I have a dog, Gigi.  She is not Lassie.  She is not “man’s best friend.”  Gigi has very few redeeming qualities about her, at least at this point in her life.  She’s 11 years old and has lived in San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and Belgium.  She even has her own passport. She used to go to work with me at the car lot until she bit three Liberty Autos employees, and my Dad had to ban her from the office.  Keep in mind she is an 8 pound ball of hair with teeth half the size of a Tic Tac, and about as sharp. She loved all the female employees and my dad.  She would lie on the couch in his office, preferably on top of his jacket.  She would curl up in his favorite chair and then refuse to move unless he picked her up.  To say she is spoiled is not quite accurate.  It’s more like she has a vision of how she should be treated, and it’s somewhere between royalty and deity.  She always takes my spot on the couch.  She always waits for me to get comfortable before letting me know she wants to go outside.  She is always underfoot when I’m busy.  She always harasses Noel for food.  Now, she has feelings for Noel that are beyond love.  She seems to think that he is the love of her life, not mine, and she can’t understand why I think otherwise.  She regurgitates horrifying things, like solid cubes of cheese, if anyone is so foolish as to feed them to her, and even a rubber foam ear plug.  Now that was a low point for me, cleaning up that mess!  Occasionally a substance like black tar grows in her ears.  AND she stinks!  Bad!  She stinks the same day she gets a bath!  Noel is very creative when describing her aroma.  Some of my favorites are:

• The dumpster behind Red Lobster
• A baby camel
• A bag of Doritos

I always thought that when Noel and I had a child that Gigi would hate it with all her being and would make us so miserable that we’d have to find her a new home.  Gigi has never liked small children.  She barks and snaps at them when they run or jump or laugh or skip or hop or do just about anything.  However, Gigi has had an unexpected reaction to Avery and Lily.  She has taken up the charge of their protector.  She doesn’t try to lick them or even go near them.  She perches on the back of our sofa, looking out our front window, and barks furiously at any and all who approach our house or dare to walk down our street.  If she deems you a suspicious person, do not even think about coming near the babies.  I do not know how she decides who is safe or not. Her “radar” is not always calibrated correctly.  Sometimes she protects the babies from me!  If I’m performing an unpleasant task that makes the baby upset, Gigi will bark ferociously at me until I show her that the baby is alright.  She nipped my niece Rachel on the leg for approaching Lily’s bed!  Now there’s a threat!  My precious, 6 year old niece who is sweet as pie is a credible threat in Gigi’s mind.  Whenever we leave the house with the babies, Gigi is beside herself.  She’s even tried to jump in the car with us.  Upon our return, she smells each child and the re-assumes her perch on the back of the sofa.

Now, as much as I like comparing God’s love for us to a parent’s love for his or her child, sometimes I think it’s something closer to how I love Gigi.  As I’ve said before, Avery and Lily are so easy to love.  Even when they do something gross, no one is even bothered!  My friend Janie was holding Lily just yesterday, and Lily spit up all over her.  Janie just smiled and laughed!  She wasn’t the least bit upset.  Believe me, if Gigi threw up on anyone, the outcome would not be laughter.  Despite all her grossness, selfishness, general worthlessness, I love her.  I’ve removed gum from her facial hair when she’s tried to eat it off the sidewalk.  I’ve medicated her ears when they start growing bacterial cultures.  I’ve come up with new and ingenious ways to drug her with Benadryl when her allergies flare up.  I’ve even walked the streets in the dark on the day after Christmas when she decided to run away. (See Footnote)  Oh yeah, I forgot that she runs away every chance she gets.  You’ll see her scurrying, tail tucked between her legs, totally terrified, but still running away.  It’s like us, human beings I mean.  We run away from God and His love and protection.  Scared and confused, we’ll scurry off into the cold, dark night.  Thankfully He always comes looking for us.

Footnote

Noel does all these things and more for Gigi.  He defends her every time I get frustrated with her.  I am thankful for, although baffled by, his love for her!

Now pictures of babies!!!!!

Lily and her daddy on Father’s Day

Avery and her daddy on Father’s Day

Lily on Left and Avery on Right