I'm Gonna Party Tonight!

Humans have no idea how long a "year" is for a dog. Dave and Cathy rarely get excited about New Years eve. Most dogs, on the other hand, spend most of their lives waiting. Waiting for their people to come home, waiting in the car, waiting on a chain, waiting for dinner. Since we live in the "now" waiting can seem like forever, a string of "nows" spent waiting. And since a human year seems like seven years to us, we store up a bunch of New Year's resolutions. I'm so excited! Here are some of mine:

I will be a better citizen of planet Earth, spreading more joy, comfort and love.
I will remember to relax when meeting new people, or when I find myself in a crowd.
I will control my barking at neighbors and people ringing the doorbell, and not just blurt it out.
I will stop ducking under the seat of the car under overpasses on the highways.
I will remember to eat more slowly.
I will get Cathy out for more exercise.
I will stop bugging Ashley (a dog) by trying to lick her face.
I will stop upsetting Cathy by rolling in scat.

There! One for each dog-year plus one more for good luck!

So, what is YOUR New Year's resolution? I hope this new "year" is the best one ever, full of blessings for me, for you, and for the whole world!

Would you do me a favor and spread this idea: If each one of us becomes peaceful, then the whole world can live in peace. We must change ourselves, one person at a time. Thanks! M

Christmas Eve

It's interesting that humans keep track of dates and times. For me, everything pretty much happens in the now. Don't get me wrong, I know what "wait" means, but I usually wait in the now, moment by moment!

Humans have names for each minute, day, month and year. Wow. They even have B.C. and A.D.! Now, that fascinates me. How can so many people dismiss the importance and impact of Jesus on the world when all of human history is kept track of by using His life as the peak dividing point? Everything that happened Before Christ is B.C., and A.D. means "In the year of our Lord", translated from Latin.

Cathy reminded me that tonight we are celebrating Jesus' birth in a stable. Wow. A guy born in a stable has all of history ordered around His life, and many people don't want to be "offensive" by saying Merry Christmas? Doesn't everybody live by the same calendar? Doesn't that mean they all can recognize His birth without getting offended? I mean, I've heard He wasn't really born in winter time, but hey, who needs an excuse to party, right? If it was up to me, we'd party all of the time, in the now.

Well, that's my thought for now. I hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Keeping the Homefires Burning

Now I think I know what the phrase "Keeping the home fires burning" means. It's supposed to get down to 11*F tonight and Dave and Cathy are dripping faucets and keeping the fire going in the wood stove all night so the water pipes won't freeze. It gets so cold here there is a built-in heater in the garage!

Friendships can be like that. If we don't make the effort to keep them going, they can slowly turn cold, break, and the love leaks out until they're empty. That can happen in our relationship with God, too. If we don't work to keep the Holy Fire burning in our heart, our Spiritual Life grows cold, freezes up, ruptures and the Holy Spirit leaks out. Instead of wood we use Prayer, Worship, Communion and the Bible to keep the Fire burning strongly inside of us so we can feel its warmth and protection! It's so easy to let it burn down until the world becomes overwhelming, like a creature prowling around us in the dark. Well, we know who THAT is!

Christmas is a great season to rekindle relationships, and to resolve to keep them going in the New Year. Jesus was born to rekindle our relationship with God, to give us the Fire and to show us how to use it and how to keep it going. Let's rejoice and gently share its warmth with others who are out in the cold.

Post Office at Christmas Time

Today we stood in a long line at the Post Office. People were very angry that only one window was open 4 days before Christmas. I remember hearing Cathy quote her father once, saying "Good manners are the lubrication that allows people to live together, elbow-to-elbow in a civilized society.". Well, there was a lot of squeaking and clashing of gears going on in that Post Office today. Why do people feel it's ok to be rude? Do they think it's going to make a situation better? Does it make them happy to be in a bad mood? Where was the "Christmas Spirit" that everyone talks about? I decided to hide under a table in case somebody went "postal". Cathy wanted to get everybody to sing Christmas Carols, but lost her nerve when she saw the looks on peoples' faces. Dave and I didn't think it was a good idea to do that in a government establishment under the current "politically correct" circumstances. So we stood there and listened to people griping. Why couldn't they be counting their blessings? It was snowing outside, and we were inside where it was warm and dry. Nobody looked hungry except the Postman who skipped his lunch break to keep his window open. I heard the other worker skipped her lunch break to go out and deliver mail in the snow.

Speaking of snow, I love how it covers everything silently with a soft, white cloak. Sometimes we don't even know it's happening, like when it snows while we're asleep. I think when we have Jesus in our heart, that's what happens to us. Jesus covers us with His own clean, soft, white cloak, like snow. It covers all of the dirt we've accumulated in our souls from living in the world, and makes us look pure and beautiful to God. Now THAT'S something to be joyful about! What a Gift! What if we saw each other that way?

Out of the Comfort Zone

Some days I just don't feel like getting out of bed. I have a major anxiety problem that makes me shake so badly our police chief wanted to name me 'Quiver'. HA HA HUM BUG! First of all, I don't like getting stepped on. I'm only 14 inches tall at the shoulder, so I'm on an eye level with most peoples' knees. Cathy is always going places like church, or WalMart. I get so nervous that I crowd too close to Cathy and get stepped on anyway! Have you ever seen how many feet there are at a Diocesan Convention? And excuse me, but I HATE being groped by people I don't know. Why does everyone have to touch me? They spot me clear across a room and make a beeline for me. Of course I AM beautiful and I'm worth it, but I just don't get any respect! When I wear the Service Dog cape it's better, but many people still ask Cathy for permission to touch me. Only a very few ever ask me! And the loud noises! They can really startle me!

So, why am I a Service Dog? Because I love seeing the positive effect I have on people. I mean, obviously it's not me, but God working through me Who works miracles every day. Like the elderly lady in the hospital who asked if I could come into her room. She was really nice. She stroked me and chatted with Cathy for about ten minutes. Many of the staff came and stood in the doorway, watching. When we came out they told us the lady hadn't responded to anyone since she'd been there.

I could tell you lots of stories. Like the man in the convalescent hospital who had a seven-way bypass and wanted to be baptized. He was just another stranger until he was baptized. I can't describe to you what I saw and felt, except that suddenly he was an old friend. I wanted to be near the Holy Spirit Who entered him when he was baptized, so I hopped up on his bed, crawled under his arm and went to sleep!

So what's my point? It's that we often must step outside of our comfort zone for God to be able to use us for His purpose. That's why, when that Service Dog cape comes out I come running and dive into it head first, shaking all the while. I know God is going to use me somehow. All I have to do, as hard as it may seem, is to show up.

So, my advice to you, the next time you are anxious about what to do in a certain situation, is to just show up. Open yourself to the Holy Spirit and he'll show you what to do. It's always been worth it in the end!

(Note from Cathy...It is usually a battle to get Missy to stay home. She doesn't like to leave me alone with my pain. It's amazing how, just having her with me reduces the amount of medication I have to take. Occasionally, when she's been on the go quite a bit, she chooses to opt out of going, and I always give her the right to choose. She is very independent, and lets me know when she is ready to go again, which is usually the next day.)

Yesterday Dave decided to give Cathy her Christmas present early because her back was hurting again. So we went to Big 5 and got an "inversion table". I thought maybe it had to do with fog, and moisture in the air, but no. It's this thing you lie on and hang upside down. Can you believe it? I'm NOT getting on that thing. Life is hard enough trying to figure what's up and what's down without changing it all. But Cathy says that's what being a Christian is like...turning it all upside down. The rules of the world don't really apply anymore...love your enemies, turn your cheek, don't be materialistic, etc. I think I understand, but I'm not sure. How do I turn the other cheek without getting my ear bitten off? Peace is great, but does that mean I'm supposed to let other dogs beat me up and take my food? Luckily, that doesn't happen in our house. Ashley must already be partly a Christian dog, 'cause she never bothers me even though she's bigger and finishes eating faster. Cathy was having a discussion with some other volunteers last Tuesday, and they were trying to explain Christianity to another volunteer who got turned off to the church because of 'hypocrisy'. They said Jesus writes His laws on your heart, and that's why you know right from wrong. That your actions make you a Christian, that you wear it on your heart, not your arm. Does that mean you have to have open heart surgery? Cathy says yes, in a way, because you have to open your heart to Jesus. She says you can do that in private, but that we need help from other Christians to remind us to follow the laws on our hearts, not the louder ones in our heads. I'm gonna have to ponder that.

Christmas baskets

Today Cathy and Dave and I delivered some Christmas Baskets (why do they call them baskets when they are really a couple of boxes filled with food) to some houses. All of the people had dogs, so why didn't we give them dog food too? The people were really happy to receive the food, but I noticed that Cathy and Dave seemed even more happy to be giving out the food. Hmmm. I guess, if I was sure I had enough food, I might be willing to leave some food in my dish outside so the strays in the neighborhood could have some. Would that make me happy?
Why do some people have so much and some people have so little? I used to live with a dog named Tessa Lou. If there was anything to be eaten, or played with, she would take it, willing to let the rest of us go without. It didn't bother her one bit. I've known many dogs like that. Humans seem to be different, at least the ones I've observed. They even give me food off of their plates, and share sleeping space with me. They take in stray dogs and feed them, bathe them and keep them warm.
But you know, I see human strangers sitting by the road every day and no one picks them up or takes them home and cares for them. I wonder why? I've heard of shelters for humans. Do they euthanize them if they stay there too long? Did those humans get dumped off in the country like I did? I'd really like to find a way to help them like I was helped. I'm going to try to communicate with Cathy and Dave about this. Maybe that way I can be of even more service, since I'm a Service Dog. If you have ideas, send them, ok?