A Puppy Is A Gift From God

When I was younger, I was PETRIFIED of dogs. I remember going to the store in Mexico one day, and the owner had her two-month-old puppy moving around the checkout area. I kid you not when I say I felt like I was about to pass out just by seeing the dog. It wasn’t good. 

BUT I loved dogs and still asked my parents for a puppy because they are so stinking cute. 

For many reasons, my parents denied my request every single time. 

A few years later, our neighbor had two puppies at one of the apartment complexes where I lived. I would wear gloves and be covered head to toe before waking outside to “play” with the dogs. How silly!! 

Anyway, it turns out exposure therapy was the cure to my phobia! Ever since my fear of dogs has slowly disappeared. 

Going Dog-Hunting!

Then in 2015, we were finally allowed to get a dog!! I spent months researching the perfect breed and all the necessities to care for a pet. It’s funny how many “find what breed best suits your personality” tests I took. 

We realized dogs are expensive! So we decided to try the animal shelters nearby. My dream dog came out to be a golden retriever— shocker. And to my dismay, finding a pure breed GR puppy was impossible. UNTIL I walked into a shelter and saw the cutes baby dog ever, he was about to turn two months and had a bright gold color. The description said it was a retriever mix, so I knew this was the ONE. (I looked past the fact that the dog was jumping all over his food bowl). 

Anyway, the following Monday, we arrived at the shelter to pick him up, only to find out someone was trying to adopt him. Not cool. We had a raffle to see who would get him!! You bet I prayed every second as the gentleman prepared the raffle. And just like that, God answered my prayers— we got the puppy!! 

The excitement only lasted so long because I refused to believe the articles that said caring for a puppy is exhausting!!!! 

God is Good

There I was, a sixteen-year-old caring for a puppy who whined ALL night and constantly had “accidents” all over the house. The amount of things the little one destroyed is ridiculous!! He tore up 60 dollars, my laptop charger, and part of the window frame, to name a few. 

Thankfully, it was summertime, so I had enough time to train him before starting school again. But even though it was stressful, I did learn a lot from that experience. 

1. Caring for a puppy teaches responsibility: they require constant supervision and grueling hours of dedication to train them. 
2. The puppy became my best friend: have you ever watched Lilo & Stitch? I basically prayed the same prayer Lilo does when the “shooting star” passes by!! He did a poor job comforting me, but at least I had a living being with me when I was inconsolable. 
3. God knows our desires: this one is the most beautiful lesson from the puppy search. God knew getting this dog would mean a lot to me. Not only was it a way to prove that I had overcome my biggest fear, but it also fulfilled this weird void I had in my heart at the time. I had been slacking on my relationship with God, so having this desire helped tremendously get back into praying. Sure, I was treating God as a genie, and I’m sorry about that; it was better than not praying at all for the time being. 

So to summarize, God is great. He made all things good indeed, as Genesis says. My pup is no golden retriever, but he’s won my heart like no other. I would NOT trade my stinker for all the golden retrievers in the world. I might not know what breed he is, but he brings so much joy to the family that those things become insignificant! He is one of the many blessings that might’ve gone unnoticed at the moment, but in hindsight, I can say that it was God’s way of drawing me closer to His love. 

Thanks be to God. 

Please feel free to share your Wholesome Blessings and any prayer requests. ♡

God is with us!