A post not exactly about a dog.

We venture out periodically on Sunday evenings to enjoy the beautiful Arizona weather, well that is when it is actually beautiful.

The girls love to ride their bikes to the local greenbelt and we grab our camping chairs and watch the kids climb trees and enjoy our surroundings during a day of rest.



This particular evening we took our dog Echo. Now I'll just say upfront that I have a very severe Love/Hate Relationship with this dog.

I love the fact that the girls love her.

I love the fact that she is a friendly dog.

And admittedly sometimes I love the fact that she loves me more than anyone else in the household.

BUT...

I hate a lot of things about her.

The fact that she follows me absolutely everywhere.

The fact that sometimes she steals Rainier's diapers.

The fact that she is yet another creature that I must feed and look after.

These are just a few.

The truth be told: we are fairy tale dog buyers. We bought her on a whim thinking life would be great with a dog, and went into it uneducated and unprepared (similar to parenthood?) and now I have a responsibility I am not too thrilled about (very UNLIKE parenthood).

Anyhow I'm now off track.

We brought Echo to the greenbelt with us, letting her run free and periodically calling her back, that is until she was so tired she was lingering and panting at our feet and we started shooing her away. (Thus the love hate in play.)

Soon it was time to go and no dog was to be found.

What occurred next was 3 girls in shear pandemonium of panic and tears. Probably close to two hours of driving around the neighborhood yelling her name, some calls to the local animal control, and in preparation for the next day a few LOST DOG fliers.

In the background of the panic there was me, a mother, a little bit relieved to be rid of one of my responsibilities but also a little heart stricken. Worry for the dogs well being was settling in, and a lot of heartache for my distressed children was distrupting my silent shouts of joy.

So then there were prayers, prayers of comfort for us, prayers of comfort for the dog, and prayers of reuniting with Echo.

I knew that the only way I would ever get over the guilt I felt for being happy the dog was gone was doing my absolute all to try to find her. So I too had my moment of prayer and my feeling of comfort.

The girls were calmed enough and were sent to bed, and I went down one last time to check in on Alli, the one who "Loves the dog the most." Her door was cracked a bit and I heard her sweet voice ring out in simple words yearning to our Heavenly Father. Yearning for peace for her, but mostly peace for her dog. Her sweet, simple faith radiated that room and I realized what a lucky parent I am to have a child that has a testimony of prayer, that has a love for her Heavenly Father, and one that can trust that He knows what is best. I waited for her to end her prayer peaked my head in and gave my sweet 10 year old a hug.

I am amazed at our Heavenly Fathers plan for us all, how intricate it is and yet how simple he had made it for us to follow. I am amazed that he would entrust in me these sweet spirits and I'm amazed that somehow I might be doing something right by seeing my children take steps in the lives to do what is right. I'm thankful for this experience.

Just in case you're wondering, and this is no exaggeration, 5 minutes after I walked out of Alli's room our phone rang and some friends in our ward had a neighbor bring them a beagle they found thinking it was theirs. Our friends recognized that it was our beagle and called to see if we lost our dog. What are the chances? If that isn't a perfect example of prayers being answered I'm not sure what is.

I was so relieved and thankful I promised myself I would love that dog forever and be kind to it always. Unfortunately that only lasted until Wednesday when she knocked Rainier smack down on the tile and I found another chewed up diaper under the trampoline. Ugh! At least can I say I will be forever grateful to her for the lesson we learned.