{"id":375,"date":"2011-02-20T18:11:04","date_gmt":"2011-02-20T18:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ultimatejoy.wordpress.com\/?p=375"},"modified":"2011-02-20T18:11:04","modified_gmt":"2011-02-20T18:11:04","slug":"pawprints-in-the-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/?p=375","title":{"rendered":"Pawprints in the Snow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Right before the Chicago Blizzard of 2011 struck, we got a puppy!\u00a0 It had been over a year since my beloved Rascal dog had passed away and I was ready for the pitter-patter of little paws.\u00a0 Mind you, maybe not before the 3rd<\/sup> worst blizzard to hit Chicago. 24 inches of snow can literally swallow up a little puppy and the below zero temperatures that followed the blizzard weren\u2019t much better for trips outside. Despite those unique challenges, Lily is a joy.<\/p>\n

We are learning so much about her and her personality \u2013 what she craves and hates.\u00a0 We love waking to her pleas to get out of her crate and embrace the day.\u00a0 And I most enjoy her tail-wagging and little \u201cLily kisses.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is surprising to me, despite her fierce independence, and sometimes downright stubbornness, how utterly dependent she is on us.\u00a0 Our trainer tells us that Lily needs to know this \u2013 even down to the air she breathes.\u00a0 Whenever the trainer reminds us of that, it brings to mind the relationship we enjoy with God.<\/p>\n

He is right there with us \u2013 besides us, behind us and before us.\u00a0 The Bible promises that He is always at our right hand, keeping us secure.\u00a0 With joy, we can call on Him and He will answer us.\u00a0 He is a perfect refuge.<\/p>\n

Richard and I try to provide the best place for Lily \u2013 safe environment, good food, lots of love.\u00a0 So much more so our heavenly Father does for us.\u00a0 He provides us with a safe place under the shadow of His wings.\u00a0 He is our rock, our fortress.\u00a0 Our cover and our shield.\u00a0 He rescues us from our enemies and always hears our cries for help.<\/p>\n

I look forward to learning more about Lily\u2019s doggie ways, of letting each day unfold to a new mystery about her.\u00a0 But, as much as I yearn for that, I ache that each day be a new miracle from my heavenly Father \u2013 the one on whom I am so dependent that even the air I breathe is His wonderful gift to me.<\/p>\n

(Parts based on Psalms 16, 17, 18)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right before the Chicago Blizzard of 2011 struck, we got a puppy!\u00a0 It had been over a year since my beloved Rascal dog had passed away and I was ready for the pitter-patter of little paws.\u00a0 Mind you, maybe not before the 3rd worst blizzard to hit Chicago. 24 inches of snow can literally swallow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[9,13,23,24,33],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1253,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375\/revisions\/1253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}