{"id":5603,"date":"2017-06-22T08:00:55","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T12:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/?p=5603"},"modified":"2017-06-21T19:15:50","modified_gmt":"2017-06-21T23:15:50","slug":"a-gift-from-above","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gift from Above"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Gifts can come to us in different ways and forms. Some refer to gifts as presents, some \u201cawards\u201d, or even recognition for a job well done can be considered a form of gift. Then there\u2019s the \u201cjust because\u201d gift, whatever form, my definition is a little different, and after reading this perhaps you\u2019ll agree! Let\u2019s just say I received a \u201cgift\u201d from a higher source\u2026 A gift from above!<\/p>\n

Back in October, we had lost our little boy, Chewey, our 14 year of Shih Tzu. He was my very first long term pet, one that was always by my side. My grief was unusually heavy, I had suffered a few losses within the last year and his death really hit home hard. My husband and I were barely able to function the first few days afterwards. All I could envision was my little boy, closing his eyes and taking his last breath. I had made him a promise from the first day I had set my heart to his, that I would never let him suffer.<\/p>\n

As this memory set in, I turned and suddenly blurted out, \u201cBrad, I feel that we\u2019re getting another dog\u201d. Brad, shocked at what I had just said replied, \u201cWe are?\u201d and laughed nervously. He really didn\u2019t know what I was thinking, all he could see were the tears streaming down, like a dam that had finally let go, and all I could do was sob as I said it.<\/p>\n

I told him that I had a very strong premonition, the reason for blurting that out, however, it didn\u2019t make any sense to bring another pup into our home because we were still grieving our loss. \u00a0 We couldn\u2019t possibly ever replace him, no other dog really could! Talking our way out of this altogether, we agreed that it was just a great fantasy, however, in all due respect to our family pet, we would just leave well enough alone.<\/p>\n

Things seemed to fall back into place as we were getting used to our new routine of \u201cno Chewey\u201d in the morning, afternoon, evening, just no Chewey! We had started accepting the fact that this was indeed the best thing for him as there would be no more suffering.<\/p>\n

A few weeks had gone by when we received a call from Sara, the lady at the \u201cdoggy dressers\u201d who groomed our Chewey. She had learned that Chewey had gone over to Rainbow Bridge and offered her condolences. I thanked her telling her that the dog she had bred was indeed the most amazing dog I had ever owned, and started to tear up. She didn\u2019t say much until I started apologizing for my emotions; I still found it difficult to talk about him and asked her how she had found out.<\/p>\n

With a bit of nervousness, Sara said \u201cListen, I really need to say this, but I don\u2019t know how Jay, so I\u2019m just going to say it. My mother and I have a dog that we\u2019re unable to show or breed and because he has a bit of a anxiety problem, we thought that perhaps you might be interested in taking him as a family pet. He\u2019s amazing and I\u2019m sure you\u2019re going to fall in love with him! We know you just lost your little Chewey because the vet mentioned it when we were there yesterday. We know it\u2019s a little soon, but we think you\u2019d be the perfect family for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some reasons, I felt there was a reason for this, and repeated what Sara had just said to Brad, who gave me the greatest little smirk! We immediately made arrangements to see the dog the next week. For some reason, we both knew that this was some kind of sign. \u00a0I think it was the longest wait we had ever experienced!<\/p>\n

\"Sgt.
Sgt. Carter by Jay Lane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There he was, 10 lbs soak and wet, sauntering over to where we had been standing outside. As Sara approached us, she called out to us, \u201cJay, Brad, this is Sgt. Carter.\u201d Leashed and by her side, he was the cutest little dog we\u2019d ever seen, half the size of our Chewey, with a great big attitude and heart to match. You couldn\u2019t help but fall in love with him. Tough looking perhaps, but you could tell there wasn\u2019t a tough bone in his body\u2026 he was just so full of love, that\u2019s what he was!<\/p>\n

We immediately knew that we would have a big decision to make, because we had already fallen in love with him, but wanting to be fair to Sgt. Carter, we wanted to make sure that we didn\u2019t adopt him just to fill a void or to have false expectations of him. After all, he deserved a good and loving family. We left with an agreement to call her back within a week to give her our decision.<\/p>\n

The week was filled with fantasies, and questions of all kinds entered our minds; the thought of having another little one around us, depending on us for every single thing was something we took very seriously. \u00a0The decision had been made! \u00a0We were adopting Sgt. Carter!<\/p>\n

We called Sara and made arrangements to pick him up a week later.<\/p>\n

The day had finally come and we were ready, like expectant parents! We had thought of everything; from bedding, bowls, food, right down to a Toronto Maple Leaf Sweatshirt for cold winter days. Sgt. Carter was visibly happy to see us when we arrived, and Sara was armed with papers, photos, bags of food and loads of toys.<\/p>\n

She took me aside as Brad socialized with Sgt. Carter, going over his documents and discussing his diet. She assured me that if things didn\u2019t work out, I was to call her and she would make sure to take care of the matter. Going over the documents, I started reading Sgt. Carter\u2019s birth certificate. It was quite different from the ones we were accustomed to, so Sara immediately offered to go over it, outlining specifics in layman\u2019s terms so that I could get a better grasp of \u201cbreeder\u2019s\u201d terminology.<\/p>\n

As I glanced down, there it was, right in front of me: \u00a0three very specific things!! Tears of joy streamed down my face, and I waived to get Brad\u2019s attention. Accompanied by Sgt. Carter, Brad walked over to the back of the room where I had been going over the papers with Sara. We immediately locked eyes after I pointed out 3 specific dates.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Sgt. Carter\u2019s birthday matched my father\u2019s birthday;<\/li>\n
  2. Sgt. Carter\u2019s registration date matched the date of my mother and father\u2019s wedding anniversary;<\/li>\n
  3. Sgt. Carter\u2019s last award was won on my son\u2019s date of birth. \u00a0The ribbon\u2019s inscription: \u00a0\u201cIn It to Win It\u201d. \u00a0An affirmation I had repeated to Brad only a few days earlier in reference to some goals that I had set for myself!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It was evident and clear! \u00a0This dog was indeed a gift, the influence of my family in spirit who had a passion for dogs and a desire to heal our hearts. They had sent little Sgt. Carter into our lives! \u00a0The signs were all there.<\/p>\n

    I believe that gifts can come to us in different ways and forms, and I can assure you that ours certainly did! \u00a0We just love and treasure our little GIFT!!! \u00a0A GIFT FROM ABOVE!<\/p>\n

    Cover Photo Credit: \u00a0Sgt. Carter by Jay Lane<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Gifts can come to us in different ways and forms. Some refer to gifts as presents, some \u201cawards\u201d, or even recognition for a job well done can be considered a form of gift. Then there\u2019s the \u201cjust because\u201d gift, whatever form, my definition is a little different, and after reading this perhaps you\u2019ll agree! Let\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2892,"featured_media":5605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[277,407],"tags":[592,8,594,593],"class_list":["post-5603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-just-ask-jay","category-story-day-with-jay","tag-gift","tag-grief","tag-puppy-love","tag-shitzu"],"yoast_head":"\nA Gift from Above<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gifts can come to us in different ways and forms. Some refer to gifts as presents, some \u201cawards\u201d, or even recognition for a job well done can be\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Gift from Above\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gifts can come to us in different ways and forms. Some refer to gifts as presents, some \u201cawards\u201d, or even recognition for a job well done can be\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Just Ask Jay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-22T12:00:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-21T23:15:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/748\/2017\/06\/Screenshot-296.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"462\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"581\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jay Lane\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jay Lane\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/\",\"name\":\"A Gift from Above\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-22T12:00:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-21T23:15:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/#\/schema\/person\/a56236af2ac8ac8f0f40672de066a51a\"},\"description\":\"Gifts can come to us in different ways and forms. Some refer to gifts as presents, some \u201cawards\u201d, or even recognition for a job well done can be\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Gift from Above\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/\",\"name\":\"Just Ask Jay\",\"description\":\"Advice & Inspiration\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/#\/schema\/person\/a56236af2ac8ac8f0f40672de066a51a\",\"name\":\"Jay Lane\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8e618bc1a446881cfb296fa8d5f1473?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8e618bc1a446881cfb296fa8d5f1473?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jay Lane\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/author\/jlane\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Gift from Above","description":"Gifts can come to us in different ways and forms. Some refer to gifts as presents, some \u201cawards\u201d, or even recognition for a job well done can be","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Gift from Above","og_description":"Gifts can come to us in different ways and forms. Some refer to gifts as presents, some \u201cawards\u201d, or even recognition for a job well done can be","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/","og_site_name":"Just Ask Jay","article_published_time":"2017-06-22T12:00:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-21T23:15:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":462,"height":581,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/748\/2017\/06\/Screenshot-296.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Jay Lane","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jay Lane","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/","name":"A Gift from Above","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-06-22T12:00:55+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-21T23:15:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/#\/schema\/person\/a56236af2ac8ac8f0f40672de066a51a"},"description":"Gifts can come to us in different ways and forms. Some refer to gifts as presents, some \u201cawards\u201d, or even recognition for a job well done can be","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/a-gift-from-above\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Gift from Above"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/","name":"Just Ask Jay","description":"Advice & Inspiration","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/#\/schema\/person\/a56236af2ac8ac8f0f40672de066a51a","name":"Jay Lane","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8e618bc1a446881cfb296fa8d5f1473?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8e618bc1a446881cfb296fa8d5f1473?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Jay Lane"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/author\/jlane\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/justaskjay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}