Tonight I apologized...to my dog

I'll go ahead and admit that the stress of moving, being pregnant, and not letting Kara's second birthday go by without celebration has started to manifest itself outwardly. For the past weeks we have been eating and breathing home improvements, realtors, appraisers, contracts, negotiations and the like. Kara and the dogs have sort of had to fend for themselves. But today, after having 3 minor breakdowns over retarded setbacks and inconveniences, Lee sent me out to have an evening at Starbucks with my Bible. It was my first quiet time in weeks (go figure), and I was convicted by the lack of grace and mercy I'd been displaying...especially to our dog Kermit.

Lately, he has had a knack for ruining my projects and being destructive. We'll just say it's obvious and very frustrating when a black dog gets in white paint...more than once. Anyways, poor Kermit has become my scapegoat over the past few days. I've found I have no patience, no tolerance for his mistakes and disobedience. I've raised my voice at him, I've scolded him, I've stared him down. I've told Lee several times we're getting rid of him. Unfortunately, he's the type of dog who acts worse when punished.

So tonight we needed to reconcile. I apologized to a dog. Apparently he was also ready to restore our relationship. He ran over to me and buried his head in my lap. Then he rolled over to his side and ever so slightly lifted his paw, just to see if I wanted to rub his belly. Definitely milking the situation.