Paws for Coffee Hour: Lessons I’ve learned from my dogs

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Welcome to Paws for Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power! I’m so excited about this new series and we truly hope you will enjoy it. I say we because a very special friend of CPM, in fact our Director of Development will be co-authoring this series with me. She and I share a common love for our four-legged children and have compared some stories that rendered us in fits of laughter. Laughter, that’s why we are doing this, to lighten it up a bit here at our blog because being in the trenches can tend to make one a bit too serious, if you know what I mean. I need to put the teacher hat away for a bit and put on my student hat…and remember to laugh. Oh, and believe it or not, you will need to bring your Strand of Faith with you to this new series, because after all, you never know what you might learn from a dog! For the first few weeks, it will be on Wednesdays and then as interest peaks, we’ll increase it to two days a week! Grab your coffee and come on in.

There are so many lessons I’ve learned from our four-legged children that it’s hard to pick a starting point. I mean from A to Z, these dogs have mirrored the one thing I know we humans have a hard time giving: unconditional love! Everything I’ve learned from them has been wrapped in the gift of unconditional love.  But before I tell you the lessons I’ve learned from our little four-legged fur children, let me start from the beginning and introduce you to them, one at a time.

During my SOS (Season of singleness) I prayed for my little dog, and I mean I prayed about everything I wanted in a dog. Approximately four months after praying for a dog, He answered and gave me everything I asked for. Not to detour, but it’s kind of funny so I’ll just tell you that He answered my prayer for a dog through a guy that I was dating whose neighbor had both the mom and dad of the litter; mom was a Shih Tzu and the dad was a Lhasa Apso. If you know anything about either one of these breeds, they are extreme opposite so I prayed that she would be the best of both! I wanted her to be cute, and she was and still is beyond adorable.

I wanted her to be smart, and that she is – look, she wanted to learn how to play piano -- but now she can be a little too smart for her little dresses. Yes, I dress her!
Oh, and she needed to be a lap dog and cuddle and let me tell you she is such a little cuddle bug. At night, she comes up – yes, she sleeps with us – gives me a kiss, turns around and around and around, and then with a big humph, plops down either right against my backside or my tummy.
I’ll never forget bringing my little Baraka home -- and no, I did not name my dog after the president. She’s almost 12 years old! However, when someone asked my husband if we had named her after him, he said absolutely not and changed her name to my middle name: Evinda! And she answers to it! – She was just three or four pounds and fit in my purse. She was so tiny and so…dependent upon me. It was love at first sight; was it because she came during an incredible void? Oh, I’m sure it was and I still smile when I think of God’s timing.
It was pivotal and perfect. See, I was going through a serious life change, a career change. I was on the spiritual operating table, so to speak, for some intensive open-heart surgery, spiritually speaking and in the midst of that season, he brought me the first dog I’ve ever really loved. If you are not a dog lover, it’s hard to describe, this sort of bond we have. We’ve come through so much together, and that’s no exaggeration. I know we dog-lovers can be guilty of ascribing feelings onto our four-legged kids, but when it comes down to it, I know she was sent to teach me many things, first and foremost, unconditional love. There were many times during this first season with her that she caught me crying…and she would lick my tears and just look right at me…into my eyes.

And at the risk of ascribing words onto her from her, it was during those times I felt like her act of love was like she was saying, I’m here for you and I love you. It’s going to be okay…There is a constant companion in me, His Spirit, and God’s Spirit within me confirms those very words I ascribed to my little Baraka.

Have you ever felt that from your pet? Be sure and leave a comment or two, and share this with other dog-lovers in your world. We just may start a Facebook page where you can share your pictures and stories of lessons you’ve learned from your dog!

Join me next Wednesday for more … and tomorrow for a special invitation!

Evinda & Baraka