Around November of last year, one of my daughter's was outside of her home (walking her dog) when she saw something that stopped her in her tracks.  It was another dog standing all alone in the middle of busy street, seemingly contemplating his next move.  As she hoped he would just stay still until she could make her way over to him, she quickly witnessed a chain of events that would have liked to take the life of this stray dog.  After darting in and out of traffic on a busy street, narrowly escaping a sudden impact, the mangy dog finally made his way around the corner and back onto the sidewalk.  My daughter (being the dog lover that she is) knew that there was no coincidence that she was the only person on the sidewalks this particular morning; so she grabbed her little dog and decided to pursue this obviously scared street dog.  With the help of another lady who had seen the ordeal through the window of her restaurant, they finally lured the dog over to contact and my daughter scooped the heavy dog up into her arms.  Rescued.

After taking the dog to a vet and getting a good cleaning from her local groomer, she found herself the guardian of a 6 month old Tibetan Terrier (worth approx. $1500).  A gem of a dog, disguised as a mangy throw away.  All she needed now was to choose a name and find a home for him.
Atticus, has certainly found a place to call home, mine!  Debbie and I adopted Atticus to be a companion for our long time Chocolate Lab, Sable.  Atticus and Sable are now the best of friends.  They play together, they hunt together, they share their food with each other and swap toys constantly.  Don't tell Debbie I said this, but Atticus is one of my favorite dogs that I've ever owned.  He is sweet, gentle, playful and grateful for his new home and his new family.  He went from big city stray dog, to country loved dog all because someone was willing to recognize something that God was doing in the middle of her routine.

It makes me think about how many times during an average day, God is trying to get my attention so that I can recognize what He is doing in the middle of my routines.  Sometimes I get it, and God uses me to find those gems; but sometimes I miss it.  There are moments that I can get so caught up in what I'm doing or where I have to be or how much time I have to get from point A to point B, that I miss the cues and allow the routine to win.  That thought can really bum me out at times, knowing that I am the only one in the way of God's plan; but God isn't phased.  He doesn't scratch me off of his list or punish me until I finally get it, on the contrary God believes in me again and uses me again and entrusts me again.  So now the biggest goal each and every day is to find as many gems as I can.  To keep a constant flow of communication happening between me and Him, and to slap myself out of "routine lock" as much as possible.  And although he's the perfect addition to our family,  I am secretly praying that my daughter doesn't find anymore dogs!