I failed to mention the most important part of this experience putting 
Barney down.  The afternoon we put him down, my mind went back to all the 
dogs I had as a boy and all the dogs we had when our kids were little.  We 
had a lot of pets come and go in our household.  The next day, I was walking 
through the house to my office and thinking about how sad I was about Barney 
when a picture of his head flashed into my mind.  The first thing I noticed 
was the fact it was a small picture as if you were seeing the picture on a 
postage stamp from a hundred yards away.  I said, in my thoughts, Lord, what 
is this?  No words were spoken but I felt the answer plainly.  If I put 
words to what I felt, it would be this:  "He is a long ways away but still 
with us."  I instantly was aware of what the Lord was saying.  Barney isn't 
really gone, in a manner of speaking, because Jesus is taking care of him 
for us.  Every time Barney comes to mind now, I see his head very far away 
but I feel good about where he is right now and especially since Jesus is 
taking care of him for us.  I've been teaching people about prayer for 
almost 15 years and through that teaching, I have said Jesus can heal the 
most damaged emotions.  I'm not for sure how much I believed it before but 
the way the Lord healed me this time, proves it is true to me.

Phil.