Puppy love and Perspective...

My puppy has been rather destructive here lately in our home and it is not making me happy. Here is a list of the things (that I can think of) that she has destroyed since coming to live with us last March. 3 pairs of my shoes, 2 pairs of slippers, 3 Christmas ornaments, 1 snowman draft stopper guy, potpourri, C’s glasses, my glasses, she’s been chewing on my coffee table, peeing and well, let’s just say she has been leaving brown deposits on my carpets, one of my mom’s lamb knick-knack things, a candle, water bottles, soda cans, ribbon, beef stroganoff, a pan full of grease from frying something the night before, … I think you get the idea. Yesterday when C and I got home from the morning service there was a broken ornament at the bottom of the steps and a “brown deposit” on the carpet. I was not happy. When we left for service last night we put her in her kennel. I’m tired of dealing w/ all this and she will learn that I. AM. THE. BOSS!!! We got home last night and well… YUCK!!! She apparently had gotten ‘the runs’ in her kennel. There was p o o p everywhere! C was soooooo awesome and cleaned it up and I bathed her. Every morning she wakes me up by running into our room and jumping on the bed and landing right on my head. You’d think that by now there would be an ad in the paper for a free puppy, right? Well there isn’t. Because sometimes she is just so darn CUTE! This morning, she came prancing into the office with “Howard” in her mouth, (For those of you who do not know who ‘Howard’ is, he was a dog toy, a stuffed Mallard Duck, he was Duke’s, he got named Howard because of the movie Howard, the duck. Have I ever seen it? No, but I remember the title. C may have actually named him, I really don’t remember. Well, we are onto about our 4th ‘Howard’ by now, and actually this one isn’t even a duck it’s a goose but it is still ‘Howard’) ANYWAY......Josie wanted to play. So I did. I got down on all fours and we played with Howard, she even tried to tease me like she does Duke, by running a little ways away and stopping and looking back to me. SO CUTE! And that, my friends, is why she gets to stay here.

Now on to the perspective part of my day…
I'm not working right now, and well our bank account doesn't really like that. Apparently it costs us more to live than C actually makes. I’ve been really bummed about how we don’t have the money to do all the stuff that I’d like to do for Christmas (and other things) this year.
I woke up this morning and did my usual routine; coffee and internet. I logged onto my email accounts and opened some blogs to read. I ran across a blog where the author made a very good point regarding how some things we think are major just really aren’t in the grand scheme of things and it hit home with me... for about 30 seconds and then I went on with my routine.
I opened another window and logged onto a scrapbook message board. It is amazing how something so routine and so trivial (in someone else’s eyes) can change your whole perspective on life. A friend, (whom I’ve never met in real life) woke up this morning to find that her 28 month old daughter had died in her sleep. : insert screeching halt noise here: Holy cow. I can not even begin to imagine what this family is going through right now. The heartache and despair is unfathomable to me. This is not the first child that they have lost to death either.
Here is where the perspective part comes in; here I’ve been bummed because I’m not able to make Christmas as big this year as I’d like, I still have my house, vehicles, food, clothes, necessities of life, my husband, and family. I do miss my mom more now than ever but there are people whose problems are so much bigger than mine. I have friends and family members who are in the midst of divorce and friends who are dealing with the loss of family members, friends who are dealing with misbehaving teenage children. And here I am sad because I don’t have a Cricut???? I’m bummed because I can’t buy gifts for my husband who really doesn’t NEED anything??? I’m whining because I don’t have some items I wanted to add to my decorations???? WHAT. IN. THE. WORLD???? How spoiled, how self-centered, how selfish can I be???? Here I sit in my warm home addressing handmade Christmas cards to friends and family with the inside verse reading “It was the simple gift of love that changed the course of the world”. And I’m acting like some spoiled brat because I can’t keep up with the ‘Joneses’. Wow. Can you say reality check? I’m so thankful that I had this wake up call. I certainly do wish it hadn’t come at the expense of someone else’s loss. My heart grieves for my friends and their families who are dealing with these major situations in their lives, I will pray for them everyday. I will also pray that I am able to keep things in perspective and not harbor such selfish notions. What matters is WHO is in my life and not what is in my life. I am blessed with many friends, I have a wonderful husband, my family supports me, and the best part is that I know Jesus Christ as my Savior and Friend. Remember this holiday season, and always really, that it isn’t about what we have, but who we have.