our sweet matilda

i haven't updated in a while mostly because i haven't wanted to write this post.  we experienced one of the saddest days in our lives 2 weeks ago.  our sweet puppy was hit by a car and it absolutely broke our hearts.  i know this may sound weird to some people, but she was a huge part of our lives.  she has been apart of our little family for 3 years and we are missing her tremendously. 

we had a very busy beginning to our summer and were in and out of town for most of june.  on saturday, july 3 reed was beginning to pack for yet another of those trips.  we decided to go get dinner before we went to see the fireworks that night.  we got home at 6:30 and matilda wasn't home.  i immediately went to the front and started calling for her.  reed noticed the message light blinking and there was a  message from a sweet lady asking us to call her. i did and she confirmed our worst fear in that moment.  matilda had been hit by a car on a major road near our house.  we are extremely grateful to the lady for taking the time to call us and let us know what had happened.  we immediately got in the car to go and find her.  when we found her she looked like she was sleeping {which she did about 20 hours a day!} 

the next few hours were spent with reed digging a grave for us to bury our sweet matilda.  we loved our puppy, maybe too much, but we know she was a gift.  the lyrics to one of matt redman's songs kept playing in my head:

You give and take away

You give and take away

my heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

- matt redman blessed be your name

 
Lord, blessed be your name.  as we were crying over our puppy, we were both very convicted about the thousands of men, woman and children who die every day without knowing Christ.  we had such an incredible experience in africa and witnessed so many of God's children who have nearly nothing and worship Him completely.  while we are still missing matilda everyday, we are trying to keep our eyes focused on Him -

let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. - hebrews 12:2

i won't keep going on and on because this much has been extremely hard to write.  i didn't think it was possible to love a dog this much, but we did.  we have both said that if we do decide to get another puppy they will have big shoes to fill.  she was a great dog and we're still missing her a lot.

we love you, 'tilda.