Holding On to Faith in a Season of Loss

If you read Buddy's story you'll know the story behind what we believe was the cause of death of our precious cats. 

Is there anything harder to deal with than death? Death is final—at least here on earth. Once someone we love dies, we will never see them again in this life. That is a sobering reality, and it can be incredibly hard to bear without the comfort of God. If I didn’t have faith, I honestly don’t know how I would get through seasons of deep grief like this.

Saying goodbye to one pet is hard enough. Saying goodbye to four still feels hard to comprehend. And in between losing our cats, my oldest brother, Mark, suddenly passed away as well. Heartache after heartache. From September to December of 2025, the pain came one loss at a time, and it never got any easier. No matter how many loved ones we lose—whether people or pets—it never becomes easier. It isn’t meant to. There are no shortcuts when it comes to grief.

Dusty, Princess, Carson and Brenna always have special places in our hearts. They were all so smart and they each had their own personality, their own likes and dislikes, and their own "pet" peeves (what cat doesn't?). They were such good communicators. We hope all four of our sweet babies lived their best lives with us. We wish we could have helped them more but it all happened so quickly, and sadly hindsight is always 20/20. We miss them terribly. 

With grief often comes regret. I think about my sweet Brenna often. She used to drive me crazy by constantly jumping up on my desk and walking across my laptop. She was my shadow—she just wanted to be with me. Now that she’s gone, I wish she were still here doing exactly that. I regret the moments when I lacked patience. Love is patient, and I wasn’t always showing her that love. Yet before she died, Brenna was teaching me patience. I was learning to pause, to hold her, kiss her, and talk to her instead of getting irritated. I only wish I had learned faster.

I don’t know if we’ll see our beloved pets in heaven but I sure hope we do.

I’ll leave you with this reminder from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. This definition of LOVE is deliberate, urgent and perfect and it has never felt more important to me.:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.