...except knowing the peace of God!

This week has been a nice, peaceful one.  It was really hard to get back to my work week because my weekend didn't have much rest involved.  I am one of the few people in this world who loves Mondays, but I'll admit this one was hard to face; but I did it and have almost made it through the whole week. 

Tuesday was a special day.  My sister Bettye and her hubby Scooter came to Mama's and Daddy's for a visit Tuesday.  It was so wonderful to see them.  We always laugh when we're together, and laughter is such good medicine.  We also got to sing on the porch together for a bit, and that was such a sweet thing to me.  When I was a little girl, I remember Bettye having an album (a vinyl record - similar to a CD for you youngsters!) that actually had HER singing on it!  A solo!!  Oh, my, I just knew I was kin to a star!  Back then making an album wasn't nearly so common as it is nowadays - it was special!  And her voice was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard.  So Tuesday I got to hear it again, and it is still as beautiful. 

Bettye also brought Lola, her precious  silvery black, Poodle-Maltese mix puppy-dog.  Lola and Molly hit it off so well, and had such a good time!  Lola is pretty excitable, while Molly is more quiet, but Lola is pretty obedient while Molly is still learning who is the "Alpha dog" in her life now.  Their antics made for some fun times. 

Molly really liked having someone her size around that she is actually allowed to play with, since the neighborhood dogs get run off if they come into our yard!  There is a Min Pin, Copper, that lives down the road from us that simply drives us crazy!  He's a pretty little dog, but his behavior is nasty!  We tried making friends with him at first, but he is so obnoxious we just couldn't do it!  So, we chase him off anytime he comes over.  Daddy has an old BB gun that we use - it barely shoots, but makes a good pop that scares Copper off.  Don't worry, dog lovers - we probably couldn't hit him with a BB if we tried because of the lack of power this thing has, and if we did by some miracle hit him, he probably wouldn't feel it.  The gun is mostly used for scare tactics!

Yesterday, when I got home from work, I took Molly outside to visit with Bill out in his shop for a bit.  We are just now letting her out without a leash, and she has run down the road a few times, but is getting more and more used to her new home and is some better about coming when called.  She was nosing around the yard, being so good, when I saw Copper wander up.  I groaned, because Molly has a tendency to run after him and follow (or chase) him up the road, and has had to be chased herself.  She didn't notice Copper at first, but as I started back into the house, she spotted him.  Off she went to meet him, but thankfully they didn't leave the yard. 

I went to get the BB gun, calmly calling Molly as I went.  I've found that if I don't get stressed over her wanderings, but call cheerfully and sweetly, she is much more likely to come.  She glanced at me, but Copper was far more interesting than I was, so she stayed with him.  Copper, on the other hand, kept his wary eye on me, knowing I was not the friendly type.  I got the gun.  Copper left the yard, but stayed right there on the street.  Molly was still watching Copper, and glancing at me.  I cocked the gun, still calmly calling Molly.  Copper took a few steps toward his own house.  Molly now seems torn - who do I follow?  I'm steadily pumping the gun while calling Molly, and Copper is really wanting to stay with Molly, but knows I am the enemy moving in for the kill, so to speak.  I didn't want to scare Molly, but I also knew I'd never get her in the house as long as Copper was there.  So I took aim, still cheerfully calling Molls, and fired the BB right at Copper.  Just so you know, the BB probably didn't get much past the porch, but it made that great popping sound that terrifies Copper, which was the whole point.

Copper tore off toward home, exactly what I wanted.  Molly's response was what I hadn't dared hope for, though!  She watched Copper running off, and then turned and came bounding toward me as if to say, "See what I did, Mommy?  I ran him off!!"  It was the cutest thing!  I was so proud of her!  (I realize I'm talking about a dog here, but I'm too old and out of shape to run after anything, much less a dog, and I wasn't looking forward to chasing Molly down the road!)  Molls and I went happily into the house, where she promptly went to Mama and "told" her all about it. 

All this may really sound trivial and insignificant, but for me it is a huge blessing from the Lord.  This placid, humdrum week with all its ordinary activities has been a gift of peace.  In a previous post I talked about the turmoil my heart has been in, and I knew the Lord wanted to begin healing.  In the "Magic of [These] Ordinary Days", He is doing just that. 

God bless your day!

~ Edit Thursday ~

Bill took some pics of Molly last night, so I added them below.

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You may remember that last spring my cocker spaniel of 13 years died.  I wasn't sure when the time would come that I would want another dog - Ginger was such a good dog for our family, and is a hard act to follow!  I knew, though, that I would one day get another dog because we are just dog people.  We love animals in general, and dogs in particular.  There's something so comforting in having a pet that loves you no matter what!

Lately, I have been thinking about getting my Mama a dog for company.  Mama has always liked dogs, and even used to raise Poodles when I was a little girl, so I knew she would enjoy having one.  She gets so lonely, and she's really not able to carry on much of a conversation at all anymore, and what she does say usually has to be pulled out of her word by word!  I thought a sweet, small lap dog would be a great companion for her, and asked Jeanne (she does do most of the house work, you know) and Daddy if I could look into it.  We all seemed to be on the same page (Dad changes pages every once in awhile, but most days he was in agreement) so I began researching what dog breed would be best as a companion for the elderly. 

The Schnauzer was nearly always top on the list.  Cockers and Pugs were also in the top three.  Dannye has a Schnauzer-Cocker mix that is a really good dog, and my sis-in-law has a pure Schnauzer that she says is a good dog.  Add to the mix that they don't shed, and Jeanne was on board! 

So I began looking at Schnauzer rescues - I did not want a puppy, and the rescue place I was looking at house breaks and crate trains all their out-going dogs.  One problem with the rescue, though, was the cost.  They was $200 - $450 for their animals.  I'm not saying that is too much - they vet and neuter all the animals before adopting them out, and some of the dogs were in really bad shape when they came to the rescue.  The thing is we just don't have that kind of money to spend on a dog!  Even if we pool our resources it would have been hard.  Bill really had a hard time with the money aspect of this deal. 

The rescue also wanted to come out for a "home visit" before adopting out the dog, which was really daunting to me.  We live in the country, and we've never won the "Yard of the Month" award.  We have stuff here and there - especially since my packrat hubby moved over to Mama and Daddy's with me!  He keeps everything around back, but still, I didn't know how thorough these people were going to be.  And when the lady began to talk about wild animals getting the dog, or it drowning in Mama's goldfish pond, I wondered if I were looking in the right place!

I began praying that we could find a dog for Mama on our own.  A small adult female who was house broken, with a pretty calm temperament.  I didn't know how or where, but that was my prayer.  I didn't even specify breed, but I kinda wanted a purebred something.

Anyway, yesterday Amy called from her work, The Vintage Garden Tea House, and told Jeanne about a 2 - 3 year old dog that a neighbor of the tea house wanted to get rid of.  Amy went on and on about how cute and sweet this dog was, and did we want to come see it for Mama?  I was really hesitant - there is usually a reason the previous owner wanted to get rid of the animal in question!  But Amy was very persuasive, and Bill was okay with it, so Jeanne and I went.

I'll admit it wasn't love at first sight - at least not for me.  Her name is Molly, and she really was cute; but she is a Shih Tzu, and her hair was completely shaven, and she kind of had that bug-eyed look of a Pekingese. 

But for some reason, Molly liked me.  As she was investigating everything, if I called her name, she came quickly at my voice.  She didn't pay much attention to the other ladies there, but anytime I spoke she would look at me.  It was odd, but sweet!

She was very calm, even meeting new people.  Her previous owner seemed to think she wasn't adjusting to their recent move into the area, and Molly would dig out of her backyard fence and go visit the neighbors.  She is very social!

Jeanne and I took her home (I knew we would!) and she met everyone.  She really likes Mama and Daddy, and climbed into both their laps occasionally throughout the evening.  Mama loved it, and Daddy didn't even mind too much.  I think she may be a keeper!  Bill wants to take a picture of her to post, but hasn't so far.  I found this picture on the internet to show what she will probably look like when I let her hair grow some.  I don't want it long enough for the ponytails I've seen on the show dogs, but I would like her to have a proper Shih Tzu moustache and her ears to be longer.

As I said, Molly is all shaven now, but she is all black like this one, although Molly's only white is on two of her feet (I think I'm remembering right).  Her hair is really glossy, too.  The previous owner gave us her shot records and her rabies tag - she just got her shots October 15.  I don't understand this lady just giving her away! 

This is our Molls.  I was wrong - she does have white on her chest like the sample photo I found!  I can't wait until her hair grows some, but she is really such a sweetie!

Today, I have done some research on the Shih Tzu breed.  I won't bore you with all I learned, but one thing that has really given me peace about this acquisition was reading that this breed is often used as therapy dogs for the elderly, and makes a great companion for them.  From what I've seen so far, Molly will be just that!

BTW, Molly took her place over night right between Bill and I on our bed.  I don't know how long that will last, but it was pretty sweet!  Bill seems enamored by her, too!

God bless your day!

My parents were given a special gift from the Lord yesterday.  Mama was in her chair dozing a little after our "church service" with Pastor Ed Young on TV, Dad was in his bedroom hunting a football game on his TV, and I was on the front porch trying to catch up on my Bible Study and visiting with Karla and Missy.  A little car drove up, one we did not recognize.  As I peered into the passenger window, I recognized a precious face from our past.  Mama and Daddy's former pastor, Dwayne Baird, and his wife Sharon were right there in our driveway!  Pastor Baird and Sharon moved to Tennessee a couple of years ago, and it was a very sad day for my folks.  They truly loved Pastor Baird, and he loved them very much, too.  You don't often get to be good friends with your pastor - I mean the doing things together, eating together, visiting, praying, planning, dreaming together kind of friends.  But we all were with Pastor Baird.  Even though Bill and I didn't go to church with them, we were included in that friendship.

Anyway, Dwayne and Sharon were on their way to a nephew's graduation from bootcamp in San Antonio, and came here for a visit with his old church and some of his old friends.  Mama and Daddy were so deeply touched, they couldn't stop talking about his visit.  We all sat on the porch and talked and laughed together for the short time they had before they had to go.  I had also called Gen to see if they were back from the deer lease, and she got to come visit for awhile, too. 

Dwayne in a skit during VBS in 2006

My heart is so full - just the love of one for another so tangible, I am so amazed at the little things the Lord gives us that mean so much!

I pray you have seen little touches from God recently.  They are there - you might just have to look for them!

God bless your day!