I love my Dog, Maggie. She is older. That means she is calmer. That means she doesn’t chew things up or pee on the carpet. She has been the quietest dog I have ever had. She loves to be petted and loved on by the kids. To us she is the perfect dog. Of course, I have always said if there were such a thing as reincarnation, I would want to ‘come back” as a dog in this house. They would be loved if they had three legs, one eye, and came with a color that gave their name as “Lucky”

As I said, she is getting older. That has some issues. She wakes Julie up a couple of times a night to go outside. She does this by flapping her ears or even barking if Julie doesn’t get up fast enough. Those of you who don’t know we found her abandoned. She came to us house broke and leash trained. This was after a couple of years without a dog. We had her predecessor, Ginger, since she was a puppy. She was our baby before we had the kids and she loved them like they were her puppies. Maggie does the same; in fact sometimes I think she is Ginger in a Black lab body.

One of the joys of her being older is she helps us as a family learn about treating something and even someone who is older with grace, dignity, and care. She isn’t always ready to run and play, although with her new meds she is friskier then she has been. She takes a pill and a liquid medicine which I am responsible for giving her. She and I pill pop together.

God often brings situations into our life to teach us. Sometimes they aren’t the things we want but they are sent by him so they deserve our correct response. Through obedience we grow, learn, adapt and eventually become happier as we adjust to challenging situations that stretch us beyond ourselves.

Lord, help me learn through the situations you allow into my life today, tomorrow and in the weeks ahead.