Medical Miracle: Animal Rescue

Thank You, God, for

My husband, clean sheets, spray paint, warm baths, ice cream, naps, doggies, Kinder writing, fire pits, hair tutorials on YouTube, candles, baking, Subway oatmeal cookies, books, triathlons, camping, my girlfriends, singing, the pool, dancing, the tropics, my ratty girls, musicals, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen videos, church, Burgerville, strawberries, camping, baby names, Pottery barn duvet covers, wake boarding, freshly washed babies, my family, Etsy, Christmas, manatees, summer, vacations, democracy, movie nights, Bushwackers, the environment, luscious fabric, documentaries, rice crispy treats, and the freedom and resources to blog my life away...

Things My Dogs Have Eaten and Lived to Tell the Tail (get it? Tail/tale - hahahaha)

Children's Books YOU HAVE TO HAVE. Period.

Ain't Gonna Paint No More; Mrs. McBloom, Clean Up Your Classroom!; The Recess Queen; Warthogs Paint; Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse; The Jolly Postman; The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear; Elbert's Bad Word; Caps For Sale; Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?; The Mitten; Amazing Grace; the Rainbow Fish; One (BEST BOOK OF ALL TIME); Zero; The Napping House; The Little Engine That Could; Chicka Chicka Boom Boom; Skin Again; The Kissing Hand; I'll Love You Forever; all the Magic School Bus books; American Girl series;

Monday, June 2, 2008

Animal Rescue

I think that God gives everyone different gifts and passions, and it is our responsibility to recognize these and follow His will for us. I believe I have two main gifts, working with children and animals, and I believe that my talents in these areas are currently being used by my nannying (and future roles as elementary school teacher and mommy) and by my work in animal rescue. This last weekend, though, brought me sadness ("in my heart" as Bella would say!) in the area of animal rescue and I felt like I wasn't doing enough, I couldn't do enough, to help this one stray Pitbull. This dog was found by Laura's friend Par and I used all my resources to try to get him a temporary foster home or permanent placement but to no avail. And then today at the Dog Park, I talked with one lady who is having to surrender her two dogs to the shelter because of living arrangements. It is so frustrating to not be able to take these animals or find them homes. I feel like I have a pretty good network of people and adequate resources, but there are so many dogs and not enough placements. Alot of the smaller shelters are STUFFED with animals right now, so the only choice for both Par and the other woman is to take these poor pups to the pound. My only consolation is that Oregon's shelters are generally no-kill and most doggies do get adopted EVENTUALLY. It is just frustrating when I see people with purebreds that they bought for hundreds of dollars from a breeder when there are so many dogs (mixed and purebred) in the shelter, plus there are purebred rescues for almost every single breed. There is little, if no, reason to buy from a breeder when millions of dogs are euthanized each year for no other reason than no one wants them. It can be disheartening and overwhelming, but I try to keep my eyes on Jesus and know that when I am asked what I did with the gifts He gave me, I will be able to say that I used my talents and passions to the best of my ability to serve those who have no voice. I may not be able to get to them all, but it DOES matter to each one that I save.

One success is Laura and Jerod's new puppy, Diesel. He is a precious, precocious one-year-old who thinks that Woody is the end-all-be-all and follows him everywhere and HAS to do everything that "his brudder" does. Here are a few new pics of him...