JUNE 2020
You Belong
I never thought I would ever write about dog grief. I never thought I could love a dog so much. When Mary and I were told about Quincy’s cancer, it broke our hearts. Saying good-bye to our four-legged family member grieved us deeply.
Within days after Quincy passed, Mary started the search for a puppy. Grief therapy. We found a breeder with a new litter of 11 puppies. We met them when they were three weeks old and we fell in love. The puppy with green paint on his tail captured our hearts.
For the next four weeks, we visited this breeder’s website often to look for pictures and videos of the puppies. We searched each time for the puppy with the green tail. He was the cutest, most adorable, most wonderful puppy ever. He was ours. He belonged to us.
Finally, the breeder called, “He is ready! You can take your puppy home!”
Mary said, “We don’t need to bring the puppy home. We can just watch him grow up online.”
Mary really said, “We will be right there! He belongs to us!”
We too, were made to belong. It is so important that the Heidelberg Catechism asks this question first: “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” And our comfort is found in belonging! “My only comfort in life and in death is that I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Everyone wants to belong. Even a puppy.
The Lord be with you,
Kent Landhuis
Pastor of Teaching & Leadership
