Over the years, our various family units have had pets here at the Abbey. We have had some precious little creatures entrusted to our care. They have brought us much joy, and of course heavy sorrow in their deaths.
We have some very wonderful cats in our different households, but we have not had a dog since the passing of our beloved cocker spaniel mix Lacy in 2007.[1] For a long time, with all of the grandkids around (6 of our 7 are here at the present), it seemed important to me that they have a dog.
We have always adopted strays, and last year during the process of searching for another spaniel mix, COVID hit. With more people home, and in turn also looking for shelter animals, it began to look as though another spaniel was not realistic. After a year and a half of looking, a local newspaper article told of dogs being rescued from hurricane Laura’s flooding in Louisiana and how they were being relocated to animal shelters in the north. Our county shelter was cooperating with this effort by bringing small groups of them at a time to our area.
When the second group arrived, we decided the time had come – so we completed an application and went to adopt. The shelter manager told us of a dog with a sweet disposition that she thought would be a perfect fit for our family. When we first met the pup, she came right over and laid by our feet, rolling over for a belly rub. Needless to say, she immediately stole our hearts. She was not the spaniel that I had envisioned that we would acquire – the best guess is that she is a Sheprador (German Shepherd and Labrador Retriever mix). Our granddaughter Izzy named her Zoey. Janma and some of the grandkids like to affectionately call her “Zoe-Zoe,” while I call her “Zoey girl.” We adopted her in October, and now she is quite settled in as a beloved family member.
Sometimes dogs are referred to as “man’s best friend,” while the adage “Dogs are man’s best friend because they wag their tails instead of the tongues,” always brings a smile to my face.
Zoey can often be found on the floor by my desk, just as Lacy usually was so many years ago. Looking down at Zoey I am often reminded of the endearing pictures of E.W. Bullinger’s office, where one can so easily spot his beloved dog, Kaffie.
In fact, of the 16 personal pictures of Bullinger and/or his office that Juanita Carey was able to acquire from family members during the research for her book E.W. Bullinger: A Biography, six of them have dogs in them.
[1] Read about Lacy, her death, and a general look at animals in Scripture in the editorial of Bible Student’s Notebook #106.
The Great Adventure of Faith 