It’s a tough life living in this house. You gotta make sure the cats take their naps; you gotta make sure Mom’s chair stays warm; you gotta make sure that blanket stays in place….
It’s a tough job, but I’m up for the task.
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Phillipians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Have I told ya’ll lately how much I love my dad? I love mom too, of course, but I get really excited when dad comes home.
Sometimes, when he rides the bike to work, I can hear him when he comes in the driveway. Mom and I run to the front door so I can catch him in the carport.
But sometimes, he sneaks into the house before we know it; all of a sudden, he’s standing in the office door – so I have to run and jump all around the room until he has patted me and talked to me.
Before we go to bed every night, he plays “roll over” with me. I like it when he makes funny noises, too – he shakes the whole bed trying to get me to bark. Mom just rolls her eyes and tries to sleep, but I think it might be a little bit hard- we make a LOT of noise.
One day we went for a ride in dad’s truck. Mom and I stayed in the truck while dad went inside- I don’t know why, but some folks just don’t want dogs in their stores. but it’s OK, I don’t mind waiting outside with mom.
As you can see in this picture, I was making sure dad didn’t forget to come back out. He was gone a long time, but he finally came back- and boy was I excited to see him!
I hope you’re excited when your family and friends come home too – it’s good to let the folks we love, know how we feel.
and get excited about Jesus coming back too! as much as our families and friends love us, Jesus loves us even more.
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For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

My mom loves to watch old cartoons, especially Bugs Bunny and friends.
One of her favorites is when the monster catches Daffy Duck and says, “I will love him and pet him and squeeze him and feed him and I will call him George!”
That’s the way I feel about my buddy Chip… he was already here when Mom brought me home, so I guess you could say he’s my big brother! We don’t look anything alike- he’s solid black and I’m a red brindle; he’s a boy and I’m a girl- and according to some folks, most importantly, he’s a kitten and I’m a puppy.
But it doesn’t matter to us because we love each other.
We eat each others food; we chase each other around the yard; we roll around in the grass together and chew and scratch each other- just like real brothers and sisters!
I can hardly wait to go outside in the mornings- as soon as Mom or Dad opens the door, I rush out and there’s Chip, waiting on me.
Some people might think it’s silly that we love each other so much, since dogs and cats aren’t supposed to get along. But we don’t pay them any attention – we just love one another and take care of each other, just like God says.
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A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35

So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. Psalm 63:4
I love getting in my mom’s lap – no matter what she’s doing or working on, if she’s sitting down, I will come up and lift my paws to ask her to pick me up.
If I can’t get her attention, I’ll scratch her leg a little, just to let her know I need her. And sure enough, she looks down and picks me up into her lap – she’s even got a blanket wrapped on the arm so I won’t fall through, and it keeps me warm too.
I don’t always sit up there a long time, but I like knowing I can come to her any time I need to sit with her a little.
If you’re going through tough times, lift your hands and praise God! Give Him a sacrifice of praise- in those times when things are hard and you praise Him anyway, that’s when God’s heart is turned even more towards us. He knows what we’re going through, and when He sees that we know it’s worth it to praise Him through the storms, He listens even closer to what we say!
Lift your hands to Abba and tell Him you need Him!

Mom says I’m a “terrier” (or maybe she said terror?). I’m not really sure what she said because I was so busy seeing what the cats were doing. She says “terrier” is French for ‘busybody’. Do you think that might be why she calls me Ms Nosybritches sometimes?
I love to be right up in the middle of whatever she or Dad are doing. If they’re eating chips, it’s only fair that I get some. And if they’re watching TV, I ought to be able to sit in the chair and watch with them, right? Even if it means getting right in front of them.
Mom watches a show that says all dogs need a job to be happy. The man on the show says that a tired dog is a happy dog. That sounds about right, doesn’t it?
I love having a job – I can “sit”, “stand up”, “high five”, “shake” and “load up”, and I’m working on “do si do” (circling) and going through a hoop.
Mom says that God has given people a job to do too.
Each of us should praise God, and each of us should tell others about Jesus and how much He loves us. But we also have other jobs too; some people are supposed to take care of sick people and pets (like my vet, Dr G!). Some people are teachers, and some people make sure that everyone follows the rules. There are lots of jobs!
If you’re not sure what your job is, why don’t you talk to God? He made you and He knows exactly what you’d do best. He listens to me when I talk to Him, and I know He will listen to you too!
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“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16

When I make my mind up about getting something, I go after it with everything I have. I don’t care if I have to jump off a chair, or climb onto a stool, I have a big streak of “stick to it” in me.
I love playing with the kittens’ scratching post- as you can see, I’ve almost played it apart. I’ve pulled the rope loose that’s at the top and I pull it around the room. I’ve pulled the carpet loose from the bottom part of the post, and I’m trying to eat whatever is underneath it. If the kittens want to play with it, they’ve got to get by me.
My mom says she needs to learn from me- she says she needs to go after God’s heart with everything she has, and not give up no matter what happens.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;
For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. Psalm 23
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This has been a pretty rough week. Hope started throwing up on Thursday afternoon; I figured she’d gotten a noseful of something nasty after digging in the wet leaves several times. I called a friend of mine who works at our vet’s office, and she said to give her clear liquids and hopefully it would work itself out; watch her and bring her in if she’s not better. She did seem better on Friday til late, when it started again; we started pushing gatorade and chicken noodle soup and water to make sure she stayed hydrated but by Sunday morning she was pretty weak – all she wanted to do was hide from us, or sit hunched up like she was terrified. The vet gave her a shot to stop the throwing up, which worked but she still was not feeling good, so we took her down first thing Monday- and the dreaded “P” word was spoken.
They said they thought we’d caught it in time- keep pushing liquids, keep her quiet and just love on her.
Tuesday morning I took her back to the vet’s office and they kept her all day, giving her a couple IVs of fluids. when we picked her up that afternoon, they said she’d actually eaten and drank some on her own – they were surprised she had bounced back so quickly; they wanted us to watch her and just make sure she was offered food and water, but don’t push.
Last night, she played with the kittens and stood up on her back legs to ask me to pick her up. She’s even better this morning, trying to roll with the kittens and playing, although she’s still weak and gets tired quick. As she builds back up, that will take care of itself.
These are the facts about what was happening – now I’m gonna tell you what was going on in my mind:
I did a lot of praying and crying while all this was going on- I know that parvo can be a death sentence to puppies, especially if they aren’t healthy to begin with; I felt like she had the advantage of being healthy and well fed; but I made the mistake of looking it up and found out that it can also cause permanent damage to the heart muscle because of the stress it causes on the body.
I begged God – please don’t take this puppy. I got mad- I told God He allowed Tank (my pit baby)  to not get well, even after all the begging and praying I’d done; I wanted to remind Him that I had prayed and begged for Him to allow Daddy and my brother Jimmy to stay a while longer; I wanted to say, “Is this how You treat the people who are trying to serve You?”
I wanted to say that… but as the words were forming in my mouth to shout them out, while cradling that sweet little puppy in my arms, I heard Him ask me, “Is the outcome of this going to change whether you serve Me or not? If I take her, are you still going to serve me?”
My tongue froze in my mouth – I knew that I was at a crossroads and the next words I spoke or thought would make all the difference in the world.
I relaxed the fists that my hands had become, and I cried out to the Father who loves us more than we love ourselves. I told Him that no matter what, whether Hope lived or died, I would keep doing what He gives me to do.
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Hope says, “When Mom got home last night, she and I were both so cold that we had to snuggle under the blankets and watch TV. This is my buddy Fonda who wanted to help warm me up. Somebody please tell Mom that I don’t want any more Gatorade or chicken noodle soup. Just dog food please.”

James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Today Mom says I passed my first test – I rode in the truck with her. I don’t know what the big deal is – I just slept on the seat. It’s not like there was anything exciting going on.
I’m learning all kinds of new things; when I first got here, there were these weird things who hissed and scratched; at first I thought they were some strange kind of dog, but apparently they are called kittens. now that we’ve gotten to know each other, we like chasing each other. they also have pretty cool toys- I stole one and ran through the house with it. I also have a big rib bone that I can chew on, and a tennis ball that I like to chase.
I’m also learning that Mom doesn’t like it when I poop in the house…
She also bought me a harness to wear when we go outside- I didn’t like it at first, but now I don’t care – I just run and roll with it on.
the best thing I’m learning so far is TREATS. Mom gives one to me when I do something good- so I guess that’s another test I’m passing, huh?
so far this “test” stuff is pretty good- some of them might be hard, but I get treats, and rides in the truck, and I get to snuggle with the kittens and Mom while we watch TV, so they’re totally worth it.