When Life Bites – Inspire Me Monday

Moments of pure joy.  My puppy, Gemma, streaked across the green grass of the playground, the entire first grade class in hot pursuit.  Gemma bounded with delight and the glee on the faces of the little children showed equal enchantment.

I had to come back to the school to bring my son his lunch (yes, that still happens at 15-years-of-age) and instead of leaving our new puppy home alone, I brought her with me.  The first graders captured her from me with complete rapture and took her to recess while I ran inside.  When I came out, they were running and jumping with total abandon and Gemma had never looked cuter.  Within a few moments the kindergarten class joined the melee.

The children shrieked and ran, Gemma jumping amongst them and grabbing at whatever she could reach with her little puppy teeth.  The teachers and I tried to explain how the children needed to not let Gemma bite.  We also suggested that not every child should try to touch the cute puppy all at once!  I ordered Gemma to not bite.  No one was really listening.

One little girl took off running and shouting and Gemma flew after her.  The whole pack of children followed, shrieking and giggling and galloping happily.  Back and forth, around the slide and back to circle a tree they dashed.  No one really knew who was chasing whom and no one cared.  Laughter and shouts continued.

Suddenly, Gemma had enough.  She left the pack of children and ran straight for me, the children flocking along behind her.  I watched in astonishment as the “shepherd” side of her Minnie-Australia- Shepherd-self kicked in.  Whenever a child tried to pass Gemma at a dead run, Gemma would turn and nip at the child.  On they ran, Gemma in the lead, carefully keeping the entire pack of children behind her as she believed they belonged.  She reached safety (my side) and dove under the park bench to rest.

A kindergartner declared the Gemma had bitten her.  A first-grader giggled that Gemma had nipped at him as well.  I explained how Gemma was a herd dog, that she had an instinct to keep her sheep together and she was just acting as her instinct told her to – keeping her herd of children together.  They thought it hilarious that this adorable little puppy thought they, the children, were sheep.

After a moment of not-so-silent contemplation, a boy jumped away from the group.  In a flash, Gemma was out from under the bench and pursuing the laughing boy.  They raced across the playground together, Gemma one step behind the boy’s flashing red tennis shoes.  Again the entire kindergarten and first grade classes joined the chase.  Laughter rang across the grass as Gemma flew alongside the boy, completely ignoring the other children trying to get her attention.  She ran, jumped and nipped until I felt rather nervous on behalf of the child.  Was he going to cry?  Was that puppy not so cute any more now that she was nipping at him non-stop?

The boy turned toward myself and the two teachers standing with me and ran as fast as he could straight to us, Gemma nipping at him with every step.  I braced to catch the dog and console a sad boy for that mean puppy biting.  I was trying to think of a good reason that Gemma had chosen him to pursue and bite.

Instead the boy raced to my side, gazed up adoringly and breathlessly tapped his chest and panted, “I…I am just… so GLAD…so glad that Gemma… picked ME to be… her… little lamb!”

What a lesson!

How many times do we feel that life is nipping at us?  How many times have you felt bit by the very thing that you thought you were doing well at?  How many times do you have to change your course because someone was mean?  How often do we feel hurt by things in our life? How do we enjoy it when life does not go the way we think it should?

Honestly, I have felt rather nipped and bit and sent to stop running in my own direction too much lately.  I might feel misunderstood or rejected or sad at life not going the way I want it.  But what if I’m trying to turn left when God wants me to turn right.  And when I get nipped to head the right direction, do I run harder and faster and feel more joy?  Or do I feel sad and picked upon?  Do I tell people all the things that are going wrong?  Or do I arrive to a group of friends and pant out between breaths of joy, “I am so GLAD God has chosen ME to be his little lamb!”

I am so GLAD God has chosen ME to be his little lamb! #inspirememonday Click To Tweet

Inspire Me Monday Instructions

What’s your inspirational story? Link up below, and don’t forget the 1-2-3s of building community:

1. Link up your most inspirational post from the previous week (just ONE, please).

2. Vist TWO other contributors (especially the person who linked up right before you) and leave an encouraging comment.

3. Spread the cheer THREE ways! Tweet something from a post you read, share a post on your Facebook page, stumble upon it, pin it or whatever social media outlet you prefer—just do it!

Please link back to this week’s post or add the button to your post so that we can spread the inspirational cheer :).

I'm joining my friends @blestbutstrest and @caregiver mom for an #inspirational link up. Check out the great stories! Click To Tweet

So, go ahead! Take the plunge and share your most inspiring post with us!