Transformational Preaching

For those of you who were at Meadowbrook last Sunday, you heard Jerry preach a little bit about the glory of a dog. Jerry's sermon was so moving that we went out and got one.

...well, actually we got the dog the day before the sermon...but it was still a good sermon.

Dixie had been wanting a dog for several months, and of course the kids eagerly jumped on that bandwagon. I had been filibustering for these many months because I would rather have cable TV than buy dog food. Plus, I always have a veto vote in my back pocket. But, somewhere during this debate Dixie pointed out that part of our responsibility to steward the earth requires care for animals. That just made me mad.

She's right.

So my veto vote changed to an 'abstain', which meant the motion passed 4-0.

We did agree that the dog we would get would need to be calm, quiet, short-haired, and well tempered (my other criteria of no-food-required and no-vet-bills didn't make the list). So Dixie, being the researcher that she is, scoured the internet for nearby shelters and rescue facilities until she found the right one. On Saturday, months of preparation for a dog culminated in bringing home Gretchen, a basset who had been rescued at Humane Society.


I admit that she seems like a sweet dog. She is easy going and doesn't bark at me when I come home from work. If you knew our first dog, Jasper, you understand why that's important.

So, we are now the typical American family. Two parents, three kids, one dog, and one fish.

(...and one scooter)