Ooooo pick ME!!!

If he could, he'd tell you..."Hello, my name is Jake and I'm adopted!"

My parents adopted Jake this year from a shelter. He couldn’t be a better fit for the family. He’s affectionate and wacky and in no time at all had everyone cooing over him!

I have started and stopped writing this entry many times in the past month. Why you might ask, because I’m afraid that what I’m about to say may push sappy to the extreme! But here goes….

Adopting a pet is a choice. It’s a choice to love a new member of the household. A choice to provide for their needs. A choice to make changes to your lifestyle. A choice to be woken up from a dead sleep because they jumped on the bed chasing an imaginary bug!

What we tend to forget is that Jake had to make choices too!

He had to choose if he wanted to be accepted. If he wanted to give affection. If he wanted to let his annoying sister (ME) rub his belly.

Love IS a two way street.

If you want to grasp love, here’s the best way I can lay it out for you….it’s giving and receiving.

Lane 1: To give love takes putting someone else’s needs equivalent with yours and often ahead of yours. Love is saying yes I want you in my life. Love is saying even though you chose to hurt me, I still choose to love you.

Lane 2: To receive love is to accept that you matter to someone. It’s knowing that it gives you the power to hurt them, and if you choose to love them in return, that they have the power to hurt you. It’s accepting they know the good the bad and the ugly about you and accept it all.

Now I know what you’re thinking…”Anita, love isn’t always a two way street, I’ve love and haven’t been loved in return.” Well that still took two forms of action, but in this case, the individual(s) were going against traffic. They chose (an action was still done) not to receive.

Do you think my parents would choose to not have Jake to cuddle and play with? To laugh at when he’s sits in front of Dad’s computer monitor while Dad’s using it. To hold and pet if they’re having a bad day just because some day he might cough up a hairball on the floor? Please! Of course not. It’s better to love.

Do you think God would hold back sending His one and only son to die for your sins because one day you are going to sin? No, he didn’t. He gave His son knowing we’d need forgiveness.

And to any of you that are struggling with allowing people to love you, know that you ARE worth loving. Let somebody love you and choose to see all that they love about you instead of all that you don’t love about yourself. One day your opinion about you just might change.

As always and with no light sentiment, I LOVE YOU!