Blessings were present for a blind dog with three legs... for a beautiful brindle-coat dog who was a “foster fail” because the foster mom knew she was the best person to deal with such an anxious dog (the dog behaved absolutely perfectly at the service)... for the cats who were a little unhappy in their carriers.

God also blessed the people who were there with the gift of laughter. Humor was found in the rain that suddenly appeared just as the service was set to begin (many thanks to our facilities team for their foresight in setting up canopies – “just in case”). We couldn’t help but see the joy in the unusually high number of dogs who were barking this year. We chuckled at the dogs who managed to slip out of their leashes, with one even managing to take a little stroll across the parking lot during the scripture reading (the owners quickly caught up to them.)

God was found in the far-from-perfect Blessing of the Animals service. God is good. All the time. Amen.