Pancho and Salsa - we miss you

We had been sailing right along getting our house ready for the property manager to come and take pictures. We had been doing the usual things like changing address, stopping our mail, setting up with the utilities to have them shut off, packing and repacking our suitcases . . .

On Thursday, July 9, we learned that we could not bring our two beloved 12 year old poodles, Pancho and Salsa, to Germany with us. Needless to say, we were devastated! We had to make some very difficult and painful decisions about what we would do with the dogs. Over the weekend, as we prayed about it with our kids, our daughter Mary said that we shouldn't wait. On Monday evening, the lady with whom Paula had spoken at the vet clinic on Thursday afternoon returned her call at almost 7 pm - the vet's office closes at 5. Although they were extremely busy, the veternarian had an appointment at 11:15 the following day. We arrived at the vet clinic a few minutes early to fill out the paperwork. The folks at the vet clinic were all very compassionate and caring. The technician made sure that we took a lock of hair from each of the dogs before the veternarian came in. Salsa laid her head in the crook of Paula's arm and drifted off to sleep. Pancho just laid his head on the table and went to sleep. The vet and the the tech left us alone with our beloved little companions . . .

The very next day our dentist, former Sunday School teacher and friend told us, "The crown isn’t just chipped, it has failed structurally and must be replaced! When do you guys leave?" Over the Fourth of July weekend, Paula noticed something wrong with one of the crowns on her teeth. July 15 was as soon as our dentist could see her. One look and he knew that the crown had failed and required immediate replacement. Because of he is extremely busy the earliest appointment was July 23 and he could seat the new bridge on July 30! We called the ILC and told them what had happened and asked if we could arrive a couple of days late. We emailed the director and and asked for a delay in arrival. On the morning of the 16th when we hadn't heard from the director (yet) by return email we called the ILC again. Going to Virginia to have the work done was quickly becoming our only option.

Then the phone rang. If we could come in Friday, the 17th at 8 AM, our dentist could do the prep. The dental lab would do a "rush job" and bring the new bridge from their lab in Dallas to our dentist's office on July 22. Our dentist would then seat the crown on July 23. He also explained that there would be no cost to us because the crown had had a flaw in it Paula will have her crown replaced before we leave for ILC!

God has His fingerprints all over the circumstances of the last week. He was with us when we learned that our little canine buddies would have to stay in Texas. He was with us when we left them at the Vet Clinic. He worked out an extremely complex dental undertaking. God gets all of the Hero points because it has been only by the strength of the Holy Spirit were we able to get through the last several days. And God was in it with us. Once more we get to testify that God is good; all of the time. No matter what!