Boo's Life Lessons

I have been thinking a lot about the word LOSS the last week. There are so many different levels and causes of loss; temporary loss of replaceable items caused by others, permanent loss caused by our own hand, devastating loss with no explainable cause, and any mixture thereof.

It is the loss of temporary items, caused by my puppy, Boo Boo, that began this whole LOSS thought process. Having a puppy in your home, is most assuredly a promise of eventual loss. They destroy everything in their path, with no regard for value sentimental or monetary! Boo has a penchant for anything paper or paper related.  She has eaten her share of paper towels, toilet paper, and cardboard boxes. I am amazed at how quickly she can totally decimate an item. She also loves bushes, sticks and has even had her bout with concrete and rocks, but that is for another time.

We have been allowing Boo a little more freedom lately, some time out of her crate when we are gone from the house, testing her maturity level. As it turns out, she is not ready for the freedom we have afforded her. We recently came home for lunch to find she had the time of her short life destroying two unread magazines, mangling at least 15 DVD boxes, shredding one roll of paper towel, and brining several branches through the doggy door into the living room. Loss. Loss of a few magazines, some paper towels, pretty boxes for DVD's, but more than that, loss of trust in Boo. This is something that will have to be earned, at a later date, when she is a little older and mature.

I took pictures of the scene, and posted them on Facebook. I got mixed reactions from people, "did you want to kill her?", "did you yell at/spank her?", "did you laugh?", and "did you give her a big kiss?" Honestly, I was stunned to see the mess, but never mad at her. I was disappointed that she had not been as well behaved as I had hoped she would be, sad that I would have to put her back in her crate for awhile longer, and relieved that she was not hurt by any of her mischief.

I have not been able to put this episode in the past and move on. I keep feeling like God was trying to teach me something through it. I can so easily see myself as Boo. So many times in my life I have had freedom to make decisions about the right thing to do, only to make a huge mess, and cause LOSS of one kind or another. The only difference is, most of my messes affected other people and were not so easily cleaned up. What was the same? No matter how much destruction I caused, how bad it looked, or could have been, God still loved me. I am sure he too was disappointed that I had not behaved as He had hoped. I believe as my loving heavenly father, it pained him to let me suffer the consequences of my actions. Maybe I didn't have to go to jail literally (like Boo's crate), but I still had to reap what I had sown. I also choose to believe, because of His love for me, that He was relieved that I had not hurt myself a time or two by my actions.

I am thankful for God's lessons in life, the ability to learn from them, and his patience and love for me while I continue to learn.

"But He, full of [merciful] compassion, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not; yes, many a time He turned His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath and indignation."  

-Psalm 78:38AMP









 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The begining of my 50th year!

WOW! It has been 7 years since my last post. I know I have been busy, but really?? THAT busy? I think not, more like neglectful, side-tracked, even afraid, yes afraid.  I have felt the urge, desire, no - NEED to write for a long time, but have let the nagging fear of exposing myself keep me from doing anything about it. That is until now. Funny how a silly thing like a birthday, can put things into motion, change your perspective and lessen your fears.

So here I am again, in 2015, having just turned 50! REALLY? 50?!? When did I get to be this old? Wasn't I just crying about turning 30? Looking back, 30 did stink! Not because of BEING 30, but because of the life I was living at 30. The road from there to here was crazy. There were detours, broken bridges, winding roads, valleys and mountains; it was never really easy, but worth every step to be where I am today.

So, where am I today? When this blog first started in 2008, I had just married the man that holds my heart. I am even happier today then I was then. He is my best friend, cheerleader, sounding board, soul mate and love of my life. We still live in the same house where we got married, and I look out in the backyard often and remember that day that my life changed forever.  We still have our Chocolate Lab, Conan - he is eight years old, 120lbs, and my baby boy. Sadly, we lost Booger this past year. Our hearts (all three of us) were broken, and our house seemed empty. So we did what any insane people do, we got another puppy! Not just any puppy, a Newfoundland puppy named Boo Boo. I could write for days about her and the mischief she gets into. She is only eight months old and weighs 76lbs. We start obedience class this weekend, that should be interesting!

We also have loving family close by, my parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, kids, and the most amazing, precious, smart, beautiful, athletic, talented, happy grandchildren you will EVER meet. I love them to pieces! Did I mention BEAUTIFUL?!?

So, what made me start writing today? I was reading a devotional this morning and a sentence jumped out at me. "There are two myths that we tend to believe about our stories: the first is that they're about us, and the second is that because they're about us, they don't matter."   The fact is, they are not really about us but about the transforming power of Jesus. "When we tell the truth about our lives - the broken parts, the beautiful parts - then the gospel comes to life."  I have had my share of brokenness, loneliness, anxiety, fear, sadness, and abuse. That was in my past, now I have peace, joy, love, forgiveness, security, support, rest, companionship, wholeness, contentment, self love, grace, mercy - true happiness! So, what will I write about? Life!

"We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the generous deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders"  Psalm 78:4

WE DID IT

Well, we did it, we made it all legal. We are now Mr & Mrs.
The day went off, for the most part, without a hitch. The ceremony, intimate with family only, was in our backyard. Afterwards we had a big cookout we did ourselves for all our friends and coworkers. It was a blast and full of memories that will be with us for years to come.
Thank you to everyone that helped us pull it off, we couldn't have done it without you!!