New Year, New Cat, New Dog

Happy 2016

In November of 2015 we lost our two faithful canine companions - Girl and Tiny. Girl had survived two furloughs without and the loss of two other dogs who had been her pals. Both from doggie diseases for which there is no real cure or treatment in our part of Brazil. Tiny had made it through our year in the States in 2014 with flying colors and was in the prime of life at 3 years old. Both contracted canine calazar which is transmitted by sand flies. Both had to be put down as the disease has no real viable treatment except for very expensive shots that must be repeated frequently and dogs remain carriers.

Countess the Cat showed up around the time the two dogs were in their last days. Neither dog cared much because of the weakening effect of the sickness. One afternoon the cat just walked right in and the dogs just watched and slightly growled. She stuck around and we decided to keep her.

Wishbone showed up not long after that. She was a street dog that had been sleeping under the shade of cars on our road. One day Byron gave her some water and she followed him around all day long after that - just like the lost puppy she was.

Convincing her to stick around has been a little rough after we invited her in because she fit under and through our front fence. After we had been fairly sure she had no owner, Byron fixed the front fence and she has been "in" and happy ever since. She's very timid and not super active but she's content and learning our language.

She's already learned to "sit" and we are working on other basic skills.

I never wanted a cat in Brazil. There are many strays and I wasn't sure how we could ever keep a cat "in." We had the cat neutered right away and she stays right in our yard most of the day and never roams very far. We also didn't want to add to the already overflowing population of strays with kittens.

Doggie Woggie is now fenced in with no route of escape so we won't worry about neutering her to the time being as money is low right now and she's safe. We just wish she was a little more aggressive and would chase the bad cats out of the yard - not the orange cat - just all the others!

With our new pets we enter a new year. Not sure what it will hold for us. But God does. I think He sent the new cat and dog and I know He will show us what and where and when for the days to come.

Comments

The Sun is Not Yet Set

Byron, the guy in the white helmet, turns 61 today. That's our son, Byron the Third in the black helmet. He'll be 30 on his next birthday at the end of the year. My husband and I were close to thirty ourselves when we had our first son. Lately it seems that every other day or so someone wants to know "When we are going to retire?" Sometimes it feels more like, "When are you going to leave" is the real question, but that's a story for another post sometime. Has the sunset on our work and ministry in Brazil? Is it time to hang our hats and pack it all up. Are we too old? Too old for what? Too old to tell others about the love of God? Too old to preach and teach? Too old to ride a motorcycle on dirt roads? Okay, you may have us on that last one! It took a few days to recover from our 8 days of motorcycle travel with our oldest and his wife last month. It took a few weeks to recover from all the bumps and aches of our ...

My Promise Verse

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. This verse has been a favorite of mine since I was a teenager. When I was a high school senior at a Christian school in Virginia, Job 23:10 was chosen as our class theme verse. At our graduation commencement, the valedictorian and saludatorian in their addresses that day divided the verse in its two natural parts as a basis for the core of each one's address. I was the salutatorian of my senior class that year. I chose to speak of how God would one day reward our faithfulness and thus, we should always strive to remain true. For many years though, the first part of the verse haunted me in a way. As a missionary especially when times were lonely or difficult, I assumed it was my "trial" or "test," and as such must be accepted in all humility. As I have grown older, I have begun to look more toward the pearly gates and have reconsidered the thr...

Old Film, Same Message

A missionary colleague recently uploaded some old films made about the work in Brazil by Baptist Mid-Missions many years ago in the 1950's. Yesterday I was able to watch the first of the series. All I can say is "Wow! Things haven't changed much in Brazil. And things haven't changed too much with the work of missions in Brazil either!" There are still donkey carts in the street. They have better wheels nowadays! There are still people who live in grass huts and high apartment buildings, too. Bicycles are still many people's only means of transportation, if they are that lucky! Many roads in the interior towns are still paved with cobblestones, if they are paved at all. And yes, chickens are everywhere, even in big cities. Brazil still needs missionaries! That's right, Brazil is not evangelized and in no need of foreign missionaries today. It still needs workers to spread the Good News of the Gospel and the Risen Saviour! Sadly that part of t...

Cactus Flower

Search This Blog