.. no more sorrow or pain in heaven....

today, when we finally finished our study of the book "So long, Insecurity, you have been a bad friend" we talked long about how when we trust God, not Him answering our prayers and preventing all we are afraid of,  but trust in Him, we really are able to leave our fears and insecurities behind..
talking about the trials we face, we remembered a Sermon series by James Mc Donald we had watched almost 2 years ago, where he points out that as children of God, He, God, is so committed to refine us and make us better that if there isn't a trial around the next corner ( and they don't always have to be big ) we might have to question if we are really God's children..
shared in my Small Group tonite that I have never have felt that great, at peace and full of joy than I have  for the last little while...
in bed an hour later my daughter calls "Mama" in this terrified tone of voice that I do not hear very often from her...

turns out she saw on my sister's status on fb that my mother's little doggie, Bello, a Jack Russel had died yesterday...
have to admit that this has sent my heart into a tailspin... real sorrow and pain for what my mother must be going through right now... this little puppy dog has been her one consistent delight for  the last 17 years..
when waking up from her coma last year her first few words were.. "no wonder I almost died, I didn't want to live anymore because Bello was dead"...
we were able to bring him to her then and she was so relieved to find out that this was just one of the drug induced nightmares she had while in the coma...
so now it has finally happened... little Bello has passed away...
I am not sure how she will be dealing with this.. so sad once again that there is such a distance between us.. good news is that my parents are going to come here on Friday...
he was "just" a dog... but when this dog is your most loving and permanent companion, you have been his caregiver for 17 years, losing him is not a piece of cake...
I believe strongly that all dogs go to heaven and that we will one day see him again.. maybe God is going to use this loss in the life of my mother to open her eyes to her need to be sure of her own destination when the day comes..
rejoicing that because of the death and resurrection of Christ, my Saviour I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will be in heaven one day.. no more tears and no more Good byes.. no more losses and no more pain... looking forward to it...