I need to brag on my brother a minute, the kid's Uncle Benji.

Our finances have gone from bad to worse since last June, when Gary was laid off. He's had a few jobs since then, but nothing permanent. We've gotten by on unemployment, food stamps, gifts from fellow Church members, and loans from our parents. To be honest when I do the budget, I'm still unsure how everything has gotten paid so far. We are incredibly blessed with a good support system.

However, things have gotten to the point that we aren't sure if we can keep the house, or if we will have to sell it. So we needed to gut even the little things left in the budget. Things like dog food. The dogs were already not getting heart worm preventative, vet care, or grooming appointments. We had long since done away with eating out as a family. We are trying to only make one trip to town a week, other than Church on Sunday. So, I finally agreed we needed to rehome the dogs, for them and for the budget. It was a hard decision for me, because I'm an animal person. I have had Scout from a pup, and worked with him a lot. I got Ember as a rescue at a year, and never wanted her to not have a home again.

Telling the kids, over supper though, was the worst part. You see Scout is Britt's dog. He was his brother, when he didn't have any brothers. He is who has had read to for years, to overcome dyslexia. He is the one who comes up with new things to train Scout to do. He is the one who begs for the dog to sleep in his bed at night. Like any 14 year old boy there are times that the dog is neglected a bit in light of video games, but Scout is his dog. Ember is Ruth's dog. She has worked hard to train her, because Ember has a harder time focusing than Scout, and because we didn't have her from the beginning. She sits and talks with her when she won't share things with the rest of us. She has plans of eventually training her to do agility. Like any 12 year old girl there are times she complains about brushing her out or taking her out, but Ember is her dog. Telling them was awful. Ruth teared up, but didn't say anything until she went to rant to Ember the next afternoon. Britt on the other hand had wracking sobs, and offered to sell every thing he had to keep the dogs.

Britt even went to Mister the next day to ask for jobs to do for money. Mister gave him some jobs, but explained that we needed the money he earned to go toward the mortgage, not the dogs. He said he understood, but he was still praying for a way to keep the dogs. Britt then took the money to update their rabies shots and county license. I wanted to tell him the Lord doesn't really care about two dogs, but how could I discourage him like that. However, it appears that the Lord cares about two dogs, because He cares about a little boy, who kept praying full of faith that something would work out.

Earlier this week, my brother called out of the blue while I was driving home. He does every so often just to talk to the kids, after talking a bit he told me that he wanted to take the dogs for the kids, as long as we needed. He had rearranged some stuff with work and the house, and felt like he could take them on. He loves his nieces and nephews, and has constantly proven to have a big heart for them. He knew what the dogs meant to them. He offered to take off Friday and drive down for them, and then drive back home with them on Saturday, since he would have Monday, as President's Day and a federal holiday, to recoup. I was floored.  While no less of a blessing, it isn't surprising that our parents and our Church want to help us out. But I never would have expected my littlest brother to be able to do anything to help us out.

I cannot begin to describe how happy the kids were. Britt told me, I just kept praying for a way to keep them. He then had a long talk with Scout telling him about Uncle Benji, telling him bye, and who knows what else. Ruth squealed, and couldn't believe it. Rebecca needed clarification that it meant we wouldn't have to sell them at all. Kate was almost as happy as Britt, and promptly came home and laid on Scout the way she does and told him how great Uncle Benji was and how the trip would be a fun adventure. The twins just cheered because everyone else was in the car.

Benjamin and Daddy drove down yesterday. He's already got them a grooming appointment, since they are badly in need of one. He asked me to write up everything I could think of about them to help him out, so I put together a notebook. He took the dog training book for trouble shooting and an old baby gate to block the stairs. He wanted their vet records and anything else I had. He asked questions and loved on them.

As they got ready to leave today, I stressed to him I was hoping in 2 or 3 months we would be back on our feet, as Gary has started a new job, and will be on his own starting Monday. However, since it is solely commission, it'll take some time to get back up and running and caught up, so hopefully we can stay in our home. He told me again, to not worry about it, he was prepared to keep them as long as necessary. To not worry about them.

To everyone else they might just be dogs, but while not family in the sense that my kids are, they are part of our family. They matter a great deal to us. They are part of our household. Sure they have bad habits like counter surfing at times, and jumping the fence, but they have far more endearing qualities, like faithful loyalty and loving attention. And it means far more than words can convey that Uncle Benji cared enough about a small thing, among all of the stress we are under, to do this for the kids and me.