For any of you who haven’t heard, I had to unexpectedly put my sweet dog Daisy to sleep this week. It was aggressive cancer that was undetected until last Monday around 4 p.m. By 2 p.m. the next day, she was gone.
My goal today isn’t to spend much time talking about the depth of that loss, but instead to share a powerful lesson that came to me in the process of her death. And considering how many times I’ve used her crazy world to share a life lesson, it only seems fitting to share one more lesson through her death. If you can hang with me here, I promise it is an amazing lesson of hope.
But, to get to that lesson, unfortunately I have to also take you through those moments preceding her death.
Two shots are administered in this process. The first relaxes them. The second stops the heart. Both are quick and effective.
I chose to hold Daisy while these shots were being administered. She still had an IV port from some earlier fluids so the shots could be administered painlessly. Because of the growing cancer in her lungs, she was breathing more heavily than normal. I had grown accustomed to the sound since she had experienced rapid breathing for almost two weeks.
Within a few seconds of the first medication, the heavy breathing instantly stopped. And Daisy went from a sitting position to lying comfortably on my lap, all within a split second. The contrast was incredibly stark and is the catalyst for this post’s lesson.
The message God placed in my heart and soul just seconds before the final medication was administered was this:
When we leave this earthly life and angels escort us to heaven, we are INSTANTLY healed…of everything that encumbered us here. Cancer, arthritis, heart disease, dementia, depression, anxiety and every single ailment – mental, physical, emotional and spiritual – are instantaneously eradicated. It will be a transformation unlike anything we could ever imagine.
As powerful as what I witnessed in Daisy’s death was, it pales in comparison to the incredible, permanent healing we will have in Jesus.
So, as this revelation and lesson settled into my soul during those few seconds, what I most sensed from her precious little body was PEACE.
Her struggle was over. But as profound as that was it was still just a pitifully inadequate and fuzzy representation of the perfect and eternal peace found in Jesus when we meet him face to face.
How kind is our God to place those thoughts in my heart during one of the most heart-breaking moments of my life. He loves us through our trials with tender expressions of compassion. I’m grateful through my tears.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more,
neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore,
for the former things have passed away.
Revelation 21:4
I’ve witnessed this same procedure and it’s effect on our furry loves. However, I’d not considered it from this point of view. God embraced them and on three separate occasions, I felt peace as well as pain in my heart. Those pups no longer felt pain. The memories still bring tears, but this helps me accept and quantify their deaths—and mine—as a part of life and God’s plan.
This wasn’t my first time either and while I have sensed the peace they had, I never had thought of it in terms of our own healing eventually. I truly believe God gave me that thought to help me through the heartbreak of the moment. Thanks for sharing!
I have also been with several of my fur babies at this time. Thank you for this new beautiful perspective.
It was a surprising revelation to me this time, but I’m really grateful for it. 💕