenandAspen.  We were inseparable.  Aspen was beautiful, well-behaved and loving, the epitome of what you hear about Golden Retrievers.  She even developed a game called “Woof!”  It began with a little rumble in her throat that I would mimic back at her.  Then, it would grow into a soft growl.  Again, I would mimic the sound.  Next would be a tiny bark.  Yes, I would quietly bark back at her.  Then a medium bark, until finally we’d worked up to a great big woof.  When I mimicked the final woof, the game was over.  It was great fun, and we only played it when she would initiate it.  It was her game, after all.

Aspen was, true to her breed, a water dog and a bird dog.  She was trained for neither, but showed the instincts born within her.  I always joked that if she sniffed out a tablespoon of spilled water on the floor, she’d go and sit in it.  That was a tiny exaggeration, but not much of one.  She was quite the swimmer and couldn't resist the allure of pools or streams unless she was restrained in some way.  On the bird front, she was never trained as a hunting companion, but she did on occasion find baby birds that had fallen from their nests.  She would gently gather them into her “mush” mouth, not making a mark on them, and proudly bring them to me.  Even though the little birds were dead, I could only praise my girl for showing the ability God designed into her.

Late in her life, after she passed her 14^th birthday, Aspen began walking with a severe limp.  Her veterinarian prescribed various medications which helped for a time, but whenever we began to back off the dosage, the lameness returned in full force and even became worse.  This was the beginning of the end for “my girl.”

On June 15, 1998 early in the morning, Aspen and I said goodbye for a final time.  It was a very sad day, and due to my serious heartache, I took the day off from work.  I found myself perusing recordings in a local music store that afternoon and purchased a Michael Crawford CD of inspirational melodies.  When I came home and popped it into my stereo, I heard him sing, “And he will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of his hand.”  I knew this song and the Bible verses that inspired it from Psalm 91 and Isaiah 40:31, but never expected to encounter what happened next.  I had a vision.  It was not a daydream, or a night dream.  It was not wishful thinking.  It was a vision.

I saw very clearly my girl, Aspen, flying across a blue sky on the back of an eagle, her red fur glistening in the sunlight.  She looked into the breeze as they flew toward a certain destination.  The image was vivid, and I saw it several times over the days following her death.  Eventually, I saw it no more, but maintain the memory it evoked.  I truly believe God heals our heartaches in ways that He knows will comfort us.  Indeed in ways we might never expect or have encountered before or since.

This happened to me, and it brought me peace.  It filled me with a sense of awe.  God is good…very good!

101 Years Celebrating the Dads Among Us

Traditions are great.  We all know that every June we set aside the 3rd Sunday to call our dads and say "Happy Father's Day!"  We may join them for a barbecue in the back yard, or a day out at the ballpark.  But did you know that this has been going on for a full 101 years?  It was begun by Sonora Dodd in Spokane, Washington.  She sat listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909 and wondered why we had a day to honor our mothers, but nothing similar for our fathers.  Her father, William Smart, was a Civil War veteran, and she wanted to honor him publicly, so she sought civic action on the matter.  The following year, Spokane's mayor proclaimed June 19 Father's Day because it was the month of William Smart's birth.

In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson designated the 3rd Sunday in June as the official day on which Father's Day would be celebrated each year, and in 1972, President Richard Nixon signed a public law making this day of recognition permanent.

Today, the most recent U.S. census estimates that there are approximately 70.1 million fathers across the United States.  That's a lot of barbecue to be made and ballgames to be watched...although some fathers, like my own, might have celebrated the day in other ways.



 So, I'm going to reminisce about my own dad and some of the things that forged our relationship through the years.  The first photo I've seen of him and me together is on Easter Sunday when I was just about 8 months old.  I was a tiny baby and all decked out in a frilly white Easter dress.  He was holding me up so I could stand for the picture with my older siblings.  It was a proud moment, to be sure.  Stoicism was fashionable then.

Then, there were those Saturday mornings when he could sleep in on occasion and I would join him on the bed to play a game of cat and dog.  Even at that young age, barely out of toddlerdom, I was interested in the world of domestic pets.  He remembers that I was always the cat, but my recollection is 180 degrees opposite of this.  One of us has failing memory!

There were many, many days when I would climb onto his lap as he read poems and stories to me from a literary anthology.  And when I was quite young, I learned that I brightened his days simply by running across the lawn to greet him as he returned home from work in the afternoons.

As life has moved on, we have shared interests in reading and writing, politics and sports.  We share a genetic stamp on our physiology that I'm just going to call the "look young" gene.  It has held us both in good stead for quite a few decades.  Finally, and most importantly, my father cared for me enough to introduce me to the Lord and Savior of my life, Jesus Christ.  This eternal hope and faith is another thing that connects us.

I'm sure you, too, have many memories of things you have shared with your fathers.  Even if you're not in America celebrating Father's Day, take time to remember the good things your father has done for you and tell him about it.  It'll make him happy.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!