Heart Sick over Henry!

About a month ago Patrick and I surprised the boys with a golden retriever puppy, Henry. He has been such a delight to us all. Especially to Ben. They are like the little mob squad. We all laugh as we watch Henry "attack" Ben and watch Ben "love on" Henry. Even the sound of Henry's name flowing from Ben's 1.5 year old mouth makes us smile. My brother and sister decided last weekend that it would probably be spelled "H-E-I=G-H-R-Y" if it were up to Ben's language. And Luke has loved caring for Henry. Feeding him. Leash training him. Taking him out to potty. And teaching him not to eat his Legos.

However, yesterday we learned that Henry's health is very poor. He is less than half of his ideal weight, has an extremely low protein count in his blood, low blood count, and the list continues. His belly has gotten really large (like the starving children you see in third world nations) in the past two days as well. Although he eats all the time, he is very malnourished. The Kemp house is heart broken. We have Henry on several meds, multivitamins, and prescription dog food and are praying that his condition will improve in the next two weeks. The vet fears that Henry has a congenital problem in his digestive system, liver, or kidney. Which would not be cured in by the meds. If this is the case, there is not much hope for our sweet puppy.

I am of course sad, but most of all my heart hurts for my kids. They love their puppy. They are so proud of him. Luke told a lady a the grocery store this morning that "My Henry is at home." When Henry stayed at the vet overnight Ben walked around saying "Heighry. Love Heighry. Heighry kennel? Kiss Heighry." I know this would be only the first of many losses that my kids will experience in their lives. And I trust that the Lord will hold their hearts through all trials that they ever encounter. However, knowing that their hearts can hurt hurts mine even more. I wish I could just intercept all heartache coming their way and bear it myself. I wish that I could take all of their pains away. But I cannot. And it would not be fair to them if I tried. Because we have a God that wants Luke and Ben to learn to let Him be the great comforter that He is. The Lord wants Luke and Ben to learn to allow Him to carry their burdens. And that is my role as a mother. Not to protect them from all heart ache and pain, but to direct them to the One that longs to hold their hearts in His hands. They have a heavenly Father that loves them more than I do. I must choose to not shelter them from any pain ever, but to walk with them through the pain in a way that will woo their tiny hearts to the heart of a big big God. It is my job to train them even now how to handle their emotions and where to place them and where to find shelter from the storms of life so that one day when I am not by their side they will be well prepared to choose to trust God on their own. And knowing all this, it is still so hard to even think of them feeling any pain...ever. So, I choose to trust God!

Luke has been praying for Henry. "Come on Jesus, we know you can do it." His faith is so strong.