Whelping
Just days away from the arrival of her first litter, Miss Gracie, the Golden Retriever, is doing far more snoring than retrieving. Burdened with a load of pups soon to worm their way to the daylight she is almost mournfully lethargic. The once ambitious discoverer of all things interesting in the yard and fields is now quite satisfied to find a place suitable for depositing her business so she can return to her place of repine in the cool air conditioned space of the old farm house. Her desire to be close seems to have intensified, but our times of “lap petting” have diminished because of her discomfort and weight. We now spend time massaging her ever widening belly and rubbing her head and neck. Nature will soon take its course and the pups will begin their descent through the birth canal to be welcomed by jubilant hosts and a somewhat relieved mother. We will give thanks one by one and encourage Gracie as she engages her motherly instincts at whelping. Although our knowledge of science has increased with greater understanding of the union of gametes to begin the process that leads to gestation we are still in awe of the way in which each of us are uniquely (and even Divinely) designed. Today we linger a little longer at the place of thanks as we lift our minds in gratitude to the place of our beginnings.