DO DOGS GO TO HEAVEN? 7/13/09

DO DOGS GO TO HEAVEN!
Jim and I were married in January 1962. In July, I became pregnant and around the first of September, I miscarried. In October and November we bought and moved into our first real home. Our first real baby was Nanell's Miss Frosty! Nanell was the name of the kennel and Frosty was taken from an ancestor on her pedigree listing. We added the Miss, just because! She was a small Beagle. provably a 12 incher! Beautiful spirit and loving eyes.

We doted on Frosty! She was so smart! With the help of Cheezit's, Jim taught her many fine tricks. After many boxes of Cheezit's and weight gain on both their parts, Frosty could roll over, set up and speak. Did I say she was smart? She could howl like all good Beagles, but she only used that extremely sorrowful melody when she was excited about something new and intriguing. For instance; when she saw the huge sports bag filled with balls and bats leaning against the gate. Or when a long garden snake coiled itself along the rod at the bottom of the double door on the garage; weaving its head in a slow, slight menacing way.

When we moved to Oregon she was 7 years old. She turned up missing and we feared she had been killed on the busy highway that we lived on. A neighbor suggested she might have fallen into the 40 ft hole directly across the highway from where we lived. We had been looking for two days, but was not aware of the hole. Our Miss Frosty was at the bottom of the hole! Fearless Jim, with a rope tied to a truck and the other end around him, went down the hole. Frosty was hoarse from howling so much and bruised from being bounced against the sides of the hole on her way down, but that didn't keep her from being so glad and excited to see her master. Jim put her into a gunnysack and held her with one hand as our neighbor pulled Jim back up out of the hole. A few years later, we did lose Nanell's Miss Frosty on the highway. She became the first in our Pet Cemetery on the north forty.

I was reminded of Frosty as I watched the 132nd Westminster Dog Show on TV. Most of the these dogs are so groomed that it is a wonder that they can even see let alone prance around showing their stuff. A 15 inch, spirited Beagle named Uno came on the scene. The crowds went wild! Each time Uno appeared, he would put the house in an uproar. For the first time in the history of the Westminster Dog Show, a Beagle took "Best of Show!" Upon receiving his accolades he would howl. We later learned that howling was his trick.

Many grieve when they lose their animal friends. I can't tell you how many times Jim and I have been asked; "will my dog or cat be in heaven"? God does not speak to that! Maybe yes, maybe no! If you read 1 Corinthians 15:35-44 you will see that the question asked was; "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?" Paul tells us those questions are foolish! He explains that "on earth we are just a seed but God gives us a body as He has determined. Therefore to each kind of seed He gives its own body. All flesh is not the same! Men are one kind of flesh; animals, birds and even fish are another. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, each their own splendor. The sun, moon and the stars differ from one another. The stars differ from each other! All is sown perishable but is raised imperishable. In dishonor, yet raised in glory. In weakness and raised in power. If the body is natural, then it becomes spiritual!" However, in Psalm 36:6 the psalmist says; "Because of who God is and how majestic is His nature, it is possible for Him to preserve man and beast". Does that mean there are animals in heaven? I don't know! Can God do whatever He wants to do? Yes, He can! Is it okay to believe my pets will go to heaven? I am not the judge of what will be or won't be in heaven. I do know, we are to believe that Jesus in the Christ. By Jane Ann Crenshaw 2/29/08