I adopted a puppy from the Humane Society. His name is Brantley. I’ve had him since May 2013. He was 10 weeks old then.
Now he is 11 months.
In the nine months that I’ve had him, I have learned so much.
1. Brantley is the happiest and friendliest dog I have ever met. I would 90% of the time he is wagging his tail (the 10% is when he’s sleeping and even then sometimes he wags it). He greets everyone exactly the same. It doesn’t matter if it’s someone he knows or a complete stranger. Everyone is his best friend. When I take him for walks and we pass someone, he looks up at me like “Mom, they look fun! Let’s go say hi!!” He never discriminates against anyone. It doesn’t matter the skin color, gender, height, weight, or clothes. Everyone is his new play mate. If we ever pass you on the street and stop to say hi, be prepared to be given A LOT of kisses. From the dog, not me…
This is the attitude I want to have on the World Race. Treat everyone exactly the same and pass no judgement on anyone. We are all God’s children and deserve to be treated the same.
2. Not only is he the happiest and friendliest dog I’ve ever met, he is also the most stubborn. This dog is very smart. He picks up on new commands almost instantly. Getting him to obey them every single time is a different story. He has taught me patience. Actually, I haven’t learned this lesson completely. He tries my patience pretty much every minute of every day. He is constantly getting into the trash, running around my apartment like it’s a playground, chewing up my roommate’s work (he literally ate her homework), and jumping on the furniture. It seems like as soon as I correct one behavior, I turn around and he’s doing something else. Patience is key.
This is also something I want to take with me. The people we will meet will have many challenges. I’m sure they have been through, and are still going through, very hard times. We must have patience in order to help. Patience to listen to their stories and to try to understand. Even if some things that happen we may not like. Hopefully they won’t eat our homework though!
3. Brantley has taught me responsibility. I’m responsible for another living, breathing thing now. I have to get up a little earlier to take him on a walk and feed him before I go to work or school. I have to make sure he is happy and healthy (the happy part is a piece of cake). I have to make sure he is up to date on all his shots. I have to make sure he has clean water. If I have plans, I have to make sure he is taken care of. Whether that means taking him with me where I’m going or seeing if someone will be able to watch him. Sometimes this means that I have to sacrifice going out with friends if it means he will be home alone for too long. This is all a package deal with having a dog, but I wouldn’t trade it.
Responsibility will play a key role on my trip. Whether that means I build that church the correct way and don’t just do it quickly to be done, or interacting with kids in an orphanage and making sure they are safe while they are with me.
4. These are all awesome things that I have learned from my dog, but the biggest thing I have learned is unconditional love. There is no love like a dog’s love. He doesn’t know what being mad means. No matter what. I could have just scolded him for stealing a dish rag off the counter and as soon as the scolding is over he’s right next to m wagging his tail and licking my face. Some days I have to leave around 7 and don’t get home until about 8. I feel so guilty, but grad school is demanding and there is no alternative. As soon as I get home and let him out of his crate, he is so excited to see me. There are no hard feelings for being left alone. I let him sleep with me in my bed. He is the worst bed partner ever. He has to be as close to me as possible. This often means that I end up sleeping diagonally with my feet off the edge of the bed. It might be annoying waking up at 2 am like this and having to push him over to make room for me, but I’m never upset. I love that he wants to be so close.
Brantley is the definition of unconditional love. This is what I want to take with me the most, for both my teammates and the people in each country we stay in. Everyone deserves to be loved the way B loves.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hope, always perseveres. Love never fails…”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
