Everyone, meet Joy.
Joy chose me a few days before Christmas in 2007. I was walking around
the Petsmart and this dog jumped out and I knew I wanted her. I called my
mom to seek counsel. Mom advised against the dog, and in typical fashion
I ignored her advice. I took the most timid dog in the world home that
day.
Joy was exactly what her
name proclaims. I have never met a dog in my life that loved so much!
She did not love everyone by any stretch of the imagination.
However, those who she loved knew they were loved. We would come
home to an absolute mess! This dog destroyed everything in our
house!!!!!!!!!!!!! But we learned that stuff is just stuff. At the
end of the day stuff really is not that important. We had nice things,
but the nicest part was to come home to a dog that had missed us all day.
even if we were only gone for five minutes we received the warmest
welcome imaginable. This dog was good at love. Once I accidentally
hurt her. I did not know she had a
problem with her hips…. We were having a epic battle whether she would be in
the cage or not. I attempted to force
her into the cage and out came a life ending whimper.
She could not even put weight on her leg…. But she had enough strength
to lick me and let me know she loved me.
The amount of grace shown by a dog is an amazing reflection of God’s
love.
Now that Joy is with
Jesus I have a larger pair of shoes to wear around the house. I now have to make sure Erika is love without
conditions, expectations, limits, or reason.
I learned that love, true love is about admiration, loyalty, longing,
and selflessness.
Joy loved a hand full of
things:
Her
Momma
Her
Meme
Uncle
Jon
Her
Dad
Frisbee
Ball
Sleeping
on the sofa or the bed
Cuddling
She loved! I miss her and desire to learn to love as she
loved.
I am cheesy, sappy,
honest, and lucky!
I will not apologize for
writing about my dog!
She LOVED HER MOM!!! They were cuddle buddies!
She loved to play!
And she LOVED.
