Taking A Chance

Exactly a year ago this weekend, I was down in Arizona visiting my brother and his family, celebrating my niece's 7th birthday. I had left Maggie with Ryan and his family while I was gone, knowing she was in good hands and very comfortable there. I called Kristen one evening to check in and she broke down sobbing as she told me Maggie had somehow gotten out of the yard while they were gone that afternoon and she was no where to be found. Even as she was telling me this, I had a peace in my heart that Maggie would be found and all would be well. Ryan's family lives out of town with houses spread out and there were tons of places Maggie could have wandered to. Eventually she was found at a house down the road, laying on their deck just waiting for someone to come rescue her. She got lots of lovin' from Ryan's family that evening and I imagine she had a story of her own to tell!

I never imagined that as I sit here a year later, she has been gone from my life for a month. Although I knew putting her down was the right thing to do, it didn't lessen the incredible sadness and grief I felt at saying goodbye. Although I will always miss that sweet girl, the pain has lessened considerably since I got a new dog. Introducing...Ella!!

I found Ella at the Lander shelter after noticing her picture on a poster at my vet's office. As I drove over to the shelter, I prayed that if Ella (or another dog) was the one for me, He would give me a sense of confirmation. Otherwise, I would be tempted to bring every dog in the shelter home with me! When I got to the shelter, a volunteer showed me Ella, whose name at the time was Comet, and she was as cute as her picture! The lady asked if I wanted to walk Ella around and get to know her a little and I said yes. Well, Ella was quite the leash puller and she dragged me around the shelter property for a few minutes before settling outside the front door smelling the cats that were inside and wanting to badly to get in. I tried to get her to calm down some so I could pet her but it was no use. She was acting completely crazy. As we went inside the main building, one of staff was telling me a little about Ella's background and I found myself filling out an application to take her home for a week or two long trial.

For the first day or two, I wondered what I had gotten myself into and had second thoughts that Ella was the girl for me. As time went on, however, and she got more comfortable with being around me and in my house, she started to calm considerably and was a completely different dog. It didn't take me long to decide she was a keeper. I drove over to Lander a few days later to finalize the adoption and I was excited to show them the change in Ella in just the week I had had her. When we got to the shelter and I let her out of the car, she went crazy again and was completely out of control! I couldn't believe she was acting like that again and was disappointed by the volunteer working said that her behavior was normal in shelter dogs, that being in the shelter environment stressed them out and made them extremely anxious. As Ella curled up in the backseat and fell asleep on the ride home, I realized the volunteer was exactly right. My heart was broken as I wondered if Ella thought I was taking her back there to stay after providing such a calm and loving home (complete with a big rawhide bone she takes to bed EVERY night!). Once we were home again, she was back to the calm and loving dog I had come to know her to be.

As I was driving home from the vet, I had an interesting thought. When I decided to attempt a trial run with Ella the week before, there was nothing about her that made me think, "Wow! She's going to be an awesome dog!!" Nothing. If anything, I thought she was a little annoying and a lot out of control. Whatever possessed me to fill out that paperwork I will never know but it got me thinking about my Jesus. When He died on the cross for my sins, there was no redeeming quality about me. Nothing. I was a little annoying and a lot out of control among many other things. Thankfully though, he saw beyond the rough edges, anxiousness and insecurities and thought, "Yep, that one's mine and she will do great things for me." Whether or not I have done any of those great things remains to be seen but the point is that God saw the potential in me and that's the Angie He died for. I'm so thankful He took a chance on me and I'm glad I took a chance on Ella!