My Puppy Is My Teacher: Lesson 1- The Walk

My puppy is my teacher: Lesson 1- "The Daily Walk"

Clementine has been with me for almost a month now- everyday I get to know her better- learn her routine, how she acts when she just wakes up, when she wants to eat, when she needs to go out to go "potty", and when she needs to get out her wild puppy energy.

I'm also trying to get her to learn how to take a proper walk. Ceasar the "Dog Whisperer" says the walk is the most important part of a human/dog relationship. It establishes who is the leader. If a dog walks right beside without pulling you forward, stopping behind or "tracking" by stopping to sniff every single thing, if all their attention is on the leader and they submissively walk at your side, taking all their cues from you- you've established the whole dynamic of the relationship.

We are working on it, but now on walks Clementine stops to "track" and pulls to the right and left. She also freezes and stops when she hears something unfamiliar or sees something that catches her attention. She will stand there alert and frozen until I snap her out of it by giving her a tug or whistling. Then it's like it breaks the trance and she can keep walking. She does this out of instinct- but I'm telling her to snap out of it and trust me to keep going- I know, as her leader, that it's nothing to be alerted by. She needs to just focus on me and keep going. I have patience with her (most of the time) but I look forward to the day when I can enjoy her just walking by my side without the interruptions, stops and starts, stubbornness and distractions that she now has a puppy.

How often do I, as the immature puppy, pull to the right and left, stopping to check out everything that catches my eye? How often do I freeze in fear and wonder at every little disturbance instead of happily keeping my attention on my master and leader?

The journey with God that we all take is called "a walk". There are so many parallels I can draw between my walks with Clementine and my walk with God. Another one is that she needs to walk with me every day. She doesn't know how to walk around the few blocks that I take her and come back home safely. She needs me to lead her and keep her from straying before speeding cars and getting lost. If we don't go on a walk each day, she can get a little crazy, the daily walk calms her down, gets her energy out and let's us spend time doing something together.

I've "spiritualized" the term ''walk with God" so much, thinking of it as this grand picture of my life but maybe it is just what it sounds like- the daily, much needed, literal walk and talk with my Father. Where for a while each day I'm not distracted and "tracking", I'm not frozen in a trance, and I'm not pulling forward- I'm simply trusting my leader and we're both enjoying our time together. It may not be smooth at first, but daily, I'll get it and grow up to be a faithful companion.

"Enoch walked faithfully with God…" Genesis 5:24

She's a great pillow

And apparently she thinks I'm a good head rest

Waiting by the door

sitting at a cafe

meeting another puppy

She's loosing her baby teeth :)

and posing with one ear flopped back

My Puppy Is My Teacher: Introduction

I'm convinced of this: God is not dumb. He made babies and puppies so irresistibly cute that normally sane, independent, even hardened adults will find themselves touching enormous amounts of poop and losing uncomfortable amounts of sleep for these little creatures. If you haven't noticed by my obsessive daily posts- I have a new little white puppy. Well she's mostly white with just a touch of little spots on her left ear and a black lip underbite that gives her a cute pouty expression. Her name is Clementine, she's half Great Pyrenese and half Boxer. Clementine means "Mild" in French- and she certainly is a mild one... until... she's not!

I'd been thinking about getting a little companion for a few weeks. Spring and Summer is approaching and a few weeks before getting Clementine, I'd go to sleep imagining a dog and I running around in fields, going on hikes, cuddling, and walking to coffee shops to sit together in the sun and meet cute guys (what! I'm being honest!). I'd decided that my old excuses of being too busy, traveling too much and not wanting to deal with poop, pee and chewed shoes was not as strong as the case for getting a dog. 

So two Saturday's ago I went to the humane society with the intent of getting an older dog- one that had less of a chance of getting adopted, one that had gotten it's puppy wiggles and chews out and was ready to just nap calmly at my feet as I worked and come with me on outings.

That plan fell through when I realized the older dogs there seemed wild when I tried to play with them and too big to control. A puppy started to seem like a better option- one small enough to train while it wasn't already bigger and stronger than me. The first puppy I laid eyes on in the puppy room was calmly laying in her cage- a sweet little white fur ball. I picked her up and she let me hold her like a baby with her paws around my neck. The decision was made then, that I couldn't put her down because someone else would snatch this sweet thing up- so I walked straight to the front desk with her and signed the papers to take her home.

In the week and a half since she's been mine, my whole schedule and routine has changed. Having her is teaching me some pretty deep lessons and helping me glimpse the Father's heart in new ways. I can not imagine how having my own real baby would change my whole perspective if this little puppy is already changing me so much. Parents, I want to take a moment to applaud you! It must be a scary and wonderful thing to love something so much and yet have to sacrifice so much for that very love. To become so vulnerable- that now if your little one is not ok- you are not only not ok but pained to your very core. I guess God tied conception to acts of passion for a reason! Who could be so brave as to decide to take on having a baby if it weren't for the compulsion of passion?!

Anyway, I'm going to write about the lessons she's teaching me. Maybe every few days another lesson will reveal itself and I will jot it down to share with you. Plus this gives me more excuses to post pictures and videos of her doing nothing in particular at all- just being her cute self. (Even that touches my heart, how must God fawn over us for just being???)

PS. As I'm typing Clementine is asleep on the bed next to me breathing loudly and letting out the occasional horrible smelling fart... but I let her stay because she's so cute...yep... God has a great sense of humor.

More to come… stay tuned! (don't forget to subscribe)

The drive home from when I got 12 week old "Perly Mae" from the humane society...
I changed her name to Clementine- much more dignified.

Our first long "walk" consisted of me carrying her the whole way to the coffee shop (funny enough the coffee shop is called Fido) This is her letting a girl there hold her while I ordered.

Some people say "don't let your dog sleep with you!" well, I just don't see how you can't cuddle with something this cute in the room.

My "business meetings" now include Clementine who loves to be held like a baby. She's also a great way to talk to new people who can't help but come up and say hi to her. 

That face.

Huge paws, sweet black lips and a smattering of little freckles on her left ear.

The Thief

Yes. It really is. Help me God to own my own journey instead of envying someone else's.

Man Your Post!

"Man Your Post!"

God gave us each a "post" and a sphere of influence, instead of just wanting bigger and better, let's just be faithful to our post!

Power Posing and Praise!

POWER POSING AND PRAISE!

This awesome TED talk shows us that God is a genius! That's what I took away from it at least. When we praise, with our arms reaching toward heaven like the Bible tells us to- all sorts of things happen within us. We gain confidence, can handle stress better, and much more... Check out this interesting video and get your pose on!

Books That Have Helped me "Un-Freeze"

BOOKS that have mattered to me and cleared up some wrong thinking that was freezing me up creatively: "Unlocking the Heart of The Artist" and "The War of Art". 

The first is from a totally Biblical perspective, extremely insightful and helpful for Christians that struggle with their creative giftings. The War of Art is completely secular but really puts things plainly and demystifies the resistance and depression all artists can so easily give into.

Beauty, Naturally

Saving Your Face with this simple 2 ingredient recipe!

Girls, guys, whoever- I found something that really works for my skin. It's called Oil Cleansing.

Sounds weird to cleanse with oil but here is why it works.

In the past I've used soap to clean my skin, then it gets dry and overcompensates by producing more oil, the pores get clogged and I end up with black heads and pimples. With oil cleansing, the theory is "like dissolves like". Oil dissolves oil without stripping the skin. I started doing this about a month ago and my skin is more glowing and clear than it's ever been plus this will help prevent wrinkles because the skin is never dried or treated with harsh chemicals. God knows about beauty! With this simple all natural method, you can have glowing skin in no time.

Check out this website that explains it better 

http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com

Principle of Natural Beauty: If you can't consume it, don't put it on your skin which is the largest organ of your body

Simplify. And Have fun.

I will admit it's fun to look at all the products with fancy ingredients I can't even read, glossy packaging and high prices. I love going to Nordstrom and Sephora and trying all the makeup, lotions and perfumes! BUT it makes sense that if you can't eat it and put it in your body, why would we injest it through our skin? Ditch the million different chemical products or "natural" products that come with a high price and replace them with the tried and true stuff that have proven to work for thousands of years. 

For Body/Face Soap: oil cleansing and simple Castile soap like Dr. Bronners 

For Cleaning products: Castile soap, baking soda, lemon and vinegar can clean just about anything- and you won't have to inhale those really harsh toxic chemicals, or support that they are being made and hurting our environment.

For lotion, moisturizer: a tiny bit of Vitamin E oil or olive oil really does the trick better than thick, chemically made creams. Add some scented oils like lavender, eucalyptus or rose to make them smell amazing.

Best face and hair mask ever: This recipe is good to eat, put on your face and your hair! It leaves your hair super shiny and moisturized. Smash an avocado and mix with olive oil and apple cider vinegar- liberally apply everywhere and then wash it off.

The cheapest shampoo: Baking soda and water paste. Put it in your hair and rinse it out.

Perfume: natural oils, they smell great and you can inhale them without wondering about the chemicals. I have a little roll on oil of frankincense in my purse and I love putting it on throughout the day. I also keep perfume samples in my purse (yes even chemical ones) because I just love good smells.

Natural Chai, Vanilla, Cinnamon Body Scrub: I give this out as a gift in little mason jars. My friends have loved it! All you do is combine olive oil, course raw brown sugar, chai tea (I open a chai tea bag), vanilla extract, cinnamon (anti-bacterial), and mix it up! I don't do specific amounts, just play with it and see what amounts you like. Scrub your body with it in the shower and your skin will feel super smooth and moisturized!

Honey Wash: it is what it sounds like! Wash your face and hair with honey- it dissenfects and moisturizes. It's also surprisingly water soluble so it's not the sticky hassle you might think it is.

Buttermilk Bath: Put some Buttermilk in your bath, a good amount and soak. The lactic acid naturally helps dissolve dead skin leaves you glowing.

There are different levels of getting into this whole "natural" thing- some people only do cold-pressed organic oils, some only get organic food, raw honey etc... I say just start with what you can do and if you want to advance that's great. Have fun with it. There is no wrong way.

Girls, I've learned to not work on yourself just for the end result, enjoy the process and the time to be good to yourself. Light candles, put on relaxing music, think of all the things you are grateful for and thank your body for how it serves you so faithfully. Instead of beating your body up and hating it for it's flaws, be kind to yourself and appreciate the awesome beauty that God made you. When you love yourself well and see the good, you can love others well and see the good in them.

I will admit- I've tried all of this and LOVE IT. But I'm still a sucker for some of my favorite perfumes and hair products. But it's all about making small changes and enjoying the process of learning about new ways of thinking and doing beauty! I enjoy making my own products and seeing how well they work! Just start this journey of discovery and see how much cool info is out there.