Thursday, October 13, 2011

Unexpected

I am very busy. I have one husband, three school aged children living in my house, and two grown daughters and one son-in-law living outside my house. The last thing I need in my life is a dog. Dogs are messy. Dogs are smelly. Dogs pee and poop. They need to be fed, watered, bathed, medicated, etc. I do not need a dog. This was my refrain for at least two years. We already had a fish to fill our pet quota, several of them as a matter of fact. I flatly refused to consider any pet in the rodent family. My children, like all children, still really wanted a dog. Finally Mr. Jakstadt decided it was time to get the kids a dog. I could see that I was clearly out numbered. The time had come for me to surrender and agree to get a dog.

Kristen, an animal lover, proposed a dog/share. Eureka! I love the idea. I would only have to do the dog thing for part of the time. She found a couple of canine prospects that as luck would have it would be at a pet adoption site the very next weekend. She filled out the necessary forms on-line which honestly we barely passed. Small Dog Rescue was a pet adoption organization with serious qualifications for those wanting to adopt a small dog. Nonetheless, we passed.

On Saturday, we all loaded into the SUV merely to go check things out. The voice of reason aka TVOR's position was that the trip was an expedition because after all we had yet to get a fence, a requirement for the small dog rescue people. We happened to see one of the workers walking Roxy in the parking lot and it was love at first sight! She was on the thin side and very subdued to say the least. She had been dropped off with one of her puppies although she was very young, a teen mom. I was immediately drawn to her quiet temperment as well as her adorable face. The kids didn't terrify her which I took as a good sign. She was the one. I instinctively knew that she would not last long and right I was. As I was paying for her, an irrate woman came up and declared that she had wanted Roxy and had only gone home to give her toddler a nap. You snooze, you lose. We brought her home to a fenceless unprepared house. We did manage to drop a wad of cash at Petco for everything one would need for a "mixed breed" dog.


I have never been an animal lover yet I was strangely drawn to Roxy. I found myself in strange positions like on the floor with her! She began to follow me everywhere I went in the house. One time I remember working out on the bike and she was trying to figure out a way to get beside me in between rotations of my foot on the pedal. All she wanted was to be was with me. One of the best things about her was her silence! She rarely barks and is fond of relaxing and sleeping. I didn't have to toss balls for her to chase, play tug of war with her or even walk her. Although I discovered that she loves going on walks which I love as well. We are perfectly suited to each other. Oh the kids like her too, but I have claimed her as my own. She won Eric's heart too and he may have a slight edge because he feeds her beef jerky, but this theory has not been tested. She is no longer on the thin side!

As I was walking her one day, I realized that there was nothing that she could give me or do for me. In fact she is completely dependent on me for food, shelter, humane treatment, flea and tick prevention, etc. She costs me money, time, yet I love providing all this for her. I realized that it was a picture of God's love for me. I am nothing but trouble for Him. I sin every single day and I'm slow to learn His truths and apply them to my life. I can give him nothing. He is God after all and needs nothing yet what He wants is for me to want to be with him. He wants me to spend time with Him,talk to Him, love what He loves, know Him.

His kindness disarmed me and reminded me that He loves giving good gifts just because. He is the perfect Father. No one knows us or loves us like our Heavenly Father. Thanks seems terribly inadequate for everything He has given me, but thank Him I will as often as I can.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Mirror, Mirror

I recently celebrated my birthday. I do realize this is a good thing to celebrate, the gift of another year of life, etc. I love talking to both of my parents on that day as they give me tidbits of information about the day of my birth like I was the biggest baby in the nursery that day, 9 lbs! Is that a good thing? If I had to survive on my own in the wild I suppose I would last a little longer than the average baby. What is decidedly not a good thing is the whole aging process that usually comes along with the birthdays. Getting older is oh so exciting and fun until when one day it isn't really. Looking at my reflection in the mirror has become especially unpleasant. It is strange to imagine yourself looking younger than you actually look. The question is what to do.

I began to realize that people on television that I know I watched when I was in elementary school look younger than me! What is their secret? good diet and excercise? Super genetics? True, some don't actually look human, but some look really good. Being a woman of action, I decided to go straight to the source and find out. It just so happens that my daughter Kristen starting working in a plastic surgeon's office. She began to educate me on all the latest treatments,of which there are many, to restore one's youthful appearance. This sounded encouraging so off I went for my free consultation. Of course I was secretly hoping that the doctor would tell me it is far too soon to even think about doing anything. I absolutely would not benefit from anything they had to offer. This was not the case, not by a long shot. He took one look at my face and told me about some very natural injectables that would help temporarily and then followed with what I really needed was a cheek lift! He told me in detail what happens to one's face over time and it's not pretty. I began to feel like Eve in the Garden of Eden when she was being tempted by the serpent. What harm could one or two syringes of very natural gel injected into your face do? They also showed me beautiful photos of women who had had the cheek lift. What's wrong with wanting to be restored to a more youthful appearance? Thankfully I'm a big chicken and said I wanted to think about it. Notwithstanding the rare occasional blindness (yikes!) from the substance going into the wrong place that I found on google, I had to examine the spiritual ramifications of how far one goes to look good on the outside. I had to face the fact that I'm terribly vain and do not like aging, especially when many women around me are not aging along with me.

As a Christian woman, we are told that beauty comes from within, a gentle and quiet spirit to be exact, wow. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find an injectable for these qualities. I realized that aging gracefully means accepting the process of aging and doing this without complaining. Easier said than done I say. Lord willing, I will have the chance to try.