Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her. But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God.
1 Timothy 5:3-4 NLT
My mother had hip replacement surgery in August. She lives alone. Well except for her dog and although my brother and sister live somewhat nearby, I volunteered to stay with her during the beginning of her recuperation since they weren't able to stay with her 24/7. My brother runs his own business and my sister works full-time and takes care of her young son and newish husband.
I grew up in Texas but haven't lived there in years. May I describe the August temperatures as "stinking hot?" 100s during the day and maybe dipping into the 80s or 90s overnight. I stayed for three weeks and it rained briefly one time. Ack!
I sweat like I had never sweat before.
It was not pretty.
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I arrived on a Saturday while Mom was still in the hospital. My brother picked me up from the airport and we went to visit her briefly before we went to her home. Upon arrival, we let Blondie outside and I read over the
one full page of dog instructions which began with taking her for a walk each morning around 6:30 a.m.
Doesn't Blondie look like an angel?
Well she is not!
I read my mom's instructions very carefully about how Blondie knows her walking route and the next morning off we went: Blondie in her harness, me holding her leash and being oh so responsible. I had poop bags at the ready.
My mom lives by a lake which is the lowest point of the neighborhood. Blondie and I spent the beginning of the walk going uphill. She had a lot of enthusiasm being out for a jaunt and I was already sweating like a piggy and probably looking a bit purply too.
We went all the way to the top of the neighborhood, walked down an alley type street, wove our way down toward my mom's street and then....instead of taking a left turn toward home, Blondie turned right.
We walked to the end of the road that dead-ends at a locked metal gate which separates my mom's neighborhood from the neighborhood on the other side. Blondie looked longingly through the gate which had a huge lock on it and I thought, "What the heck?"
I was starting to catch on that something was amiss by this point so instead of wasting brain-power on how to pick the lock and go through that area, I tugged at her leash and turned her around where we wove our way back toward home.
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A few hours later, my brother arrived with our mom and after getting her settled upstairs, I questioned her about
the one hour walk I'd taken (?) Blondie on in the morning.
My mom look startled and said, "What? One hour?"
And then she started laughing.
Yes, that dog had "taken me for a ride."
Her walks are usually 30 minutes tops.
Don't ever let anyone tell you that dogs are dumb.
They are actually smarter than some people.
Well....at least one person.
Have you ever been outsmarted by an animal?
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