Two Black Pup...I mean dogs...

If you want a great way to photograph black dogs so you can see their wonderful expressive faces, my kids did this for me and put it on my desktop when I was gone. I was quite impressed. I even printed it on wide graph paper to think about quilting possibilities. The blue lets you see the light and dark.

There's probably some interesting far-reaching profound spiritual truth to learn...using blue to see light and dark, lol! But that's not why I'm writing this.

Nyah and Ellie turned 3 yrs old the end of May 2008. This week they had their first 4 hr road trip - first two nights away from home, cows, new sights, sounds, people. They didn't stress out. Mom didn't stress out. We done good.

They stayed with my son and parents while I picked up pizza. They stayed for a 1/2 hr alone while we got ice cream. They were good for an hour in my sister's garage. Walked in another city 2x and down two dirt roads without dislocating my finger joints. They didn't mug my parents, bark at cows, eat any cats, lunge through the patio screen door after the dog next door when he wandered around off leash. They didn't electrocute themselves sniffing the fence, run across the street in front of any infrequent but 50 mph cars. They didn't freak at the sprayer vehicle, tractors, pick up trucks or fork lift. They didn't run away or eat the insurance man ... really! They didn't like him but they didn't eat him!

Call it Empty Nest Syndrome if you must . . . The robin's nest in my mulberry tree is indeed empty. I watched them build it this spring. The babies were here and gone. Fast - really fast.

And what does this have to do with anything? Nothing - except that when I'm discouraged, I can come back and read this and say, I may not believe it today but we are indeed making progress.

Write down your successes so when you get discouraged you can remind yourself that good things are happening. You're not in the same place you were last year or 5 years ago. God is good. If good things aren't happening, God is still good. You may change, everything else may change, but He won't.

Kids can do that, too. They can draw pictures, write journal entries, take photos, make collages or save tiny treasures to help them remember that no matter what's happening today, God doesn't change. God is faithful. God is good!