Today, we're celebrating the sale of 3 of the puppies! At 8 weeks old they were ready to go. My son had listed them on-line and we were getting lots of interest, but we weren't seeing immediate sales. Some people would correspond for a series of up to 30 emails, no exaggeration, and then no follow through. The temptation to let fear creep in was big. The temptation to worry that they would never sell was also big, but to my amazement my son would just keep saying, "They're God's puppies." And he really believed it! I started to say the same thing to myself.
What a journey this has been for him and for us, for all of us. Like I've said before, I really think we should all get a cut of his profits, which are going to be huge if he sells the ones we have left the way he sold the first three. All of us have contributed in some way. I drive him to appointments as he holds either the squirming, slobbering mother or my husband takes him with 3 or 4 squirming, slobbering puppies....Someone else will pick up puppy food. Another kid took over all the puppy poop removal duty (that kid deserves a BIG cut). Others walk the big dogs for him while he's at school. The list goes on and on. This has definitely been a family effort, but we knew all the money was his (while actually the university gets a cut...mostly!) I enjoyed watching everyone contribute to his cause and for the most part without complaining!
Today I have to go pick up 6 puppy collars and with 6 puppies in tow, I have to go pick up my son at the university where we'll then head out to the vet together to get them all microchipped and vaccinated. Should be a fun trip! Would I rather be doing something else? Yes. But, I'm so happy to help. Seeing the little pups go off to new families yesterday was really neat. One couple flew in from the east coast of Canada to get one! I couldn't believe it. Had to buy a ticket for the puppy to get home! Another family named their new puppy after our son! So sweet! The silly puppy even has his own instagram account!
The night before the puppies were leaving, we took our family photo shoot with all 9 puppies. Each kid tried to hold one. The littlest ended up holding grass instead as the puppy was too wiggly. The picture is super cute...will include later, didn't get that one downloaded yet. But I did manage to get this one of my son with a whole bunch of them surrounding him.
I knew this puppy experience was going to be amazing, but I didn't realize how amazing. Puppies are so darn cute!! I absolutely loved seeing them, watching them, petting them, holding them....my kids were literally attacked by them every time they went in to visit them in the kennel. They were mauled with love (holes are their shirts to prove it!) It was every kid's dream come true, a chance to play with puppies whenever they wanted - a true side benefit to my son's venture. We will be sad to see them go.
It wasn't all peaches and cream all along the way though and I was reminded of this in the sermon yesterday as we talked about the love of God through discipline. He loves us so much he doesn't want to keep us where we are. My son has had a very hard couple of years, with school, work, life.....he has sensed God's discipline in his life and has not loved that very much. Hebrews says it best, "My son, (I would add, my 'poor' son!) do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary of it (he was weary) when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure (HAVE to)......For the moment all discipline seems painful (oh yeah) rather than pleasant, but later it yields the fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
Yesterday was the day of harvest. The fruit started to come in. All that he had worked for with those puppies seemed like it was all for nothing when we were in the midst of it, but yesterday he started to see, "Hey! It wasn't a waste of time!" I think it gave all of us a vision of what that verse meant. My poor son had endured so many hard times, I didn't know if he would make it or crack. I wasn't sure if the discipline he was under was too harsh by God. I wanted to step in and take him out of all his hard situations and just make him 5 again. All the discipline seemed too "painful", certainly not pleasant as the Bible puts it. But then, the fruit of righteousness and the actual fruit of payment came in yesterday and we grasped finally what God had been teaching him. I think my son allowed himself to be trained, even though it was so awful. He knew he wanted whatever God was doing with him was going to be worth it. As always, I love how God's Word tells us how it will go if we trust Him, but do we ever have to trust. This puppy experience was a great example of waiting for the fruit, not just the financial fruit, but the fruit of righteousness. We all benefited so greatly and learned the lessons alongside him and got to be adored by some fuzzy creatures in the process - total bonus!
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