Today is National Puppy Day and the perfect opportunity to tell you

(1) There is a God

and

(2) He loves you

I swore I would never own a dog. I have a million reasons why I do not want animals that cannot be confined to bowls or small cages roaming my house, the least of which is the potential for clutter, stench and dander. I mean, why don’t we just get a panda bear or a lion while we are at it?

Don’t get me wrong. I love nature.I love adventure. I love being outside. However, I like my domain.

My selfish reasoning was all very noble of course.

My husband deals with allergies and has PTSD about dogs due to a family member being bit by a dog with rabies that altered his childhood, and I just can’t comprehend wanting an animal in your home who poops, pees, eats, costs as much money as a human kid, and takes precious time out of your day.

In addition, I appreciate cleanliness and maintaining the value of the material objects in my home.

My children, however, were insistent for years in their plea before the proverbial “throne”of mom and dad’s mercy for a dog. A pet. A best friend for the little men to call their own.

I watched their love and care for my mom’s dog and saw the deep desires of their heart. The passion was so deep and intense that my oldest son told me numerous times that his dream in life is to have 5 dogs and no wife. I told him that if he truly gets 5 dogs, he will never get a wife. He can declare a mission accomplished.

My heart started to soften to their requests. I do not know what happened to me except that I told them it had to be divine intervention, and to this, they both agree.

I started researching dogs and breeders and pet stores and pounds. From this, I discovered I wanted to rescue a dog if this pet reality was going to happen.

After some searching, even my husband came around. He discovered that Yorkie’s don’t bother his type of allergies too much, but we knew our boys were set on a dachshund. I definitely wasn’t going to get a dog they weren’t even into. What would be the point? This was all about them, but for Jonathan’s sake I continued to research Yorkies on petfinder.com and just wasn’t at all impressed.

Then one day, in a split second, I saw Chip. He was a DORKIE.He was the fur and face of a yorkie, which was good for the allergies, but the build and body of a dachshund. It was like God created him specifically for my boys.

His little picture pierced Jonathan and I’s heart and literally in the span of an hour, we had the ball rolling to get this dog. Just like God, we didn’t move quickly (boys had been pleading for years), but when the time was right, we moved suddenly. We picked them up from a birthday party and told them what had transpired and they went into fits of ecstatic hysteria. Tears, cheers, disbelief, and celebration filled our car.

I hopped on amazon and ordered a bazillion dollars worth of dog paraphernalia, loaded up on food and supplies at Costco and Target, and made plans for us to drive 2 hours to pick Chip up from his foster mom. He was 10 months old and a nervous wreck when we brought him home.

Between adoption costs (they have a pay it forward system), grooming costs and vet visits, supplies, food, and household puppy destruction, Chip has fulfilled all the terrible prophecies I imagined.

Several pairs of shoes: Destroyed

Rugs: Gone

Carpets: Torn Thread Bare

Multiple types Dog Beds: Ripped to shreds

Blankets: Half Eaten

Leather furniture: Scratched

Piles of poop in the house: Numerous

Time spent training and cleaning up and restructuring the whole house to try to salvage things and keep him from “burning” the place down: way more than I even want to think about

Yorkie separation anxiety and Dachshund Hound induced barking: never ending

Boys in love, learning responsibility, taking charge, and growing in maturity:2

Adults suckered into petting, walking, rubbing, caressing, nurturing, and snuggling:2

Reminders through Chip daily how Christ “adopted” and redeemed us even while we were yet sinners (and still are while wearing these suits of flesh): Constant

You see, we are both the dog and the children in this story. We are God’s children and He wants good things for us. Our pleading to him does get to his heart. He answers our prayers.

But, we are also the dog. We live messy and carefree lives with no thought to the house of God or the plans of God and yet he is still faithful.

PSA: A cat will never happen. If you hear I got a cat, immediately call 911 and have them put me on psychiatric lock down. It means everything I’ve ever stood for has crumbled and I need protected from myself. Not even God would require such levels of “death to self” from me.