The Present

She sashayed into the room where her mother sat and placed the present at her feet. Mom was distracted, so she placed her paws on mom's lap--demanding attention. Absent mindedly caressing her head, mom's attention was still elsewhere. Picking up the present, she tossed it in the air so that it bounced on the floor and rolled to mom's foot. Reaching down to retrieve it, mom suddenly grew very, very still.

Quickly scanning the floor, mom moved to the area where her crate was kept. She closed the door; locking her out of her space. Mom kept the bottle in her hand and went for the phone, dialing someone. She spoke urgently--still not rewarding her for bringing in the present to leave at mom's feet.

"Hi, I have an emergency. My dog just dropped an empty pill bottle at my feet. It was filled two weeks ago with 90 of my high blood pressure meds. I've found 10 pills. I must have taken about 10, so it looks like she ate 70 of them. What do I need to do for her?"

Next thing she knew mom was calling for the boy. She hurried to a closet, retrieving a bottle, and then went into the kitchen for an eye dropper.

"So, give her 10 cc's to make her throw up? Okay. Here we go."

Mom forced her mouth open and squeezed some vile tasting stuff down her throat.

GAG. "Oh, watch out . . . it's coming back." She went to the door, pawing to go out. The boy held her and stroked her head as she heaved the nasty stuff back up.

"Give her another 20 cc's? Okay."

Mom shoved more of the vile liquid down her throat. Ick! It was worse the second time around. Up heaved the contents of her belly. Expecting to be yelled at for throwing up on the floor, instead mom stroked her fur and told her she was a good girl. While the boy continued to whisper to her and stroke her fur, mom filled the dropper again.

"Another 30 cc's? No, it is all liquid and mucus. Okay, here goes."

With that mom shoved more of that horrible stuff down her throat. It was so nasty, but this time she didn't throw up at least.

"Feed her some milk and then a teaspoon of soft food every thirty minutes for the next few hours? Yes we can do that. No, her stomach must be empty. No there are no pills, just liquid. Okay. We will watch her closely for the rest of the day."

Then mom wrapped her arms around her, holding her close, "Oh, baby, you have to stop stealing things to chew. This could really hurt you. Come on, let's get you some milk."

Mom and boy gave her a small saucer of milk and then--the best treat of all--canned CAT FOOD. Her tummy didn't feel too good, but she drank and ate. She wanted to please mom. Then mom sat in her chair and boy carefully lifted her up and put her on mom's lap. The cats were jealous of course. She was getting their food AND mom's lap!

The rest of the day, she napped on mom's lap. Every little bit; mom or boy would feed her some more food. Mom held her and let her sleep while she spoke to her softly with loving words and tender strokes of her hands. Her tummy finally felt better and by the time dad got home from work she felt like going outside to play.

Mom cleaned the rest of her treasure out of the crate, cleaned up the "stuff" on the floor, and watched her carefully. Everything that mom usually kept near her chair got moved. She hoped mom liked her present. She had worked hard getting it and presenting it just right.

It has been said that we sometime tread where angels fear to go. We find ourselves having a great time, playing, or just going through life when someone snatches our carefully collected gift from us. Our intention is to have fun, or bring something of interest to one we love. However, sometimes the cost is more than we anticipated.

That is where we often blame God for the loss of whatever we had worked so hard to obtain--and not always in honorable ways. We don't see the "big picture" always. God's ways are not always the same as our ways. Sometimes what we think is wonderful or fun can be harmful instead.

As we draw close to yet another year, perhaps we should consider what is the present we bring and offer to others. When the old year closes and we find a clean slate in front of us again, what will we choose to offer?

God grant us the wisdom to ignore the shiny, enticing things that we may want, but that are not for our best. Draw our hearts and intentions to you. Help us to walk in your ways and to offer you the best present--ourselves with willing hearts. May we touch others with the love you grant us. So be it. Amen.