How Our Pets Teach Our Children
 

by Mark McCrary
 

Years ago while teaching a parenting class, I interviewed a couple in our church who advocated letting children have pets. Pets, they said, teach children about life. They are born, get sick, must be cared for, and die. Having grown up on a farm-- though I had never consciously made that connection-- I knew they were exactly right.

Alena learned that lesson today when we discovered we would have to put one of her bunnies to sleep. Cupcake (the bunny) had either a tumor or an abscessed tooth under her chin. Surgery would be required with the likelihood of continued problems down the road either way, with both options costing a lot of money. (Please don't think I'm an ogre; I'll spend money on our pets within reason; but when you have a family to take care of, there are limits.) When I told her Cupcake would have to be put to sleep she cried, trying to come to terms with the loss of something she loved and the pain in her heart.

My heart broke as well. Not so much for the bunny; I learned years ago that pets come and go. You love and let go of them. No, my heart hurt for Alena, my child that I love. I hurt because she hurt. I hugged her and sqeezed her as she trembled and sobbed. And the kicker is I could have stopped it from happening. I could have paid the huge amount of money needed to keep the bunny alive. But no amount of money would change the fact the bunny would eventually die. Death must be faced in life. So, I chose for Alena to learn that physical things come and go—even things that we love. That's a life lesson every child needs to learn. I chose for her to learn that sometimes life stinks-- that's why we long for heaven. And, I chose for her to face it with her family at her side loving her.

As I sat down at my desk later and reflected, I began to wonder if this is what God feels like when we hurt. Just as I had to choose, God chooses, too. He could remove all our immediate sufferings and problems. Every one of them. However, to do so would not teach us that hanging on to a physical world and things that will eventually hinder our desire for spiritual things. Therefore (it seems to me), God allows us to suffer at the moment. He allows us to be reminded of the pains we face here, so that with each sorrow we can let go of this world of sorrows around us. He does not do so indifferently; He hurts as well (1 Peter 5:7). As we sing, “His heart is touched with our grief." But in doing so, He reminds us through His word that He loves us, wraps His arms around us and squeezes all the harder.

 

  

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