Sandy’s scratches in the paint.
I have a dog that gets so excited to see me when I come home, that he stands by the door on his back legs and scratches the wall until I get through the door. While I have scolded him repeatedly, he won’t stop. He can’t seem to control his enthusiasm for me. So every couple of months, I sand the spot and re-paint. It doesn’t take long for him to scratch up the wall again, but truthfully, it doesn’t take that long for me to repaint the spot either.
Now, let me give you some background on this dog. He followed my kids home from the neighbor’s house one day. He was a stray, covered in fleas. He looked just like the dog from the movie Annie, so my daughter named him Sandy. Keep in mind, we weren’t looking for another dog. We already had two. When we took him to the vet, they found a chip in him. He had an owner and we had to leave him. My kids were crushed, but when we checked in with our vet the next day, we found out that his owners didn’t want him and we were free to take him home. Talk about jubilation, my kids were thrilled.He was even featured on my daughter’s birthday cake that year.
Isn’t he precious?
Whenever I find myself getting aggravated by the hairballs or scratches on the door, I try to ask myself, “Will this issue matter twenty years from now?” The answer is usually, “no”. Life is messy. Pets are messy. Kids are messy. They leave toys all over the place or their school work or their art supplies. My son is like Pigpen from the Peanuts. Remember how he used to walk around in a cloud of dust? Matthew leaves something behind him in every room he walks into. While it may frustrate me from time to time, in the end does it really matter? In just a few short years he will be off to college and I can have my perfectly orderly house and sadly, Sandy won’t be here forever either. The heartbreaking truth about dogs is that they never live long enough.
But, that brings me to my next question. Do any of us ever live long enough? Wouldn’t just about everybody ask for more time with loved ones if they could get it. The Bible says, “Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
I think these are very wise words. Paint chips and messy houses will certainly fade, but the love of family or of the family dog, well, that’s forever. So, I’ll sand and paint from time-to-time and treasure the moments with the people and pets I hold dear, remembering they truly are a gift. How about you? Are you treasuring the things that matter most?
You can hardly see the scratches!
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂