Archive for the ‘dogs’ Tag
Eulogy for Tipper
Filed under: By Nan Kuhlman, Christian Living, Love, Relationships | Tags: compassion, dogs, Grace, Unconditional Love
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Tipper Marshawn Kuhlman, born Friday, October 13, 2000, passed away peacefully on Friday, June 6, 2014. She was the eldest dog of the Kuhlman clan and the first pet for the Kuhlman children. She was procured by way of a newspaper classified that read, “Pure bread beagles – $60.” When her human dad picked her up way out in the farm country around Wilshire, Ohio, he was greeted by a large litter of barking hounds and puppies, all contained within a chicken wire fence and all apparently living in a small chicken-coop-like building. She was the smallest of the puppies, and probably the dirtiest, as the bathtub was left with a grimy ring after her first bath, the remnants of her country life. Once clean, the name “Tipper” was given to her because of the white tip at the end of her tail. Her middle name came later, in honor of a beautiful African-American contestant on Donald Trump’s TV show The Apprentice.
Her acute sense of smell gave her a unique appreciation of both food and other less obviously appealing substances. In fact, even when her eyesight and hearing began to diminish, her sense of smell still gave her great pleasure. One of her favorite pastimes was to stand facing into the wind, velvet-floppy ears blowing back from her face, taking in all the smells the wind could bring her. Even when food no longer brought the enjoyment it once did, she still took pleasure in the smells of outdoor air, innately understanding how choosing joy in any given moment makes life worth living.
Though misunderstood and barely tolerated at first by her human mom, she grew to be a lesson about what unconditional love can do to a hard heart. Her willingness to love became an opportunity for grace to break open a heart that at first valued new, clean carpet more than a puppy. Over the years that heart began to soften, and regret for past impatience, resentment, and other harshness began to come forth. Once Tipper was diagnosed with bladder cancer and again was pottying on the carpet (just as she had as a puppy, only more so), her human mother had a chance to “redo” the past; this time, though, her hardened heart had cracked open and compassion, patience, and love filled the places where resentment had once been. This time, the messes were larger, yet the love was larger still.
To most people, Tipper Marshawn Kuhlman was only a hound dog, but to her human mother, she was a spiritual teacher, a creation of the living Word used by the Father, Son, and Spirit to show how love and forgiveness play out in relationships. Tipper amiably allowed a human to learn compassion by enduring the hard work of grace. May we all be such willing instruments in God’s hands as we learn how to love with compassion in all our relationships.
~by Nan Kuhlman
The Worry-Free Life of Dogs
Filed under: By Nan Kuhlman, Christian Living, Uncategorized | Tags: being present, Corrie Ten Boom, dogs, living in the present moment, Worry
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Our home is filled with barking, licking, dog hair, and all the dog toys you can imagine, thanks to our three dogs, Tipper, Moe, and Pedro. I’ve often wondered how I ended up with three dogs, usually blaming my husband who has a weakness for puppies and kept bringing them home. But I think that there is a lesson for me in living with dogs, and that’s the value of the present moment.
I tend to be a planner, feeling the need to prepare in advance for everything. One of the ways that I find myself trying to prepare for the future is by imagining all the various outcomes (usually bad ones), and how I would respond. Another name for this practice is worry.
Recently, I read this quote from Holocaust survivor, Corrie Ten Boom:
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.
I found this quote to be true in my own life. As I imagined how I would respond in the event of a crisis or other negative situation, I found my heart rate increasing and my stomach tightening, exhibiting the physical signs that accompany a stressful situation. It also affected my outlook, in that I felt alternately fearful and relieved when what I imagined happening never transpired. This worry sapped my strength and my positive outlook because it made me think I only had myself to rely on, forgetting I have a heavenly Father who has included me and only wants the best for me.
Then I began watching my dogs. They spend most mornings lying around in the sun, sleeping, perhaps chewing a plastic bone or two. When mealtimes come, they usually start following me around, sitting at my feet, giving me that “look” until I feed them. Then they’re off for more sleeping or playing, not even imagining for one second that I won’t feed them their next meal. They never worry that they could be hit by a car, or lost, or attacked by a wild turkey (we have a few in our neighborhood). They live at peace with the moment, confident that they will be taken care of.
And so should we. When Jesus said, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matt. 6:34), he was saying that we should live in the present day, or the present moment, dealing with issues that directly confront us and not trying to deal with them ahead of time through worry. I like how this verse is paraphrased in The Message:
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. (Matt 6:34)
Because we live in a world affected by brokenness, we will have times of suffering and loss. What we have to believe is that when those times come, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will give us the strength, the comfort, and the wisdom we need to meet those challenging situations. Worrying about them ahead of time doesn’t really prepare us or help us to deal with them more effectively. It simply robs us of the joy and peace we could be experiencing right now.
Having three dogs can make our home somewhat chaotic at times, especially when a rabbit family makes its appearance in our backyard. The dogs haven’t prepared for this moment by thinking about how they would respond if they saw a rabbit or two in our yard. They react with the typical behavior you would expect, with lots of barking and jumping at the door. When the rabbits decide they’ve heard enough and move on to our neighbor’s yard, the dogs relax and revert to calmer behavior. I’m trying to adopt this “present moment” mentality, remembering that the Triune God will always provide the strength, courage, and hope that I need for any situation I face, but not until that “rabbit” is actually in my yard.
~by Nan Kuhlman