Gratitude for Pets/Animals

What a wonderful gift from God animals are! Have you and your family spent much time thinking about this? There is so much to appreciate about the animals in our world–the variety in their appearances, sizes, colors, strengths, and abilities; their resourcefulness and means of survival; the ways they communicate… It is all so fascinating and complex. And, of course, many of us have our favorite animals who actually live with us and who are very much members of our families.

Our pets offer us love, companionship, comfort, loyalty, and entertainment, among other things. In return, we love and care for them and their needs. They express gratitude for us by licking our faces and snuggling up on the couch with us, and we express gratitude for them by petting them and playing fetch. It’s an all-around great relationship and such a gift!

Parents, while teaching our kids about the gift that our pets are to us, we can simultaneously be teaching them about the responsibility that is required to care for animals. Taking care of pets should involve the entire family in some way, which helps our kids not take having a pet for granted. There are also many, many more teachable moments that can happen along the way with our kids and their relationships with our pets.

But for today, let’s simply express our gratitude for God’s creatures in our world! Let’s give our pets some extra love and attention, take a drive through the country to look at the cows and horses, visit the zoo, or even watch videos/documentaries on various animals. Let’s open our eyes and simply be delighted and mesmerized by them all.