Rest In Peace Jazmine

Mommy & Daddy with Jazmine

Before lunch today my husband and I had to make one of life's tough decisions. Our pug, a sweet, crazy, little runt that my beloved has had since she was a puppy, was very sick, in a lot of pain and so we had her put down. It was heart wrenching for both us.  Digging the grave, putting her in it, covering it up, and putting the headstone in the ground, not easy.

One of the bright spots throughout the gloomy day (and yes it was a stormy day today) was our daughter. At almost 7 months old she doesn't understand the finality of what happened today, she won't even have any of her own memories of Jazmine. Today was just another day, and a special one because Daddy was home all day on a weekday.

Tonight as I was putting Punky Jr. to bed I started crying again, because I know that Jazmine isn't in the office playing with daddy as he winds down. I know she isn't following me around as I do our bedtime routine. Her body is buried on the corner of our property. She isn't with us anymore, she DIED. It was as I was thinking those gloomy thoughts and how much I hate death that some truths came to mind.

I don't just hate that our dog died, I hate that dear friends and family members have died. I hate the finality of death. For Christians death is a home coming, when we die we enter Heaven, a glorious, eternal home. Yet, we leave behind so many people that love us, people that will miss us and mourn. Death is final, you don't come back.

My thoughts drifted toward God and how much God must hate death. God is eternal, God created us in His image as eternal beings. Death is not in the original plan. Death is awful, and God hates it. God hates that when a person dies if they have not accepted His gift of salvation through Christ, they go to Hell-- a real and eternally horrid place. God hates death. Yet, being a just God, a perfect God He has to punish sin.

Since God hates death and doesn't want to see anyone wind up in Hell God decided to do something about it. God came down to earth in the form of Jesus, lived among us, experienced what humans experience (except for sin. Jesus never sinned) and DIED a gruesome death, a humiliating, beyond painful death. Then Jesus came out of that tomb fully alive to show that even something as final and powerful as death has no power over Him!

That is how much God hates death. He hates it so much that even though we all have to experience it, He made way for even death to be a good thing--- it is our vehicle to Heaven. We just have to agree that death sucks and say "Thank you Jesus for defeating death, for taking my sin and making it your own, so that when I have to die I get to be with you forever." That is how we take our death and make it wonderful.

Yes, saying good-bye is NEVER going to be easy, it means that person (or animal) is no longer around to talk with, play with, experience with. Death sucks for those of us left behind. We have a void that was not designed to exist. We have to go on, to continue to say "Even so Lord I trust in You, You are my comfort". The more we loved the person the harder that is to do, but if we focus not on our pain but on their reward that suckiness becomes a little less and if we trust Christ, eventually the wound begins to heal. The scar is always there because death is unnatural and it wounds-- Christ will always bear the wounds of His death.  Yet, each day we go on we get a little bit better, we learn to feel the comfort Christ offers, we find ways to fill the void, and we focus on earning our rewards when it is our turn to die.

So, Jazmine I'm sorry that you were sick. I'm sorry that you had go. Mommy and Daddy love you so much, you were such a sweet, crazy, sometimes aggravating (you never did totally learn that your bathroom was outside), but always loved. You brought so much joy to our home and we will always have wonderful memories. Now, go and run, enjoy no longer being in pain, meet all your new playmates and don't forget us! We love you!!!

-Jessie-