Pearl!

After moving from Summerville to the upstate in 1993, my parents decided we needed a dog and bought a lab named Shadow.  A few years later we added a yellow lab to the mix, Cashew, and decided to raise some pups.  She was the momma to our first litter of 12.  I'll always remember the excitement of seeing those puppies being born and taking care of them.  I can remember bottle feeding in the wee hours of the night and then sadly trying to save the runt by wrapping him in a heating pad. The hardest part for me was letting them go because my daddy wouldn't let me keep all 12.  Ha!  I wonder why not?? After having two litters, I was able to buy my first car!  Successful entrepreneur I was at 16, with some help from my parents of course. 

 So fast forward to yesterday, after J lost his coon dog a couple of months ago, we went to look at some precious puppies of our friends the McCraws.  My parents have started to have the puppy itch after losing their Cotton a few years ago, but just aren't quite ready and neither were we really...but when Candace walked into Sunday School on Sunday morning and said that she had a puppy she'd like for Jett to have, I couldn't say no.  As hard as this upcoming year is going to be, this precious puppy is going to bring so much sunshine and happiness to our world.  She already loves chasing her brother and gives me all the loving, and J is smitten with her too.  

I couldn't help but think of a pearl when trying to decide on a name.  As I tossed around tons of name choices and even asked Jett to pick out some, Pearl kept coming to mind.  I've always loved pearls (working in the jewelry store led me to have several sets) and can remember the story from the Bible about the merchant looking for fine pearls and how this is similar to finding the Kingdom of Heaven.  

The way a pearl is made is so much like this crazy disease called cancer that I've just been introduced to.  The sand is an irritant to the oyster (isn't cancer as well??) , finding its way into the shell, eventually making a beautiful pearl in the end.  I can only pray that this newly diagnosed irritant in my life will lead to a beautiful ending, showing God's grace and love in every situation.  

So get ready for picture overload.  She's so precious and we can't wait to do life with her!  

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."  Ecclieastses 3:11