Great comment from a donor today

Today we were blessed with a generous donation from someone today that shared this:

Happy Holidays! I'm a friend of S's, and when I heard about Marlee and read your lovely blog about finding and rescuing her, I knew I had to make a donation. I commend you on your determination to help a pet that hasn't been so fortunate in the past, and I am happy to be able to help in some small way. I have three kids, now teens, and when we finally got a house of our own, we got a rescue dog. She's a Jack Russell named Gracie, and we can't remember what life was like before she was part of our family. Sometimes the best things happen when you open your heart to the possibilities.

Blessings to you and your entire family, including Marlee.

I really love what she said about the best things happening when we open our heart to possibilities. When we decided to keep Marlee we could see she was going to need a lot of TLC, but we had no idea how much trouble she was in with her health or how expensive caring for her would get. Even after learning the deeper issues for her, we felt like Marlee is a valuable soul, and we wanted to commit to her for life. As the financial side of that decision got increasingly difficult, it was sort of an epiphany to me when I thought, "Hey...I could ask for help."

I tend to be a very do-it-yourself kind of person. Asking for and receiving help isn't my first instinct. I'd much rather be helping you than asking you to help me! 9 years ago I was on bed rest with a high-risk pregnancy and had to have friends and loved ones helping with meals, childcare, cleaning the bathrooms, and laundry. It was a really humbling experience, but a good one, because it forced me to learn how to let people know that I needed help, and to humbly receive it. As you probably know, if you've ever been able to help someone else, it is also a blessing to be able to do something for someone else. So many people who came to help at that time in my life said, "Hey---lots of people have helped me out along the way, and it's a joy to be able to pay it forward."

In this situation with Marlee, it's uncomfortable to not be able to just pay for all of this ourselves. However, it's good to be reminded that people (and animals!) need each other. It's good to go ahead and admit we have a need, and to see how excited some people are getting when they are able to help us. Regardless of the amount of type of donation, the point is that people are deciding to get involved, and being able to experience the joy of being a blessing. It's been really, really neat to be able to write back to those that have so generously helped us, and to share a cyber hug. Several people have told us about their own rescue pets and how much of a positive impact those pets have had on their family. I know that we are getting some valuable life lessons from sharing our life and home with Marlee. On days when she has accidentally peed in the house or wakes me up at 2am to go out *again* I can sometimes be tempted to feel a little grumpy about it. But then I think of the wonderful people that have come alongside us to love and care for Marlee, and it gives me a boost. I remember that I'm not in this alone.

Thank you!

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