Life's Ebbs and Flows

Something that I found in my Google Reader, in a comment to a new feed I only recently found and follow, Farmlife, by Teri Conroy, spoke to me.

Your connection to life’s ebbs and flows, whether based in your own spirit, in the connectivity to the lives of the beasts that you’ve made your world, or some combination of the two shines a light on the path for all of us.

The comment was a response to the loss of a beloved llama, yet it spoke to me on several levels. The first and most obvious is that now I know of three people who have lost either crias or a llama recently, and my heart goes out to them. But on a more immediate level, I have been struggling with pneumonia and the recovery, although steady is slow, and during summer when I had hoped to have the luxury of spending more time with my girls. Finally, what snapped me out of a day's funk was finding Donald's comment (thank you so much for making it; glad to know people read, care, and comment). I realized that any gift of time is a treasure, and in the ebb and flow of lives of my friends, some are facing things much more challenging. Two very dear friends face surgery this month, a certainty with an uncertain outcome. A third friend may. They are in my heart and daily prayers for good outcomes.

We all form connections differently. For me, life without animals is just not living. Even if temporary inconveniences provide setbacks, Donald reminded me to be grateful for the ebb and flow that comes from the spirit of my friends, family, faith, and yes, the animals who share our lives with us. Amen.