May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love... that you may really come to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge without experience. (Ephesians 3:17,19 AMP)

On Thanksgiving Day we learned our beloved dog’s time with us was over. Stover was our only “child” for nearly eleven years.  We learned many lessons of life from this furry red friend.

 Following months of” labor” in prayer, Our Father brought us our friend in May 2001. We knew immediately Stover was to be our boy, a designer dog created precisely for us.

A little more of that part of the story:  Sue was in a ladies prayer group one morning – the Scripture for our meeting was, “In Your presence is fullness of joy – at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  We took a little time to be quiet and allow God to speak to us concerning these beautiful words of life.

Gary and I had been praying for a dog.  But little did I know that morning God would speak to my heart in such a very personal way concerning a dog!  In all our married years, Gary sometimes would come home with a surprise for me.  And he would say (with the surprise behind his back), “Pick a hand – any hand!”

That morning God said to my heart, “Pick a hand, any hand!”  Chuckling inside my heart I whispered back, “Well I have a clue!  You said at your right hand are pleasures forevermore – so I pick your right hand!”  Of course, I had that transaction with the Lord all in faith.

And what happened the next day?  STOVER!   At the end is the link to our blog which will give a little more of how we met, our tribute to Stover and pictures of him and where he is buried.

 But continuing with the thoughts of God’s great love…

Stover had more friends than we did. Everyone who kept him during our travels came to love him. Strangers often stopped us on our mountain hikes and in parks to meet this charming enthusiastic “people dog.”  Frequently we gave the testimony of God’s gift and love through Stover. Unconditional love is completely disarming!

God used Stover to teach us more deeply “through experience...the love of Christ.”

During his illness, the Spirit kept reminding us to give heartfelt thanks for the decade of enjoyment God provided for us and others.     And in our grief we must “keep our eyes on the Author and Perfecter of our faith.”      Every time the lump arises in our throats, we are to turn our eyes on Jesus. 

Hours after his passing, Gary took a quick nap to restore some energy for our evening English class fiesta. He was startled by a vivid three second dream of a beautiful young dog exuberantly running in a broad field. It grieved him until he realized, this was a picture of our friend in a joyful land.

Yes, we believe, like most theologians prior to the twentieth century, that there will be animals in heaven.

Our Experience of Stover’s life taught us deeply that the most important lessons in life are the practiced disciplines of  “Come”  “Sit”  “Heel”  “Stand” and even “Leave it!”  

Yes, we must continually come to the Lord, sit at His feet, heel by staying close to our Lord, stand firm in trials and temptations, and leave anything that displeases our Lord.

Oh, the simplicity and purity of the love of Christ!

Here is a link to our blog with Stover's memorial including pictures of him and where he is buried:

www.thegaithers.blogspot.com

           Trusting and resting,

                                                Gary & Sue