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November 24th, 2009 Remembering Muffin

Posted by Tricia at 11:35 pm

This morning, Abigail’s little pet gerbil, Muffin (named for the golden brown color of her fur) passed away. It has been a hard day for my girlie in many ways. The gerbils are the first pets she has had almost sole responsibility for: their cage was in her room, and other than occasional help from her Daddy cleaning the little gerbil house, she has been Muffin and Mitten’s “mommy” and done a great job caring for them for 2 1/2 years!

Here is Abigail in June 2007, soon after she and Jay brought home Muffin and Mittens – I love this shot of her and Muffin:

Here are the gerbil sisters together:

After Muffin died, Abigail and I looked at the verses in Matthew 10 [show]<div class="esv"><h2>Matthew 10 <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.esvapi.org/assets/play.swf?myUrl=hw%2F40010001-40010042" width="40" height="12" class="audio"><param name="movie" value="http://www.esvapi.org/assets/play.swf?myUrl=hw%2F40010001-40010042" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /></object></h2> <div class="esv-text"><h3 id="p40010001.01-1">The Twelve Apostles</h3> 10:1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; <a href="#f1" id="b1" title="Some manuscripts 'Lebbaeus', or 'Lebbaeus called Thaddaeus'">[1]</a> 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. <h3 id="p40010005.01-1">Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles</h3> 5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, <a href="#f2" id="b2" title="'Leprosy' was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13">[2]</a> cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, nor two tunics <a href="#f3" id="b3" title="Greek 'chiton', a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin">[3]</a> nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. 11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. <h3 id="p40010016.01-1">Persecution Will Come</h3> 16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant <a href="#f4" id="b4" title="Greek 'bondservant'; also verse 25">[4]</a> above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign <a href="#f5" id="b5" title="Greek lacks 'will they malign'">[5]</a> those of his household. <h3 id="p40010026.01-1">Have No Fear</h3> 26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. <a href="#f6" id="b6" title="Greek 'Gehenna'">[6]</a> 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? <a href="#f7" id="b7" title="Greek 'assarion', Roman copper coin (Latin 'quadrans') worth about 1/16 of a 'denarius' (which was a day's wage for a laborer)">[7]</a> And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. <h3 id="p40010034.01-1">Not Peace, but a Sword</h3> 34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. <h3 id="p40010040.01-1">Rewards</h3> 40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>) </div> <div class="footnotes"> <h3>Footnotes</h3> <a href="#b1" id="f1">[1]</a> 10:3 Some manuscripts Lebbaeus, or Lebbaeus called Thaddaeus <a href="#b2" id="f2">[2]</a> 10:8 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 <a href="#b3" id="f3">[3]</a> 10:10 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin <a href="#b4" id="f4">[4]</a> 10:24 Greek bondservant; also verse 25 <a href="#b5" id="f5">[5]</a> 10:25 Greek lacks will they malign <a href="#b6" id="f6">[6]</a> 10:28 Greek Gehenna <a href="#b7" id="f7">[7]</a> 10:29 Greek assarion, Roman copper coin (Latin quadrans) worth about 1/16 of a denarius (which was a day's wage for a laborer) </div> </div>
where we are told that God cares for each little creature that falls:

²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

Those verses brought some comfort to her in the midst of her sorrow, but there were tears aplenty all day long.

Jay arrived home early from work so he could dig Muffin’s grave before it was too dark. Abigail carefully chose a casket in which to bury her little fallen pet – this is a box which she loves, it was a gift from her Grammy:

HF100_3631

Our whole family assembled to have a small graveside service, and through tears, each of the children choked out a remembrance of little Muffin:

Abigail remembered that when she and Jay went to the pet store to look at gerbils, that she didn’t choose Muffin; Muffin chose her! by climbing into her open hand and resting there happily as if to say, “I’m yours…please take me home!”

Nicolas mentioned that he always loved Muffin because when he would try to hold her, she wouldn’t run away from him (like Mittens does!).

Jonathan, trying to be brave through his tears, shared the encouraging and wise, “It is very hard when things like this happen, but we must always trust God in what He does, even when we don’t understand.”

For my part, I am not a gerbil lover…but even someone who finds gerbils somewhat icky is moved to tears when their children hurt. So instead of sharing the notion that while I wasn’t a huge Muffin fan, I did actually prefer Muffin to her sister Mittens because to me, Muffin with her golden-honey coloring looked less like a rat…..I reminded Abigail that she helped a tiny creature have a warm, loving, and happy life here on this earth, and that we knew God was pleased with how she loved and cared for one of his smallest parts of creation. And that though it hurt so much, to draw comfort from the precious times she shared with little Muffin and to be thankful she had such a sweet little pet.

Jay prayed, and we buried Muffin.

HF100_3635

I cannot believe I am sitting here sobbing as I write this…I will close with this last picture of Abigail at Muffin’s graveside. I love that sitting right next to her is another faithful pet.

HF100_3636

Shasha and Lucy stayed near to Abigail all day long in her grief, clearly sensing something was very wrong. As sad as this picture is, it also makes me thankful, because it reminds me of the goodness God showers upon us when he gives us animals to love and share our lives with.

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4 Responses to “Remembering Muffin”

Mom/Ruth says:
November 25th, 2009 at 10:00 am
So sorry for Abigail, and for her brothers who share in her sorrow. So many hard lessons to learn in life, and I think Jonathan’s statement says it all.
HoodMama says:
November 25th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Ok, seriously, I’m crying over here, too. I love your kids, they are so sweet and I’m sorry Muffin is gone.
Angie says:
November 25th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
This is a sweet tribute to a sweet little rat…er…friend. Rest in peace, Muffin! We are all very sad for Abigail over here.
Leslie says:
November 25th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
What a hard loss for them. The pictures are so sweet. Praying for their hearts to feel God’s comfort and love.

November 24th, 2009 Remembering Muffin

4 Responses to “Remembering Muffin”

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