Angel

Thursday afternoon was an interesting day as we waited to meet Angel, the 18 month old American Eskimo/Maltese mix. Her handler was running late, adding to our anticipation....what would Angel look like? Would she like us? What if she's awful..then what? And on and on. The girls' anticipation mounted, making their stomachs miserable! Finally, Angel and her handler arrived. The minute she walked in the door, she won our approval. She was so stinkin' cute! Energetic...and growling. She growled at each one of us, letting not one of us get close to her. We sat in the living room, a good distance from her and her handler, and we tossed out bits of treats, trying to coax her to us one at a time. As she took her treat, she would cower, look at us suspiciously, and growl the entire time! It took over an hour, but finally Angel made her way over to Serena and allowed her to pet her. She then accepted me and Natalie. Steve....well, the jury is still out on that one. All she could do was bark whenever Steve would move, walk, talk, breathe, or blink! You get the picture. After talking with her handler/foster mom for several hours, we were all convinced that although Angel clearly had social issues,she belonged with us. She wasn't perfect,but neither are we. She's had several months of upheaval and a lack of a real family with stability. She had puppies at the young age of 14 months. And judging by her reaction to strangers and men, she was mistreated at some point. Angel is surprisingly sweet and loving toward me and the girls and she is slowly warming up to Steve. She is athletic and funny, housebroken and obedient! She has so many great qualities, though we have a huge struggle ahead in introducing her to strangers. Her handler actually kept one of her puppies and we were able to see him. Angel was able to play with her puppy one last time before her handler left for good. I was almost in tears, watching the whole scene, knowing Angel was about to lose her "mom" of four months and her puppy. Sigh....that first night was so rough. I wasn't sure if it was good for Angel or not. She kept crying, looking out where her handler had last been, and cowering each time I tried to comfort her. I didn't sleep much at all that first night, but the last few nights she has curled up in bed beside me, so I guess we're doing well. And now, just five days later, Angel and I are inseparable! I am her mommy, and she is mine. I look in her sweet litte brown eyes and tell her, "I don't know who rescued who here." My heart certainly feels a lot more healed with her around! She absolutely loves the girls and can't wait for them to get home from school. Now if she'd stop growling like a mountain lion at her daddy.... (

Love in the NeighborWoods

The woods are alive....with the sound of owls? Last night as I was trying to finish up the dishes, Steve was bugging me to go outside with him. I've been fighting a nasty cold for awhile, so the last thing I wanted to do was go outside at night. That and he was carrying a bottle of gorilla glue. Did I want to be the dummy holder end of something while my nose is running? Um, no. So, he went out alone and I finished the dishes. A few minutes later, he came running back in with a crazed look on his face. "Get out here! You gotta hear this noise..it scared me!" Yeah, okay, so if some insane noise is scaring your big strong afraid-of-nothing husband, you wanna run right out there, right? Nope. But my curiosity got the best of me and I stepped out on the deck to hear anyway. I gotta admit, it was a pretty cool sound. Somewhere between a ooh ooh ah ah of a monkey and a whoooo of a wolf. We then saw the noisemakers....2 ginormous owls, one sort of "pursuing" the other. "Isn't that a freaky sound?" Says my gorilla glue husband. "Freaky indeed," I agreed. We decided that like everything else in the woods right now, they were having a little romantic interlude. At least it was better than the turkey action last year. I'm such a city girl, really. I try to slap my knee and sing, "Thank God I'm a Country Girl", but as soon as I see a snake, I'm running and wailing like a nutcase. You know how I am with chipmunks too...told that story a few times. I can't help it. They outnumber me! I have a mama bird nesting on the gutter pipe, so Natalie has had to curb her piano jamming for the time being. I told her to play softly....I know, these animals have me trained. City girl.

Four-Legged Angels

It was almost a year ago that we had to make the painful decision to have our dear Sophie put to sleep. I haven't been able to talk about this much, and it is still quite a hard subject for me. Some days I can talk freely, some days I choke up and can't finish my sentence. Loving and caring for a dog for 15 years was quite an honor for me and my family. She was one of us. To let her go was one of the hardest things I personally ever had to do. Steve and I still can't seem to share the details of her last day, and that's okay. I think we just have a quiet knowing when we look at each other and remember. One thing he said to me as I sat in a heap after her burial has stuck with me since. I tearfully sobbed out, "I can't ever do this again. It hurts too much." He took me in his arms and said, "I would live this week over again just to have those 15 years of love with her again." And he was right. We need that kind of love in our home. We are animal lovers. They need us! Sophie came from a rescue mission when we got her in 1996. Since then, we decided that every dog we would have would also be a rescue. Every dog who wasn't wanted would get to decide if they want us. So the search for a new family member began just a couple of weeks ago. It's a bit different now than it was back then. Funding for shelters was cut, and so many private foster dog operations have been started. It's still the humane society, and very regulated, much to our relief. We got lucky the first time without any information on Sophie at all. Now when you look for a dog, you see their history and their requirements. Though you may think it's your perfect dog, they want to make sure you are the perfect owner. We began looking at dogs online, hundreds of them. It's sad, really. So cute and so in need of love. One stood out to Steve and he presented her to me in a text. "I think I found u a dog." I texted back, "tell me more". And this began our quest for "Angel". He wasn't quite sure why she stood out, but I had to trust him. After all, when we got Sophie, I couldn't even step foot in the shelter! I made him go in and just pick one out! I didn't care what it was, just get me a dog to love! So, I have to trust his instinct on this one. "Angel" is an American Eskimo/Maltese mix...white and fluffy and cute as a bug. She's got a great disposition. She's shy around people she doesn't know, but once she warms up, she's your best friend. I can relate to that! Step one is completing a three page application. You basically give out everything but your underwear size! :) We waited patiently to hear back, and finally we got notice today that our application was accepted and that "Angel" was available for a home visit. They want to make sure that our home and our family is the best place possible for her, so they're coming to see us on Thursday! I'm trying not to get too hopeful, but so many "coincidences" seemed to lead us to her. I hope she's the one, but if not, I'm sure we'll find another "angel" to love. I have had such a hole in my heart since I lost my best 4-legged friend. I can't replace her and wouldn't even try. But I know that I am ready to give another dog the love she needs. And maybe I'll just get some back in return. Oh, who are we kidding? Dogs just love me!! :)

Look Up Before You Speak Out

It's important to have a Christian friend who doesn't have it all together! If you don't have one of those yet, consider me your first. As you can see by yesterday's post, my attempt to "be quiet" was overcome by my need to "vent". So, back to the study notebook to re-read the notes I take nearly every day! As usual, I need to get them from my head to my heart. *The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14 * God has given you peace. You can: 1. Keep it. 2. Use it. 3. Lose it. 4. Give it away. Choose well. * Ephesians 6! Put on and leave on the Armor of God. * Don't try to do what only God can do! * True spiritual power is found in love. What is love? Patience, kindness, generosity,humility, courtesy, unselfishness, self-control, guilelessness(not thinking evil of others), sincerity. * Learn to stop caring what other people think of you. * Learn to stop judging others. * Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. Romans 14:4 * Our flaws and the flaws of others are God's business, not ours. * If you want joy, you must have peace. To have peace, you must have righteousness. (God's--not yours) *People will fail you. God never does. People change. Jesus is always the same. * It doesn't matter who knows or believes in you. God sees your good changes and it brings Him glory. * The power of life and death is in your tongue. Shush! * Help me to lead by example and not by my words!! Have a blessed day and take notes.....and then read them over and over!!

Butterfly Fly

I haven't disappeared...well, not entirely. It's been a bit chaotic around here these days. I just spent the last week recovering from a muscle spasm...not fun! Better now, but still trying to catch up on all I missed. I don't like to post much when things aren't going well...ah...you caught me, fair-weather friend. No, really, it's just that I've tried to stop myself from complaining so much and being negative, so I just have to get quiet when things aren't so great! Not such a bad thing, really. I have been a bit grouchy about some things...namely being left out of our team basketball pics. The original pictures were ruined by the person who took them, then they rescheduled it with only a two hour notice via a note from school! Steve was one of the coaches, and was not called about the photo due to some ahem, rudeness. There I said it. So, not only was my dad taken to the hospital that day, but there was no way we could have made it to pictures. We were disappointed, but good ole mom photographer is planning a little shoot of her own. Basketball did not go as well as we had hoped. Some attitudes needed adjusting, and it wasn't the girls. See? I just need to be quiet. I decided that injustices really push my buttons. Not that nothing else does, but I really detest unfairness, and I detest it when someone talks against God or my kids or my family, my friends. I just can't handle it! So, grouchy. Hmmm... Serena brought her report card home, and for some known reason, got a poor citizenship grade in only one of her classes. It seems a teacher who dislikes me likes to push my buttons by using my kid. So annoyed. Maybe it was my days of pain, being stuck in bed for nearly a week, that set my mind to reeling. I had to really do some hard praying about my attitude and not letting my feelings take over my heart. It seems my enemy knows how to get to me. I don't go down without fighting back. Thank God for his power working through me. I would be a mess without Him. In some ways, I am still a caterpillar....fighting to get out of the cocoon I put myself in. Other days I am soaring like a butterfly. I just hope I don't stay stuck in the "in-between" for too long. I have many reasons to fly.

Juggler Wannabe or Dropout?

I have always wanted to juggle. I used to try to do it on my own with all sorts of objects, but I just couldn't get the rhythm and all the objects would hit the floor with a clatter....or a bang. Darn pots and pans!

Lately I've been trying to juggle in other ways. It's not that there is a lot going on right now, and I'm glad for that, but it will change, as it always does and I will once again pick up all my "stuff" and juggle. Sometimes successfully, sometimes with a bang.

I was doing well with my weight loss, but not so good with other things I was trying to do. I slacked off on my weight loss and got better at my prayer life. I slacked off my friendships, but found I had a better connection with my family. Hmmmm....I just can't seem to keep all the balls in the air at the same time. I just can't seem to get a good juggle on!

I immersed myself in spring cleaning and Bible study, but ate junk while I did it. It's hard to be successful in any area when you can't seem to keep at least one ball in the air, ya know what I mean? Or is it just me and my ADD-like mind? What was I talking about again????

So...juggling. It seems my juggling is more of an internal kind, and maybe that's why it doesn't succeed. Although I pray and study about many topics, I haven't bothered to ask God to help me focus on one ball at a time. He has brought me many items to handle, that's for sure. Lately he has revealed some things to me that I'm not proud of at all. These are things I want to focus on one at a time, not juggle them and risk dropping the ball!

I truly don't think God is a fan of juggling anyway. Why would he want me to throw 3 important things up in the air and risk missing one? What if that's the one that is most important to Him and I drop it?

Maybe I don't want to be a juggler anymore. I think I'll be settling my busy mind down and listening to the one thing I can do better today. Then I will do the next one thing and do that better. Maybe I don't need to juggle at all. Maybe it will all just work out.....one careful toss at a time.