Cuteness Overload
- kara-duncan
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
It’s rare that I have dreams at night that I remember, but a few weeks ago I woke up remembering my dream and its details. In my dream someone handed myself and my daughter Olivia a puppy and we were so happy! I woke up and couldn’t get that feeling out of my heart and mind. Since our last dog Charlie passed away last year I had thought about looking for a new dog, but I hesitated for a variety of reasons, one of which being that I wasn’t sure if we’d ever find a dog as sweet as what Charlie was.
Later that same day after my dream I decided to look at the petfinder.com site for a dog we might adopt. And of course I found a dog so I put in an application. Days and then weeks went by with no updates. I tried calling and texting the shelter with no response. I found out later through their website that the dog had already been adopted. I was disappointed and prayed that God would bring the right dog to us at the right time.
Days later my husband Denis was getting his haircut. He’s been to this salon for years so the employees all know him well. While he was getting his hair washed the two ladies working asked him (without prompting) when we as a family were going to get a new dog since it’s been a while since Charlie passed away now. His response was to say, “Funny enough, my wife has been looking for a dog but she’s having a hard time hearing back from the shelter”. A lady sitting next to Denis was getting her hair done and inserted herself into the conversation, “I work with shelters across the area. What kind of dog are y’all looking for?” Denis suggested that he connect me on a text message with her. I texted her a picture of Charlie and a picture of the dog we put an application in on. Without hesitation she responded, “I’m on it”. Moments later she texted back with options of dogs that she knew about in her network. We talked about it as a family that night and decided to put in an application for a puppy named Benji. I texted our new contact from the salon back to let her know that we put in our application for a dog that she sent to us. In turn she contacted the shelter director. We were excited to see what might happen.
That next morning, I got a text message inviting us to come meet Benji. That afternoon the three of us were welcomed into a room and Benji was brought in and placed on my lap. He seemed timid and was nearly cowering in my lap. I started talking to him in a calm, sweet voice and leaned in to kiss the top of his sweet head. After that kiss his little tail started wagging. With my sweet talk and a few kisses later he immediately warmed up and was eager to interact with myself, Denis and Olivia. We spent the next hour playing with him, loving on him and getting to know him. And of course we told the shelter that we would love to adopt him. They confirmed that Benji had to be neutered first but we could pick him up the next day after his surgery.
As with most other new puppy parents we spent that evening shopping up and down the Petco aisles to stock up on what we would need for his care. And the next afternoon we brought home our sweet Benji boy.
My heart had forgotten just how much I missed the sweet sound of puppy paws across our floors and the sweetness of a dog’s greeting of a wagging tail when I got home. His first 24 hours at his new home with us he had some whines and whimpers. He sat in our front yard and just looked around and whimpered as if to say, “It’s such a big world out there for a little guy like me”. Even when taking him out to potty that night he only wanted to go in the areas where the outdoor lights were brightest. He whined when he was put in his crate the first night. I slept next to his crate while he fell asleep. Once he was in a deep sleep I slipped off to sleep in my own bed near his crate.
The next morning he was such a happy and playful pup. He was puppy-biting our toes, testing boundaries to see if he could chew our shoes and generally fascinated by anything we did. For example, when I was unloading the dishwasher he sniffed around and wagged his tail and tried to lick up some of the water.
Our days have been spent loving on this sweet little guy and training him in all the good dog habits. We feel so blessed to have Benji as part of our family. God gives the best gifts. I hadn’t even recognized for myself just how much I would love to have a dog again until God gave me that dream. It reminds me of James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above”. I pray that you too are reminded of all the ways God has and is blessing you in your life with good and perfect gifts.
Now let’s get on with it, I know you’re eager to see more pictures of Benji and his cuteness overload:
