Lucy, you gots some splainin' to do....

We have a new member of the family! Meet Lucy, our 11 week old beagle pup.


For a long time the Man and I have joked about how he is a dog person and I am not. We had agreed that someday when the kids were older, we would consider a dog, but I was not in any rush to have another 'kid' to take care of. At some point last year I came to the realization that someday would probably be here sooner than I thought, and that I needed to start changing my mindset about dogs. As a kid I liked and even wanted a dog, but at some point I just started disliking everything about them. The smell, the hair, the slobber, the poop that the neighbor's dog left in my yard, and last but not least the incessant annoying barking of dogs left outside early in the morning and late at night. I knew that I would have to get over all of this at some point if I wanted to give my husband this desire of his heart. So I started praying and asking God to change my heart towards dogs.
Well, God has a sense of humor as we all know, because not only did He start showing me all the great things about dogs, but He showed me that I really did want one! Suddenly I found myself petting the dogs of strangers and chuckling to myself when the neighbor dog woke me early in the morning. I thought it must be a fluke or hormones or something, but my Twilight Zone experience kept on. So for the last month or so I began praying that if God really wanted us to have a dog, that He would drop the right one on our doorstep.
I consulted my best friend, and asked her opinion. I thought she of all people, being a busy mom too, would help me to see what a bad idea this was. Instead, much to my surprise, she encouraged me to go for it. She said that in a few years, the Tyrant will be in school and I may go back to work full time. Being a stay at home mom now, I have more time to devote to training a dog. I had to admit she had a good point. I confessed my secret love to my husband, much to his delight.
I continued to pray for the perfect dog for our family, and for Him to help us do this financially. We saw an English Bulldog in a petstore that was really sweet, but choked on her $1300 price tag. We checked out some local adoption agencies that foster dogs, but most wanted $250 to adopt even a stray mutt.
All this time we were also keeping an eye on Craig's List, which is where we had found our cat a few years ago. The Man found a beagle pup listed, and I realized what a great choice she could be: not too big, short hair, sweet temperament. We contacted the man and before we knew it, she was here! He had bought her from a pet store but had realized later that he just did not have the time to train her or spend with her. He only wanted $100 for her, which is amazing! He also gave us her food dishes, collar & leash, food and two crates. I don't know why I'm surprised when God answers our prayers, but wow! What amazing answers He gave us! Lucy is a sweet little thing, although naughty in only that way that puppies are. We are totally in love!