1. Each personality has its strengths and weaknesses. I can appreciate and benefit from the different strengths. I can offer compassion and patience for their weaknesses. Often their greatest strength is their greatest weakness.
Boon is intelligent, intuitive, alert, and quick to ‘read’ us. He is also uptight, and obsessive. When Boon has planted himself in front of me pawing my knee and staring me insistently in the eye, I remind myself that he is a smart animal who knows how to communicate his needs and trusts me to meet them.

Bliss is affectionate, loyal, and patient. He is also annoyingly clingy and slow to catch on.  When Bliss is underfoot, I remind myself that the reason he is in the way is that he just wants to be with me wherever I am. And he wants to be with me because he loves me. Bliss isn’t Boon and Boon isn’t Bliss. Our children are different from each other and different from us. Our friends are different from us. We each have our own strengths and weaknesses. Let’s honor each other and be patient with each other!

“The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents.” Genesis 25:27

“If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” 1 Corinthians 12:17-18

2. Enthusiasm adds richness and happiness to everyday life.
Our dogs are enthusiastic.  They wrestle with enthusiasm. They run with enthusiasm.  They even sleep enthusiastically! And I get so much pleasure from watching Boon’s rocking gallop and hearing the horse-like thud of Bliss’ big feet pounding the ground as he chases Boon.
Did you ever stop to think that God rewards wholeheartedness and enthusiasm? He has ordained that our eagerness to please him makes us happy. And he promised rewards in the future life for those who served him wholeheartedly.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you.” Deuteronomy 6:5,18

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” Colossians 3:23-24.

“do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do…” Ephesians 6:6-8

3. Companionship and affection have great value.
Our dogs follow me from room to room. They like to be talked to. They enjoy pets and scratches. They appreciate attention, even if it’s just us watching them.
We’re never actually alone. Even when they’re outside, they keep tabs on us. For instance, yesterday afternoon dear Husband wanted a snack. “Are the dogs out?” He asked furtively. I assured him the coast was clear, so he went to the kitchen drawer where the almonds are kept. No sooner had he touched the crinkly bag of almonds than Boon appeared at the glass door. A window was open and the alert dog heard the sound of his favorite treat! We have no privacy, but we have sweet companionship.

Not only do they like being with us, they are nearly inseparable from each other. They run together, wrestle each other, sleep at the same time, rest near each other. We rarely see one without the other. For over a year Boon has licked Bliss’s weepy eye and kept it in better shape than the vet was able to do. It finally seems healed probably because of Boon’s diligence.

The only time they’re apart is when we take Boon in the car with us to run a weekly errand. (Bliss refuses all coaxing to get in the car.) The dogs remind us that we have to make room in our daily schedules to give our attention and affection to our kids and grandkids as our priority.  (and friends).  We are better together!

“The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18

“Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.” Luke 10:1

4. Relationships are costly in time and effort. (And oftentimes money.). When we got our puppies, I didn’t know how often I would have to trim their poodle-type hair that grows like fast-growing human hair and mats if not cared for. I didn’t foresee the dirt they would bring into the house in their thick coats, or the mud that would need to be washed off their feet and legs each time they came into the house. Mind you, we only experience mud in the Pacific Northwest during the Fall. Oh, yes, and during the Winter, and Spring, too! But the inconveniences pale in comparison to the commitment we made to them when we got them, the joys, and the benefits. After all, we always know when a delivery arrives. And we’re never alone.

Human relationships cost time and effort sometimes to the point of giving up our own aspirations for the sake of the other as Jonathan gave up his rightful place as heir to the throne of Israel for David’s sake.

“And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.”1 Samuel 18:3-4. “Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you…And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself…Jonathan said to David, “Go [escape] in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord” 1 Samuel 20:4,17,42 “And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” The two of them made a covenant before the Lord.” 1 Samuel 23:16-18

“He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me”. Ephesians 2:30