Sometimes two really are better than one. As you can see, Sammi seems to share that philosophy (especially when it involves “bones”). At the time I snagged the photo, she’d carried the bones around the room a couple of times. It was as though she knew that her “cuteness” would call to me in a way that I simply couldn’t resist. She was right!
A couple of nights ago, I discovered some dry turds (for lack of a better term) in our “big room.” Poop in any part of our home isn’t a good thing but it was dry and hard…which made it easy to pick it up and drop into the closest toilet. Because of its overall “character,” I knew that the perpetrator had been Sammie (“Sam”) …again. Yes, tho she’d likely already forgotten about it, I scolded her anyway. She acted very guilty…confirming my suspicions. Yup! She was, in fact, the offending critter! Our Suzi would burst before she did that…unless she was fighting IBS.
A bit later in the day, however, after that was behind us, I walked outside with the girls encouraging them to do their “business.” When Sam finally assumed her classic pooper position, I knew what would come next. When she finished, however, rather than scolding her (as I’d done a couple of hours earlier), I walked over and told her what a “good girl” she was for making her “mess” outside…rather than in the house! Then I scrubbed her ears and spoke in loving tones as though she were starting over in her house training “class”. All was forgiven and I was giving her yet another chance to do things right. After all, she tends to do this kind of thing periodically. Though she’s middle-aged for a dog, she, like us all, is far from perfect.
What a blessing that God is much like that with us, His children! There I was. Standing out in the back yard supervising the girls’ “business” and out of that proverbial clear blue sky dropped this huge TRUTH! It seems that I spend my life making one “mess” after another and God simply covers me with his Grace without a second thought! I don’t deserve that! He should either punish me Himself or encourage someone else to do it. My nose should be rubbed in it and I should be rolled over on my back and spoken to in gruff, alpha-dog-type tones! I should be sentenced to die in…and because of my sin! Instead, though, He simply reaches over, scrubs my ears, speaks softly to my heart, and gives me yet another chance to do things right. Why am I treated with such love when I screw up so often? Because He’d sent Jesus to be punished…to die in my place. Wow! That’s quite a gift! And just think. All we have to do is believe in Him and accept His sacrifice in our behalf.
This just goes to show you that God should be considered the Master Opportunist. Sometimes He uses the most trivial things to get our attention! He very softly placed a huge concept in front of my mind while I stood in my own back yard tending to our dogs! And He did it in such a way that I could better understand something that I already knew…but needed to hear again. Yes! My God IS an awesome God indeed!
The mystery was solved!
Here’s a bit of background. Our Suzi was never much into gnawing on things…until Sammi came into the picture nine or ten months later. Now, we’ve figuratively speaking, bought stock in Nylabone! What one has…the other wants. Or, at least that’s the way it often seems.
When hubby and/or I leave the house, we’ve learned that it’s best to restrict the girls to lounging in the kitchen and my office area. We’ve found that, when we’re away, they pass the time…reading? We have a magazine container on the floor by the couch. Once they discovered that Consumer Reports was such a great magazine, they dove into it! It was obvious that one of them had flipped through its pages leaving all of the top corners looking, dare I say…gnawed? Ah, yes. These girls love to read! Anyway…
Upon getting home from, I’m sure, one of my adventures, I noticed something unrecognizable on the carpet in my office. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what it was! It was at that time that I uttered the, “What-in-the-heck was THIS!?” As I padded through the house a bit later in the day, another white object caught my eye. Though it was in a totally different room, I made the connection.
I couldn’t help but chuckle when it dawned on me that, in a sense, I’d managed to share my Chap Stick with the girls!
Flemsibly Speaking 