another sock?

this week our dog, stella, had exploratory intestinal surgery for a third time.  she likes to eat things that she shouldn't.  though i know we have no clue how much stuff she's actually swallowed, we do know what she's downed that has gotten stuck.  so far that list includes four magnets, two toddler socks, and a third sock, also belonging to our 2 year old son.  stella is officially beloved at our animal hospital.  they tell us it's because of her "magnetic personality" but i think they look at her and see dollar signs.  how could they not?  i do, despite my love for her.  we like to call her "Dazzle" behind her back, because we've spent more than enough money exploring her intestines.    obviously the costly procedure is one that we're really grateful for.  it's saved our dog three times in the last two years.  and though the recovery process is hard for all of us, we are thankful to have been graced with our same, muppet-like mess of a ball-fetching, kid-loving, big, goofy dog at the end of it all.

the last two surgeries were within three months of each other.  dirty socks were involved both times.  it seems like getting horrifically sick, having surgery, and then having a long period of recovery should be enough to teach her to avoid eating socks as a behavior pattern.  people say that dogs are like their owners.  i tend to agree. that's why i decided to start this blog.

i am a stay-at-home-ish mother.  isaac, our son, is 2 about to be 3, and ada, our daughter is 13 months old.  when ada was born, i decided to take a break from a job i loved as a youth minister, and though i spend a very large percentage of my day with our children, i forget so many of the details of their young lives and often times what stirs in me as a result.

yesterday i was reading to isaac from our favorite book, The Jesus Storybook Bible.   It says "God wrote, "I love you"--he wrote it in the sky, and on the earth, and under the sea.  He wrote his message everywhere!  Because God created everything in the world to reflect him like a mirror--to show us what he is like, to help us know him, to make our hearts sing."  I know it to be true that God is showing himself to me in ways I can't recognize because I'm changing diapers and filling sippy cups all day long. And i know Him to be showing himself to me in ways I can recognize, but often don't remember for the same reasons.  I wonder if i were to write about our days, if i might know better His faithfulness and delight more in the insight I may have into His heart as He shares with me the unique and wonderful blessings and challenges of our lives.

i wrote this as if i have intentions of others reading my ramblings, which is funny because that isn't at all why i'm doing this.  i have a lot of insecurities about starting a blog, even if it's just for the sake of recording our days so that i might remember them and learn from them.  even so, here goes.  i'm raising my ebenezers, hoping to claim some of the goodness of God's presence in our lives, and hoping, too, that   i might be growing in ways that prevent me from eating my socks a third time.  please, stella, milkbones only.