Her heart was broken and so was mine. Frisco was dying with all the suffering that goes with it. I could almost feel my daughter's tears over the phone. She had found a discarded puppy over 14 years ago. Lovable Frisco, a lab mix, became part of the family. Now it was time to say goodbye. And it's tough to say goodbye when an appointment with death can't be broken-whether a person or even a loyal family pet.

Daughter and granddaughter needed me there. Dawn cradled old Frisco's large, lovable head as the injection was given. Then his heart stopped beating and he was gone. I left my ladies in the room so they could cry. And I, myself, wept like a child. It hurts to love. And it's hard to say goodbye.

Death! Not a nice word. I know that God doesn't like it. It all started when our first parents threw God's warning back into His face. They opened the door to death and we haven't been able to get it to leave. If God had said, "Sinful humans, you're on your own. Goodbye and get lost!", it would be better not to be born. No purpose? No hope? Just death? And a grave?

But God didn't leave it there. He calls death an "enemy" that He is going to destroy. And He is going to open every grave and take back their contents (1 Corinthians 15:55). And our hero-Jesus? He came to taste-experience death for every individual" (Hebrews 2:9). And God proved we could count on Him by raising a dead Savior back to life. Just like He's going to do with you.

You see, your Creator hates four things that you and I wish we could outrun-and can't. But once we keep our own appointments with death (or, for the final generation, His return), those four "uglies" will never touch you and me again. "And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4). Farewell death! You too, sorrow, crying and pain! FOREVER!

So it's ok to cry when we face the death of a loved person-or a treasured pet like Frisco. Jesus did! Death is ugly. It's tough to say goodbye. But "life forevermore" is not a tease-it's our Father's guarantee for those who welcome His Son. For believers, it's a theological certainty.

And maybe our favorite pets? I'm too old to have all the answers like "There are no animals in God's Kingdom." Perhaps that's true. Perhaps not. Romans 8:19-23 excites me. All of creation groaning to be set free from their bondage to decay-with a hope? Enough said. Study it yourself. Just don't write me and call me a heretic for suggesting there may be surprises in heaven. After all, Christ is not returning seated on a lightning bolt. Or in a Lexus. He's on a horse. A horse!