Losing a Pet, Gaining a Family

My friend Caroline Wooten wrote this and I am posting it here.

"We lost a pet yesterday. Not in the sense that we don’t know where he is, but in the senseless act of a random stranger hitting him with their vehicle and fleeing the scene.  Seriously, who does that?! Not to mention that this precious animal was a gorgeous Great Dane.  That being said, he was 100lbs of muscle.  He did some damage to that vehicle; I am almost positive.  While we are saddened, that isn’t the reason for this story.  I want to talk about my sons. 

They went to school as usual yesterday.  They attended their respective elementary, middle and high schools and saw our dead dog on the side of the road on the commute home.  Hank, our dog, was an adoption gift to their sister Kylee.  She loved Hank so much.  She was obviously upset by the death of her companion, but she couldn’t take the time to fall apart because she had to work after school.

So, these boys came in, picked up shovels and got to work digging a grave for the beloved pet of their sister.  What is interesting to note, is that these boys aren’t all biologically related to their sister, or each other.  This wasn’t their animal. They hadn’t hit him with their vehicle.  By all accounts of the standard teenager, it quite frankly wasn’t their problem. 

I watched from afar, as they worked tirelessly together for several hours in 85-degree heat in a typical North Texas October afternoon.  Not only did they accomplish the task before them, but they did it with JOY!  I don’t mean happiness.  Those words don’t mean the same thing.  Happiness is externally triggered.  But these boys, my sons, have a peace with who they are, and that their creator finds pleasure in them.  I watched them encourage and teach each other.  I watched them praise one another. I watched them pick each other up. I watched them give selflessly for their sister with nothing short of the pure joy of a servant’s heart.

I am so proud of who they are and who they are becoming.  I am so thankful to God for allowing me to witness their transformation into Godly young men who mirror the image of Christ.  I take no credit for them; they are products of the relationship they have with Christ Jesus".