Puppy Love

So this week, on Ash Wednesday, Adam went over to Chad's office and had a discovery of a lifetime! As he entered the foyer, he heard little puppy peeps and his eyes landed on a cardboard box full of PUPPIES!  Eight in all, four cream colored and four brindle.  My first thought when he came home and said, "Uh, guys, there's a box full of puppies in the church" was, "Is this April Fool's Day?"  Seriously.  Who stumbles over boxes of puppies?

So we dressed in record speed, wrapped the babies in blankets and found cute, warm, soft, chunkiness in the form of eight little puppies on a quilt in box that had "Kids Winter Coats" scribbled in marker.  Beside the box was a bag of milk and bread, apparently to feed the little critters.  Our church is also collecting food for our local food bank so this box was set right among the donations (only ruining one sack...well, because what goes in a puppy eventually comes out.).

After assessing the situation, and watching the kids fall in love all within minutes, maybe even seconds, of cuddling these little orphans, I knew I had to make an announcement rather quickly.  "Love on them you guys, but we cannot keep them," I said.  And then the tears began to fall, oh mercy.  I think Isabel took it the hardest, with Grant and Evan being a close tie for second. They were able to gather themselves, and for a few hours, it was puppy cuddling bliss as Chad and I started calling and texting anyone we knew who could help.  In a small town, this might take the form of a sheriff/held elder.  He was able to find a home for one of the eight.  Another church member volunteered to take them to a rescue center who does not euthanize.  So the plan was in place, and then the tears began to roll again.  But Ash Wednesday-Puppy Rescue was shaping up and the pastor/daddy of the house was looking considerably less stressed.  (I was hinting/begging for the cream colored one with the black nose, behind the kids' backs, ha!)

We really do like our sheriff, he's a great guy but he said something to the kids that upset them.  He said, "Well kids, you got to love on the puppies and now you can go home and love on the dog and cat you already have even more."  I'm sure he meant well, and in his eyes, these were words of comfort.  However, the comment really had Grant and Isabel fired up. As I thought about their reaction, I had a thought. And maybe I'm overanalyzing it, but in Grant and Isabel's mind, adding more doesn't make you love the ones you have less, it does the opposite, love is multiplied.  See what I'm getting at?  They have respect for this man, but boy were they disgusted at his suggestion.  I couldn't help but smile, especially knowing how much they love on our pets.

It was pretty sad to see them go.  The kids watched out the window as they were being loaded.  Isabel drew pictures of sad puppies with tears all day, and mentioned all of her regrets (going over in the first place, holding them and falling in love, etc.).  I tried to tell her that quote, "It's better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."  But that didn't help much. In the end, we all survived and were talking about it in a cheerful manner by devotion time that night.

 There are still so many questions.  Who did this?  Do they know us?  Were they watching us?  Wednesdays are typically one of Chad's busiest days, he's in the office/church nearly all day and night.  That day I had tried out a new recipe, Snickerdoodle Apple Bread (http://cookiesandcups.com/snickerdoodle-apple-bread/) and he ran home for a quick bite.  That was the only 10 minute break he took.  Apparently that was all that was needed for the drop off.

And since most good stories should have a happy ending.  It didn't end there.  Two days later, we drove to our big *city* and had the great idea to check up on the puppies (Chad was pretty sure that this was a dangerous idea, that could end up badly(more tears), but he was fine with it.  He is out of town, so knows we like to take on an adventure or two - he just didn't want to come home to any surprises, ha! Chad's thoughts... 9 kids + Becky + rescue center with abandoned animals = questionable outcome.).

First the shelter said they weren't allowing "the public" to see the puppies. I explained that we were the ones who found them, and that I was fine with that policy.  Mostly I wanted the kids to see the facility and help put their minds at ease.  So we toured the cats, small dogs, and large dogs.

You will all be happy to learn that we didn't adopt anyone (that day) and had a surprise at the end of the tour.  Two surprises actually!  They said that we could see the puppies AND the NBCnebraska news crew just happened to be there doing a story on them...and they were wondering if they could ask us a couple questions.

Here's the link:

http://www.nbcneb.com/home/headlines/7-Puppies-Rescued-After-Being-Left-at-Church-293113071.html