Annual Check Ups!

It's that time of year for us, where we make all of our appointments: eye, dental, physical etc..My day today started with an exhausting trip to the vet clinic. It was our first trip to the vet here in Texas. Thankfully we haven't had any serious reason to take Molly in since our last annual trip in New York. I bought her a new collar for the occasion, but still needed to put on the old harness (which by the way needed to be let out a few notches) to keep a better "non-choking" grip on her. Over the years, I have mastered the art of keeping her close to me when I'm by myself at the vet. Friendly visitors that want to pet her? Other cats/dogs within a close radius? Need to fill out paperwork one-handed? I just lock her leash, and get a great thigh work out keeping her locked between my feet and legs. She usually gives up and just lays down. Today, we experienced all three of these scenarios by the way...so a few shots and a lot of shedding later...we survived our trip! She did well, and received well deserved treats and love. We won't need to go back till next summer! While filling out the paperwork- there were questions listed that they certainly don't ask at military veterinary clinics. The first question: "To better help us with your vet experience- answer one of the following  1)Do you feel your pet is one of the family? or 2)Just a pet?". I checked of course option 1 ( I mean, she is in our Christmas card pictures). A few more of the questions were about whether or not we want the best health options, diet advice etc. It asked A)"would we be willing to do whatever it takes for our pet?", or B)"would we want to do as much as possible up to a certain limit?" Chris,being the sensible one, would have probably checked option B, but I checked option A because of course at this point, I'm nervously thinking about the off chance of something horrible happening to Molly and can't bear the thought of something happening to her- so in my head it was "A!, of course, we'll do whatever it takes!". The last question was "how long do you want your pet to live?". I had to refrain from filling in the response my 6 year old self would have written of "forever!" to "as long as possible, as long as she is happy and healthy".
We are em-"barking" on yet another annual thing known as our anniversary. Yes, it will be 6 years for us in just a few weeks. We got married on Friday night, June 24th, and are celebrating (thanks to leap year) this year on Friday, June 24th. We are still deciding on ways we would like to celebrate. But, we have much to be thankful for!
I'm sure you all have read/heard about the recent tornadoes in Joplin,MO. Yesterday, I read about a woman, whose husband gave his life for her during the tornado. They were watching their house be ripped apart, when her husband laid on top of her to protect her. In that heroic act, he lost his life. It really hit me hard and I have been praying for her like crazy. Only our Father can give you the kind of love and care you need in a situation like that. It's unimaginable. The couple had a few things in common with us: they were married 6 years, were together since they were kids (although for Chris and me it was high school), and were hoping to start a family soon....to see all of those things just come to a halt- I can hardly think of many other more challenging circumstances. Along with my thoughts I had today on the possibility of losing Molly to some horrible accident or disease- I felt God testing my trust in Him. We really do hold things dear to us that are not eternal. He puts them in our lives for a reason and wants us to find fullness and joy, but it's fleeting. Do I have the kind of hope in Him that it would take if something like that happened to Chris? The thought is very painful to think about. (I mean, this is not what we would deem the most exciting part about faith.) Chris would do anything to keep me safe,including giving his life...Then I remember that someone already gave His life. How can I have hope in anything else? We have a bright future because of Him. If anyone has read "the Shack" by William P. Young, it tests just that. His daughter was taken from him in brutal way...but,God saw him through it and brought joy back into his life. I just ask that God help me to have faith in Him in the ups, the downs and the really downs. This is the place of faith that He wants to bring all of His children to. We just have to be humble and trust Him to take care of us....it's kind of funny we can't trust Him without...Him.
In thinking about joy and fulfillment, Chris and I get to spend the weekend together!  And in just a few weeks, we'll be celebrating another year together. The test results have come back of a clean bill of health...and we too, are good to go for another year.... <3