“mom, this is the most important day of my life.”
it was cold and rainy. there was barking and bawking, shivering and coffee drinking.
it was pet blessing day at our church. kudos pastor renee. thank you for asking what each of us could give and then honoring eliza’s offer to help with a pet blessing. eliza made pet treats for all the animals and talked about this day for hours.
pastor renee blessed each animal, live or stuffed, and eliza gave them a treat.
Lord, may we love all your creation,
All the earth and every grain of sand in it.
May we love every leaf, every ray of your light.
May we love the animals,
You have given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.
– Fryodor Mikhailovich Dosteivsky (1821-1881)
we brought our sally, chubby and the baby chicks. sally was freaked out-clearly. for the week before the blessing, eliza would respond to sally’s antics by saying, “oh, good thing you’re about to get a blessing. you need a blessing.”
this was one of those moments when i saw my children embrace church.
church embraces them all the time. children are given space in worship. children are encouraged to ask questions. children’s voices are allowed. toddlers’ screeching is considered joyful noise. children light candles and take communion and play instruments and drink coffee and wander the aisles. they are embraced for who they are.
and this day i saw my kids hug back. i’m grateful on so many levels.
prairie daze 
Yes, yes….and our dear Josie dog was blessed by Eliza’s treats later that day. Mara and Adam came over to share them with her. Very sweet.
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Our church does an animal blessing every year on St. Francis Day – indoors. Last year a dog got off her leash and ran up and around Mother Laurie during her sermon. The man who does the incense (he probably has a title… I’m still new to this) carries the cross to the alter with a parrot on his shoulder. And kids can bring in stuffed animals or picture of their too shy for church pets. It’s my favorite service of the year.
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