Prayers

We need your prayers for Scout.

A year ago, I posted about Caleb and Scout's first introduction, and what was to become the beginning of a fast friendship between two dogs, and a long overdue lesson in forgiveness for me. Since that time, Caleb has gone over to play with Scout countless times, spent the night with him while I went out of town, and stood shoulder to...well, knee, with Scout to form a united front against the rest of the family when the end of dinner rolled around and table scraps were on the line.

Scout is twelve years old. He's been arthritic for quite some time, but in the past couple of weeks, he has taken a very sharp turn of the worse. In the few hours between yesterday when I saw him last and this morning, I learned that he is no longer able to get up on his own, his back legs can hold him once he's standing, but he can no longer take the one step to get down from the kitchen into the living room and out to the backyard. He is in obvious pain, so much so that he snaps when my brother tries to help him up to get him outside so he can do his business. They took him to the vet a couple of weeks ago, and at first it seemed like the medicine that she gave him was working, but now the pain and anti-inflammatory pills seem useless. Another vet that makes house calls is coming out to the house this afternoon to give him a steroid shot, to see if that will dull the pain.

Oh, and have I mentioned that it is almost Christmas?

I am asking for your prayers to get us all through the holiday season. I ask for your prayers for Scout, may God bless him with a reprieve from the pain through the medicine the vet will administer, and may he know just how deeply he is loved. I ask for your prayers for my Mother and Brother, who may have to make a painful decision so close to the holidays that it will forever alter them for us. May God give them wisdom and strength. Finally, I ask for your prayers for me, that I might have the right words to offer comfort when they are needed, and the wisdom to remain quiet when there are no words that can help.

My tag line for my blog is "I'm not sure who rescued who, sometimes", but when it comes to Scout, I know. Without Caleb teaching me how to act like a dog and live in the present, I never would have had the year I did with Scout. I never would have have experienced the healing of very old hurts, or the joy that comes when a Brother and Sister can just sit around and talk about their dogs to each other, when they may not talk about much else. For these reasons alone, I will always be in debt to the little corgi from Oklahoma who stole my heart then reminded me how to use it.

I would just like a little more than a year to appreciate it.