Embracing Arthur

I'm embracing Arthur (remember my word for the year is embrace).  Have you met Arthur?  He was a surprising gift God led us to before Christmas...

I'm beyond having babies...and my grandboys have moved 2-1/2 hours away (and I don't think there will be any more)...and knowing Bruno's mortality at age 6...Edster and I started talking about bringing him a new buddy to be part of our family.

This is me holding Arthur with his sister, and Dentist Dave, the breeder.  I had to choose between these two.  He had a litter of 7, is keeping two (Kevin and Dorothy), sold three, owns the mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother who were all there...and they all were delightful!

Arthur is a full-blooded pedigree Pembroke Welsh Corgi...he is 1/4 Sammy Sosa, who was named the #1 Pembroke Welsh Corgi in the country by the American Kennel Club in 2001 and won the Herding Group at the Westminster Kennel Club Show at Madison Square Garden in 2002.  Arthur, Bruno, Edster and I will be watching together on February 11-12, 2013 this year.

But Arthur is just our companion...no showing for him.  I don't have the stomach for the politics and that was not my purpose.  We just wanted to be assured he came from good stock.  And how!

But that does not mean he does not get into trouble...he ended up with the same inmate number as another famous person.

Now Corgi's were bred to help herd cattle...very intelligent and agile, they were bred to be low to nip at heels of the cattle that they would herd in the fields of the British Isles, particularly Wales.  "Arthur" is Welsh for "bear".

Speaking of famous people, Queen Elizabeth II is well known for her Corgis who even made an appearance at the summer Olympics of 2012 in London.  You can see her here, along with other famous people with their Corgis including Stephen King, Ava Gardner, Kiefer Sutherland (24), Governor Jerry Brown, Julie Benz, Selma Blair, and Kirstie Allie.  Jennifer Aniston is pictured in the slide show but the hair of that dog doesn't jive with a Corgi...

But he is fitting in very well...even carrying on with Bruno.  He's gotten off the porch...

And loves his "flack jacket"...

And has incredible wisdom...look what he says about mistakes (of which he'll have many)...

And how everything is new and full of wonder and opportunities of exploration...just thrilled to be alive!

And it brings me back to all that I need to embrace...to take nothing for granted...to see all as a gift from the God I serve.  To be too busy in wonder and joy to ever complain...because you cannot be thankful and joyful at the same time you're complaining or whining.

Part of I Peter 1:8 tells us to, rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory... because we believe in Him, the source of all joy.

So today I embrace Arthur, who God uses, through his little, spirited life, how I am to be...as a child, full of wonder and joy and realizing that it is a compliment from God that I was born.