February 3, 2021 My family has three oversized cats, but my husband and I are really dog people. While we had a cat or two growing up, my family was a dog family. We were loyal to a particular breed: the Saint Bernard. We had several of them growing up. Despite their size, their drool and their shedding, I maintain that Saint Bernards are the best dogs on the planet (I’m prepared to argue that point). So, I had more than a little puppy envy when my twin sister, Deanna, posted pictures of the puppy that will soon be hers: a beautiful, chubby female Saint Bernard puppy. It seems like the logical question is, “why would a dog person who has serious puppy envy have three oversized cats instead?” I’m not in a season of life during which it would be appropriate for me to have a dog. I’m not home enough to walk a dog/let it out a handful of times every day. We like to travel. It’s easy to leave cats home when we go on long weekend trips or vacations. If we’re gone longer than a couple days, we have a neighbor who stops in once a day to provide care for the cats. Dogs are not that easy. Jake doesn’t love dogs and is afraid of some dogs. So, we’re in a cat season of life. My puppy envy had me reflecting on the fact that God gives us different seasons in our lives in a lot of ways. Often, we’re in seasons that aren’t what we would consider the ideal – seasons we wouldn’t choose for ourselves. But there are gifts and blessings in every season, even the ones that aren’t what we would choose for ourselves. I’ve come to love this cat season and these cats. They’re cuddly, they’re fun/funny, and two of the three are rodent killing machines. Adam and I hope to someday get a dog. Adam thinks we’ll get something like a dachshund (he’s a smart man, but he can’t be right all the time). I hope we’ll have a Saint Bernard season. For now, though, we’re trying to enjoy the seasons as God gives them to us. |
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