August 16 Martha's Musings

I have mentioned before that Hubby and I adopted a little terrier a year ago, and we named him Carlos. Carlos is bright, funny, inquisitive, slightly hyper, and great company. He is also very determined to protect us from unseen danger, which he is sure is lurking just beyond our fence line. When one is only a year old, like Carlos, one does not know what is and what is not dangerous. Carlos always errs on the side of caution and therefore considers EVERYTHING dangerous. He therefore barks, loudly, at such dangers as our neighbors out for a morning walk, folks taking their well-behaved doggies on a stroll, the garbage collectors doing their job, Amazon delivery people, Pizza delivery people, etc. As I mentioned, Carlos is intelligent, and when I tell him “No”, he argues with me. How is that possible, you ask? Let me explain. He looks directly at me with those adorable brown puppy eyes and starts yipping and sort of mewing at the same time. He does this repeatedly, at which time I am laughing so hard that I can’t stay mad at him, which was his plan all along, I am sure. He is also very persistent – he does not give up easily when he sets out to do something. He is a short dog, with short legs, and when he tries to jump up somewhere, like on the sofa, he makes several trial runs. You can see him go up and down in preparation for “the jump”. His little nails tap, tap, tap on the floor, his eyes remain fixed on the sofa, and when he is ready, he gives it his all and jumps right up there. You would think he had scaled Mt. Everest! He is SOOO proud of himself, and expects praise from his
owners, which he receives. Carlos is a perfect example of God’s gifts to mankind. Not only is he cute and fun, he is also admirable. He shows me daily never to give up, just keep at it, practice until you have mastered your fears, then go for the gold! Imagine that an entire human being, with my much larger brain, can learn useful information from a much smaller canine. Now, only The Creator could manage this miracle. And the cool thing is, He didn’t have to. God just loves us enough to fill every corner of our lives with good things. All we have to do is take notice and say, “Thank You”.

Blessings,
Martha Arizpe, St. John’s Prayer Team