Lessons From a Pup

Alongside me this morning as I write, sitting in my favorite chair, lies a precious little schnauzer girl - Little Miss Molly. She has attached herself to me, especially when she is tired and needs a nap. I wrote last week about how she curls up in my slippers, and she is still doing that if I am not available, but how she dearly loves to snuggle in my lazy-boy, and be as close to me as possible. She does the same with Ron, but loves to snuggle in his arms. That's quite a sight, ‘cause Ron is not a small man by any means, and she looks so tiny in his arms.

She has become quite the adaptable girl. This last week we had house guests, and she made herself comfortable in their arms too - quickly. She plays tug-o-war, chews whatever she can find, and loves to go outside to explore. She has learned to tolerate the leash, because little "Miss Independent" loved to take off down the driveway, and considering that she is so small and close to the pavement's color, she would be nearly impossible for a driver to see.

She has rapidly learned how to be the boss! It's so cute at bedtime. She has a little bed near ours, and once we have gotten in bed, she wants the light turned off right away. She will whine until we turn it off, or if she doesn't get her way, she places both paws over her eyes to block out the light so she can sleep.

Amazing how much one can learn from a dog!

• She eats only when she is hungry (Isn't that smart?)
  
• She sleeps when she is tired. (m.m.m.)
  
• She knows how and where to get affection and comfort.
  
• She freely gives affection, and so receives it from others.
  
• She trusts the ones who care for her and provide her needs.

Wouldn't we be so much better off if we followed those points?

Molly 'N Me - You Too!

One of the greatest fundamental needs of all human beings is to connect, with self, with others and with a Higher Power. Believe it or not, it's not only humans that need and long to connect; dogs do too.

We have a miniature schnauzer puppy. She is the tiniest, most petite little doll that I have ever seen, when it comes to puppies, that is. She has the typical schnauzer haircut, and looks rather like a well-bred, a.k,c. champion, full grown schnauzer, in very miniature form. Her name is Molly.

Molly has been with us for a week. So she is very new. Just like humans do, when they are in a strange environment with people they don't know, Molly was sheepish on day one. On the long trip home from the breeder, leaving both her Mom, Dad and siblings behind, she slept a lot. Guess that was one way to deal with separation anxiety. She slept on my lap the whole trip, except for ½ an hour when we made a quick stop for something to eat. Then she rested in one of the special carrying cases that one uses for a pet when traveling by airline. She didn't eat much - a couple tablespoons of food, and an ounce or two of water.

Once we got home, she walked around the yard and did her business, and we carried her up the five steps into the house. She slept in a nicely padded kennel, but was a bit fitful that first night - not really happy to be away from her family and in a little kennel. Day one at home she was a bit more animated, but still wanted to be held most of the time, and she got her way - that irresistible little sweetheart.

Day two, she began to warm up in a big way! She was all over the place! She would run around the house, we'd take her out periodically, and then she'd be back in the house and wanting to be on our laps. She learned to climb those big steps in and out of the house in no time, she whined when she wanted to go out, and slowly she began to eat more.

Today it's been a week since we got her. She is very much attached to us both, but we can't just sit holding her. When she realizes that we are busy, she most often looks for my slippers. No, she doesn't really chew them, but she curls up on them for a nap. As I write, that's where she is - asleep with her nose in my slipper. That's her way of being close - connected.

That's how we are. We long to be close too. Each of us has a God-shaped hole in our heart, and while we try to fill it with addictions and other people, still nothing really does the trick as well as the real thing - God. We were created to have the need to be whole. Ever since the incident in the Garden of Eden, humans have been disconnected. The guilt and shame of sin and our wounds have caused the separation. We have been looking to be re-connected now for centuries, and long ago, God provided His Son as the bridge back to relationship, to being whole. Our substitutions for that original connection that we lost way back then, just don't fill the bill like my slippers don't really fill Molly's heart. They are only temporary fixes for the real thing.

I for one, want the real thing! You too?

Weeds

Since moving up to the mountains, I have been having a daily controversy with the weeds. It seems to me, and our neighbor agrees, that you can dig out all the weeds in a given area, come in the house exhausted but delighted that you got rid of the things, and then when you go outside again in a couple of hours, there's a whole lot more weeds where you just weeded! I don't get it. How come they grow really fast but the pretty stuff you plant doesn't?

I will have to say however, that pretty plants put into my little rock garden last year, are really blooming beautifully this year. There were a few weeds there too, but I carefully removed them so that the pretties would show off well.

You know, this reminds me of the human life. I looked up the definition of weed in the dictionary, and believe it or not, what I found is so true of the "weeds" in our experience. The dictionary says that a weed is: "An unwanted plant, especially a wild plant growing where it is not wanted."

I have weeds in my life, and if you're human, I bet you do too. Impatience is one of mine. I want this unpacking to be done and over, but it can't be until we do several things in the house - Like a Master Bathroom shower that needs to be moved to where the huge corner tub is (that we NEVER use) and a lovely cedar lined closet put where the old shower was. And when our addition is completed (isn't started yet) we will have a huge closet for ministry items. It's hard to look at those two trailers that are currently parked in our driveway, and just dream them away - empty!

Another of my weeds is busyness, and unfortunately that one is tied to impatience. It's hard for me to just relax, to sit and write, when I can think of so many other things that I want to do to make our home a restful place. Clutter drives me nuts! So I just keep working at it, endeavoring to find a place for everything and putting everything in its place. All the busyness is tiring, and then it's easy to be short or touchy with others.

So what to do with all these weeds? Just keep plucking them out, I guess. I can spray them with some sort of weed-killer, but they are toxic, and anyway, you end up looking at dead weeds instead of live ones. Is that really any better? And the other thing to do is to plant lovely flowers where there is just plain dirt and weeds. One can do that in the character too. Pluck up the unwanted weeds (behaviors, thoughts, and attitudes) and plant lovely flowers that will give you and everyone who looks on, a lift.

Happy planting!