[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]People love their dogs.
Joan Wurst loves people who love their dogs.
“I raise and show beagles with a young man, Jordan, as my partner in the endeavor,” Joan, a Stonecroft Speaker from Pennsylvania, says. “We are both quite wrapped up in our dogs and the activities they provide. We often thank God for the blessings they are – and the blessings they bring us.”
Though fond of their four-legged friends, Joan and Jordan treasure even more the relationships the beagles help spark between them and other dog owners. “In our experiences of meeting new people through this activity, we have many opportunities to share our devotion to Christ,” she says. “It might be in a subtle way, but the point is made.”
The Lord recently used her to appeal to a young woman who needed, as Joan says, “to get back on her journey to find that right relationship with God.” The woman had her eye on a newborn beagle. “As we talked about the puppy she is waiting to get from me, our conversation led to things of God, as they usually do in one way or another. She is happy to have a mentor now to help her. Of course, I am thrilled and feel very privileged to be able to do so.
“Jordan and I often say to each other and to others, ‘It’s not about the dogs!’” says Joan. “We have learned the true importance of our success in breeding and showing dogs is to have the opportunity to share Christ with others. The dogs aren’t our main focus. Christ is. The dogs are simply a means of doing that.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]