Copyright 2003. All Rights Reserved.

Contents
Foreword by Allen Schoen, M.S., D.V.M.
Introduction: Golden Connections -- Allen and Linda Anderson

Part One: Love

Chapter One: Is There a God?

The Dog Who Discovered God -- Mary Elizabeth Martucci

Q: Is There a God? A: Meow! -- Mary Ellen "Angel Scribe"

The Presence of Teddy -- Rose-Marie Silkens

Send in the Cows -- Monica O'Kane

Season's Eternal Song -- Aubrey Forbes

Chapter Two: Can We Know If God Loves Us?

The Man Who Didn't Like Cats -- Lynn Harper

A Triple Play of Unconditional Love -- Ronald Mirolla

God's Love and the Snake -- Samuel Dufu

The Journey of Joy -- J. Blair Taylor

Max's Miracle of Love -- Meg MacZura-Betts

A Coyote's Message -- Kathia Haug Thalmann

Chapter Three: Does God Help Us Find Each Other?

Abbie Knew Best -- Donna Francis

All in the Family -- Anabela Guerreiro

That Special Someone -- Doris Rouse

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match -- Ellen Moshenberg

Cindy Finds Our Friends -- R. Dale Hylton

Mr. Kitties, the Grief Counselor -- Lisa Altieri O'Brien

Chapter Four: Does God Heal Hurting Hearts, Bodies, and Minds?

Ferrets Are Made of God -- Rebecca Stout

The Compassion of Noodles -- Judy Tatelbaum

A Hamster's Legacy -- Rube Hanna

Kitten Launches a Law Career -- Mary Margaret McEachern Nunaleee

Bon Jour Helped Mary Have a Good Day -- Linda L. Nickerson

Part Two: Wisdom

Chapter Five: Are Prayers Answered?

Amazing Grace and the Dolphins -- Sierra Goodman

A Meditating Angel Dog -- Paula Timpson

A Moose Messenger -- The Rev. Mary Piper

The Miraculous Opening of a Heart -- Catherine Kirk Chase

Walk Easy -- Sandy Carlson

Chapter Six: Why Do Bad Things Happen?

Spotted Angels -- Richard Simmons

Cassidy and Our Date with Destiny -- Karen Lee Stevens

A Llama with Wings -- Lydia Chiappini

The Upside-Down Birdhouse -- Lorraine Lanzon

Explaining to a Horse How It's All in Divine Order -- Lois Stanfield

Chapter Seven: Are We Mirrors for Each Other?

Sacred Companions -- Evelyn Alemanni

Seeing Parallels, Finding Omens -- Grace J. Harsted

The Falcon's Return -- Jan Warren

Simple Gifts -- Larry Siegel

Forest Family -- Sri Harold Klemp

Part Three: Courage

Chapter Eight: Does God Help Us Be Heroic?

A Dog's Life -- Patricia A. Brown

The Dog Who Knew His Place -- David Young

Kabootle, Our Rescue Cat -- Lauren L. Merryfield

Warnings from the Dolphins -- Ilona Selke

Divine Spirit Sends in the Birds -- Dorothy Weiss

Chapter Nine: Does God Grant Us Strength to Survive Troubled Times?

The Dog Who Loved TV -- Dianne W. Armstrong

Our Angel Kitty -- Donna Moody

The Luck Bunny -- Camille A. Lufkin

Support Through a Team Effort -- Nancy Harlett

A Squirrel Reminded Us to Trust God -- Allen and Linda Anderson

Part Four: Comfort

Chapter Ten: Do Dreams Contain Messages from God?

I Dreamed of DeeDee -- Sharon Ward

Dreaming of My Animal Spirit -- Hope Ball

An Iguana's Nightmare -- Darry Conner

The Doggie Dream Diagnosis -- Richard S. McDiarmid

The Cat Who Guided My Dad Home -- Leslie-Ann Guiney

White Horse Dream -- Laurence Cruz

Chapter Eleven: Does God Guide Us Peacefully in the Light?

The Rainbow Bridge -- Anonymous

Messengers from Heaven -- Judith Neely

Bitsy Says Good-Bye -- Heidi W. Dunlap

A Heavenly Vision -- Fleur Wiorkowski

Love with her Dying Breath -- Dr. Rebecca L. G. Verna, M.S., D.V.M.,

Telephone Calls and Touches -- Linda Woodley

A Beautiful Light Leaves the World -- Lisa Aurora Kyle

Answers -- Sherri-Lynn White

Chapter Twelve: Does God Reunite Us with Loved Ones?

My Encounter with Animals on the Other Side -- Monica Ramsten

Kanda's Return -- Jenny Drastura

Miss Kitty Returns Her Love through Ally McPurr -- Lisa Sherman

The White Dog Nobody Saw -- Rita M. Romansky

Come Back Soon -- Diana Stewart-Koster

Notes
Permissions
Contributors
Acknowledgments
About Allen and Linda Anderson

 

Excerpt from Introduction to God's Messengers by Allen and Linda Anderson.

Golden Connections

    Animals and people connect to God with the same golden threads that weave through all creation. Animal messengers deliver truths and answers about life by touching people's hearts as nothing else can. Animals' instinctive spirituality enables them to interact with their Creator and with creation in ways that can truly be called miraculous. Animals have a talent for bypassing the mind and going straight to the heart.

    Did you know that the animal kingdom serves as a spiritual support system? From around the globe we've collected extraordinary stories about a variety of animals who show how God uses souls, wearing coats of many colors, to help people remember that they are never abandoned or alone. The experiences you will read about transcend random acts and synchronicity to show life's precision, wisdom, and beauty.

    These stories demonstrate that furry, fuzzy, flowing, and flying creatures have an uncanny ability to serve as custom-made delivery service for Divine love. Some stories are as cheerful as the antics of an animal who helps restore a person's sense of humor. Others are remarkable accounts of visions, miraculous interventions, soul-to-soul communication, or after-death encounters involving animals. Sprinkled throughout are meditations and exercises you can use for reflection.

    The fact is, people are having profound spiritual experiences with animals. They are learning about God's ways by observing the animals who bless their lives and share their homes. The Divine is working through animals as vehicles to bring more love, wisdom, courage, and comfort into the world. Animals are good for human health - physically, mentally, and emotionally. The stories in this book demonstrate that animals are also good for our spiritual health.

 

Excerpt from God's Messengers by Allen and Linda Anderson.

Ferrets Are Made of God
Rebecca Stout, Chattanooga, Tennessee

    My son, Sean, has been diagnosed with the most common form of high-functioning autism. My husband, Scotty, and I never thought we'd see Sean formulate his thoughts and feelings, much less spontaneously communicate them to someone. Yet today I watch Sean soak up things that are normally sensory assaults to a child with autism - all because of a little ferret named Rocky.

    When Sean was five years old, he seemed to make a developmental leap. We seized the opportunity to try out animal companionship. Although experts on autism neither recommend nor reject the idea of autistic children having pets, they caution parents to supervise the child's interactions with animals. Autistic children can be physically explosive, whether from joy or anger. We went through a series of pets with varying degrees of success for Sean: beta fish, (those colorful little fish found in pet stores that are kept in small bowls by themselves and are easy to care for), frogs, a snake for his older brother, Chet, and a dog. Sean didn't do well with dogs, and dogs were not fond of him. He seemed to still have an impulsive streak that made up cautious about keeping pets in our home.

    Scotty longed to have a ferret, and I'd had ferrets as a child and loved them, so one day I decided to bring home two ferret kits. Although Sean acted disturbed at first, under my watchful eye he began to forge a relationship with these animals. The first time Sean had to be away from the ferrets was a school day. When he came home, he burst through the door, plopped down in front of the cage, and refused to take off his book bag while he stared at the kits for twenty-five minutes, waiting considerately for them to wake up. He was so protective of them in the initial weeks that guests weren't even allowed to look at the ferrets.

    Over the months, Sean learned self-control by giving the animals water and food. He mastered the skills of safely holding and playing with them, and he learned not to stick his fingers in their cage. Not a day passed without Sean surprising us with the details he was picking up about how to handle the ferrets.

    When the ferrets first arrived, Sean would mimic how Scotty spoke to them and repeat word for word whatever my husband said. But then Sean made an important advance in his development: He began to spontaneously speak to the ferrets with his own words and for his own reasons. After a while, he developed a style of touching and relating to them.

    On Valentine's Day, we surprised Sean by taking him to a local ferret shelter. When the woman who ran the place showed us a ferret named Rocky, Sean asked if this ferret was "special." The woman assured him that Rocky had come to the shelter dying, and it was a miracle that he'd lived at all. Rocky had overcome many things and, like my son, was a survivor. We took Rocky home that day.

    Soon Sean was brushing Rocky's fur even though he couldn't stand having his own hair brushed. He learned the names of his ferrets' foods. Sean also learned how to wash the cages and trays, change the water bottles, scruff the ferrets (hold them up by the skin and fat on the back of their necks - a safe form of discipline), and take them to the vet.

    Rocky moved more slowly than the other ferrets, and he was gentler with Sean, so Sean responded to him well. Before long, Sean and Rocky had become the best of pals. The close bond between them became the bridge Sean needed to achieve a dream.

    Sean loved baseball and enjoyed watching his older brother play. He often worked the scoreboard with me as I announced the game. He learned the rules and thrived on them. Eventually he expressed a dream to play baseball himself.

    We tried having Sean join a special league, but that didn't work out well for him. He needed the rules to be exact, and this league didn't have rules he could accept. With great reservations, we decided to let him join the regular league. There was no doubt that Sean could play well. But there was great doubt about whether he'd be able to hold up under the social pressures, let alone tolerate all the touching, noise, and sensory assaults involved in playing ball with other children.

    When Sean first showed up on the field, he was too scared to go over and talk to the "normal" children. We'd brought Rocky along, and I got the idea to put the ferret in Sean's arms. His face and body instantly relaxed as the ferret's love helped my son become less rigid.

    We walked up to the other boys. They greeted Sean with big grins and "wows." Sean didn't say a word. He just shook his head, yes or now, and hugged Rocky tightly.

    Pretty soon, Sean was able to sit in the dugout. Before long, he was playing ball with the team. Of course, Rocky was right there in the stands rooting for him.

    Fate seemed to decree that having a ferret for a mascot was lucky. Sean's team went all the way in the tournament and won the championship that year. The entire experience was the most positive in Sean's life - and it was all possible because of the love and friendship he found with Rocky.

    One day, I listened as Sean held Rocky in his arms, stroking him and talking to him about everything under the sun. Then he asked, "Mommy, what are ferrets made of?" Before I could come up with an answer, Sean thought of his own. "God," he said. "Ferrets are made of God."

    And I agreed with him.