But mom!!!! I'm hungry!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just before Arkeo's surgery we had lowered her Prednisone to 10 mg and her appetite had decreased and she lost 3 pounds. So after surgery, Doc Jen put it back up to 20 mg for a few weeks and said when we lower it we won't make such a big jump down to 10mg - maybe go half way to 15 mg because Arkeo "is such a sensitive girl." Yeah right. So now I have a raving hungry adolescent on my hands. She is eating me out of house and home. If you have ever lived with an adolescent male you will know what I mean. We use to say about my little brother that he only ate one meal all day long.

When Arkeo is hungry she comes to see me and boy is she vocal about it. And it doesn't matter what time of day or night.  "I'm hungry mom. Feed me!!!" Now.

We are an instant society. Even our animals have benefited. They no longer have to go out and catch their food. Neither do we. We buy ours in little packets ready to eat in 5 minutes or less. Wait in a line? If there are more than two or three people in front of us we start counting the number of items they have in their carts.Can't wait for regular mail? Just overnight everything.

But not all things come in an instant. It still takes 63 days to grow a puppy and 9 months to develop a human child. But we get impatient in our relations with others or when we're training our dogs if people don't know us immediately ("well he should have known I didn't like that color") or if our dogs don't work like little robots and catch on to a new command or trick immediately ("I know they are just being stubborn. She could do it if she wanted to!)

I wonder how often God has said that about us? How often did Israel go back to worshipping false gods yet God never said, "You're not doing this fast enough. Haven't you learned this lesson yet?" "I'll go find me another people." Yet many dogs are returned to the shelter because they haven't learned fast enough. Aren't we lucky that our God has a better track record as a trainer than most humans do.

So eventual Arkeo will learn to eat at "normal" times but I guess God has spoiled me in this case. Everytime I turn to God for a word of encouragement or some nurture or feeding - in some way or another, God has provided that for me - through a friend, a word of Scripture, some music, sometimes even a stranger - but always the spiritual food has been there.  So I guess I can do no less for my furry kid. As long as I hear that cry for food - I will try to be as faithful as my Provider and provide.

Speaking of which - a certain German Shepherd is calling. So until later take care and keep all four paws on the ground.

Patience and Commitment or Was that a Squirrell?????

I wish that people I knew had the same patience and commitment that Arkeo has. She is getting along quite well after her surgery but is chafing at the bit to go out on squirrel patrol. She patiently sits at the back door waiting and watching during daylight hours, conserving her strength when its dark, knowing she can't see all the way to the back fence. But in her mind she hears the scampering of little paws running across the tops of the fence and she waits.

Many a morning Arkeo would spend hours sitting at the fence just waiting. Committed to "protect the yard" against those bushy-tailed little devils. She sits and she waits. Rain or shine. Watching. Eyes traveling back and forth. Always prepared. Ready to jump and run.

What are we as committed about or to? Family, church, work, God? For those of us who have dogs - how often do we train them? Heard a statistic last night that church members attend worship services 1.8 weeks out of the month. When I was in the military we figured that the average airman worked 68% of the workday. We start out strong, but there isn't a lot we are passionate about these days. Someone jokingly (or not so jokingly) said about the airline security, most of us are not the type to strap bombs on ourselves and I thought that in a way that it is sad, not to have something in our life that we are willing to wait for, be committed to be there 4 times out of 4 times for.  Just think how exciting life would be.

So I challenge you to go out and find your own personal squirrel patrol. Wait for it and be committed to it and then run after it for all you are worth.

And in the mean time - let's keep all four paws on the ground.

Begin Again

It's been a while since we have posted. Life has been a bit of a rollar coaster as Arkeo battled to find a natural balance in her body that would accept the nutrients that she tried to eat.  It is hard to believe that good food can be so harmful to a creature's body. It was a puzzle as we took blood tests and ultrasounds and finally found the right doctor who took Arkeo and I under her wing and found that Arkeo was allergic to a variety of foods and had Irritable Bowel Disease. By that time, she was down to 49 pounds. The prayer requests went up to keep this precious creature of God and my guardian angel well and on some road to health and recovery.

Well it turns out the darling needs to be on a diet of bison, elk or venison. I wanted her on a natural diet. Other vets had tried to put her on a crappy diet that had no substance to it and Dr. M agreed to let me have her on a natural diet even though she wouldn't let her be on a raw diet yet. So I cook for my dog and have frozen dinners for myself. Ah the things we do for our kids - what we do for love.

Well the upshot is that Arkeo has gained 15 pounds. Looks like a German Shepherd instead of an Eithopian Stick Dog.  We've got some some retraining to do because now that she feels better she has the mind and emotions of a 9 month old puppy which was when she got sick and marshalled all her bodily resources to stay alive.  So I have a 9 month old puppy in a 19 month old body. We have some re-training to do. But I'm sure all will be accomplished in God's time.  We may have to try things in new ways but that will be the adventure of it all.  In the meantime, we'll try to keep all four paws on the floor.