One of my dogs is a real character. He's a grouchy old man, a real jerk. He seems to be a one-person dog, and he's bonded with me. He has never warmed up to my kids, even though my daughter tries her hardest to get him to prefer her over me.
It never works.
If Tucker is in the bedroom with me, he will show his teeth at her when she walks in the door. He's a tiny little dog and he never actually hurts anyone, but he's just so full of attitude. My daughter brushes Tucker, much to his dismay. She bathes him, which he hates. She feeds him, and he acts as if she's lucky to do it. If she scratches him and stops, he growls until she starts petting him again. He's a real piece of work. Luckily, we have other dogs that my kids have bonded with, but they've never won Tucker over. They complain about him quite often, but I always defend him. He's my little sweetie.
Of course, every time I say that I'm met with eyerolls from both of my kids.
Now, Tucker is not one to ever cuddle but today was an unusual day. My daughter had just gotten up and Tucker was in a friendly mood. She was sitting on the couch in her pajamas when Tucker jumped in her lap, much to her delight. He never jumps onto her lap.
She leaned in for a hug. That's when she got a whiff.
Tucker had been rolling around in poop in the back yard.
I told you.
He's disgusting.
Now, we've never seen Tucker do this before, but my daughter was pretty mad because she felt like Tucker intentionally tricked her into hugging him. She brought him over to me and told me to smell him, and I refused. In my experience, when my kids want me to smell something, its never a good smell.
But, even though I refused it didn't matter. He absolutely reeked, and he was smelling up the whole house.
"Bath," I said, holding my nose.
My daughter, the neurotic neat freak, was already on her way to the utility room (we have a sink in there that we use for all gross jobs), and she immediately gave him a bath. Of course, he growled the entire time and threw a gigantic fit. I could hear her telling him to be quiet, that she didn't want to hear it, and that he had it coming.
She walked out of the utility room and loudly proclaimed, "Its official. I hate that dog." Tucker followed behind her, hair wet, growling under his breath.
I don't know why this situation cracked me up like it did, but I got so tickled. My daughter has tried to earn Tucker's affections for so long, and when he did this today, she lost it. I could not stop laughing.
She told me I can't say anything nice about him for at least two weeks. I laughed harder.
She said he was the worst dog on the planet. I said, "Now do you know all of the dogs on the planet? There has to be one that's worse."
"There can't be," she said. "He did that on purpose."
I laughed until I cried.
That's when it hit me. I don't know the last time I've laughed this hard. It certainly hasn't happened since the divorce. Joy has been, well, elusive. Laughter has been badly needed in our home, yet it seems to be making its way back into our lives.
God wants us to be delighted by life, not continually disappointed. Life is full of struggles, but the Bible also says there's a time to laugh and dance once a season of mourning is through.
Ecclesiastes 3:4 A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.
We should live our lives seeking joyful moments that make us smile. Go for a swim. Smile at nature. Enjoy our kids. God loves to hear us laugh, really laugh. We are so precious to Him. Every time we are reminded He is so very near to us, we can smile.
He loves us so much.
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