A Boy's Best Friend

It was early March 2004 when a stranger followed my family home from a walk down the street. To be more precise, my sister-in-law Angie had taken Barry and Austin for a walk in the wagon accompanied by our dog Shiloh. As they made their way back to the house, a little black puppy began to make his way after them. 

He was cute as a button, but we were sure that some other family was anxiously awaiting his return. After countless neighborhood walks and knocking on doors we came to the conclusion that this little black puppy was a stray. It didn't take long for him to steal our hearts, and in the words of our 3 year old, he was his "best friend ever." Inspired by the big black lab who lived two houses above us, this little, black burst of energy received the name of Jake. 

It's so incredibly hard to believe that Jake has been a part of our family'a life these past 11 years. He has seen our family grow from 4 to 6 and has graciously allowed each of our boys to play with and love on him as only boys can (and as you know, some of those times are not as gingerly and tender as others). He has seen the passing of Shiloh along with the arrival of Cali a year later and her subsequent re-homing to her new forever family just 6 short years later (this past January).

Despite Jake's high energy as a pup and his anxiety issues as an adult (which he's always had) Jake falls into that one-in-a-million category. We wouldn't trade him for the world; we wouldn't have decided differently eleven years ago; and if we weren't planning to leave the country this August for the next four years, we wouldn't be praying about/searching for his new forever family.

We would humbly ask you to join us in praying for this next miracle in our family's life. We've been able to have Jake with us these past few weeks in NY but with the remaining transient nature of our summer (prior to our hopeful departure), we're really looking to God to open up a spot in Jake's new forever family that He has picked out. I know this request may not seem as important or spiritual as other things, but as much as Jake means to our family (and especially our boys) this is a huge one for us. Thanks for your continued partnership in our family's life; we are blessed because of you!