Puppy Love in Lockdown: A furry gift of New Life

We had been keeping a surprise from the kids!

And there is an anointed story here that feels like a tangible hug from heaven in a hard season.

This heart-shaped, black nose and red, curly fur and sweet puppy breath could not have bounced into our lives at a more significant time, and not something that was planned…. It was God’s timing and His (And Gianna’s) unexpected surprise to us.

Quarantine life has been hard as it overlaps with the 2 year anniversary of walking our baby girl to heaven.

March and April are filled with traumatic and heart-breaking memories that re-break our hearts with every new sunrise this month, as we walk back through the darkness of those days, the bloody three-week fight for her lungs, heart and life, and the tragedy of ultimately losing that battle. There is no escaping the flashbacks and pain…. you just have to surrender to each relentless wave and try your best to not let it sink you or the family.

You hold on with white knuckles to a Hope that pushes you forward. But, as anyone knows, who has had to endure the terrible tragedy of losing a child, heaven-anniversaries and birthdays are the absolute hardest pain-filled times to walk through.

But…. you see, we would normally be using the blessed tools of fun “distraction” and family-getaway planning to help our hearts cope and keep our family unified in something to look forward to as we press forward in parallel sorrow and joy. We had a beautiful get-away planned for May, as a reward for getting through such a dark March and April! Because, distraction is a powerful coping mechanism when it comes to grief and heaven-anniversaries that are filled with so much trauma. Knowing there is a fun event waiting for you after a storm of pain, can keep you paddling along. But, when all this is ripped away (due to COVID-19) and you are left with four walls to stare at, in the face of a horrible anniversary, it can feel very dark and despairing with loss and ache on top of loss and ache.

But, God has shown us that He is near.

…and He can take something as unexpected as a Shelter-in place season, that stole our vacation, and bring something beautiful from it.

God has used this Quarantine season to show us a different kind of distraction that is far better than any getaway we would be planning and preparing for right now. It all happened very fast, but it felt so very RIGHT and super incredible how it came together.

We found out last weekend that we would be able to bring home this beautiful baby. And for a whole week, Brian and I managed to keep it a secret from our kiddies (Which is SO HARD, and exciting!)…however, we did reveal to our Helaina and had her keep the secret with us, which was fun.

It is a rare thing to be able to bring smiles and pure joy to your grieving children. Nothing makes Brian and my hearts more filled then to be able to help ease just a little of their pain and watch a little blue return to their skies.

So introducing…..

Clover Blue

he is a Red Standard Poodle who will get so tall and fluffy!

He is the most perfect pup ever!

We are IN LOVE!

And, the unexpected timing of his heart crashing into our hearts could not have been at a more significant time!

So how did we get his name?

Well, his name was given to us by Gianna, of course! I will share this sweet significance with ya’ll!

So, every morning daddy would wake up Gianna pretending that he was “her” puppy and she named him “Clover”. They would giggle and roll around in pure doggy happiness to greet the day. Clover was the silly puppy who brought smiles every morning!

And… BLUE is her absolute favorite color. “Blue” is also the color that this sweet pup is bringing to our skies in this cloudy season.

Also, Clovers are so significant!

You know how much our family loves nature and all things alive and green!

Sweet dainy clovers are popping up everywhere around us in this season as Spring commences.

They symbolize New Life and growth and good blessings to us!

And…well…. our Clover feels like a treasure in a field…like a four-leaf clover!

So, we did the big reveal of all this puppy -goodness to our kiddos, right in the middle of Gianna’s Victory garden (which is currently under major renovation/expansion project). The sacred place where we go to be reminded of the truth that God is NOT done! Only He can bring beauty out of pain and one day redeem all that is lost.

The truth that He is growing new life around our ache.

The truth that His stories are never done.

The truth that ETERNITY, with our Gianna, is our future promise!

So, is there a better place to have such a special moment, as a family of TEN?

The surprise went off so well and I will share the video, and some more special moments with my email subscriber family! (so make sure you subscribe!)

The moment of reveal was so precious!!!! Our eyes and hearts were filled with tears…. I could feel our Gianna close to us, squealing with all her delight as well. I wish she could have been physically there to embrace all this puppy-love!

Always….Sorrow and joy colliding together.

This gorgeous dog is too special for words and a significant reminder that there is still “goodness in the land of the living”, while our hearts ache for the beautiful day when Jesus makes all things new.

Clover Blue has come to us to bring our family light and smiles in what is a dark and achy, PTSD- filled month for us.

He is a literal gift from heaven who was also born in Gianna’s Birthday month of January.

There is a HUGE God story here of how we unexpectedly found this perfect ruby-red treasure of light, or how “he found us!”…. and, it’s a story we are holding close to our own hearts because the miraculous details feel too intimate, special and personal to share. I can tell you this, though….

Clover Blue’s story has intersected with our story in a most glorious and precious way that feels like an absolute miracle, gift and supernatural kiss on the forehead from Jesus and Gia.

He was meant for us and we were meant for him and love has made a pathway to get him to our hearts and our family.

We are so thankful we found each other and that we found his amazing breeder! (note: all Covid-19 precautions were followed by her and us in the transaction)

He was hand-raised by a top quality Breeder who breeds these beautiful fur-babies for Animal -Assisted Therapy dogs.

This beautiful line of family dogs have been used for service work in multiple areas of mental, emotional and physical therapy for over 10 generations. I can not think of a more well suited dog for our gang, especially for our little Eviemira!

He has already birthed a whole new level of joy in our hearts and has already encouraged our brave girl to take more miraculous and brave steps in her walking journey!

I have a feeling that Clover will be a significant motivation-boost for our girl to keep pressing on in this courageous, mountain-climbing miracle of walking one day!

God has beautiful plans for this dynamic duo that I know him and our Gianna have been planning together for her baby sissy for a long time.

Our Clover Blue is a treasure…

a balm to our broken hearts that is filling our life with a new layer of love, in a crazy time of lock-down (and forevermore). Can there be a better time to raise a puppy, I mean… we’re all home anyways, with nowhere to go!

Even Sadie is in love with him and has taken on a very nurturing role to Clover …Clover pounces on him every chance he gets and loves to bite Sadie’s tail. Sadie is SO patient with him and they are becoming fast friends! It is so cute, and we have made sure to make Sadie feel extra love too, so there is no jealousy! 😉 Sadie has been lonely since our sweet Toby-boy died of old age 6 months ago, so I know that Sadie is feeling this heart-hug too. and… for those wondering, we have NO plans to breed!! They are both fixed, or getting fixed!

And, you can just imagine that Clover is super spoiled already in this big family with so much love and attention, toys and cuddles. He is living the best puppy life ever and we are just so smitten with him!

He and his cold black nose, warm puppy-breath and sweet soft kisses will always be a tangible reminder of the truth that we have a God who sees us in our darkest seasons.

A God who sees our broken hearts and aches with us and desires to comfort us.

He is the God who is our shelter in place when the world falls apart.

He sees us and He is so near, bringing our Gia-Bia with Him, to comfort our hearts as a deposit of all the joy to come, one day in Eternity, as we absolutely believe and know puppies are a part of heaven’s design too!

Dogs are the epitome of joy and delight, so how could they not be?

I just know Gianna is busy making all the glorious flower crowns for all the dogs in heaven, as she did on earth.

We are just missing our flower- fairy girl so much. But, I know FOR A FACT that she is beside herself with heavenly joy to see her baby sissy and adoring siblings enjoying a gift from God, in a hard season.

Nothing will ever fill our Gianna hole or fully heal what is broken, but new life is always a gift that our aching hearts will be open to and will fully embrace, while we wait for God to make all things NEW again!

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Welcome to the Family, Clover Blue!