A Tribute to Lexi

Last week--as well as being my birthday week (February the 12th!! ^.^ )-- marked the one year anniversary for Lexi and I.
*ahem* So here is a sort of tribute to my girl (and ohmygosh it didn't save any of it from the first time I typed it all out!) :

In late January of last year, I was going through a really depressing time. One day, a dog came up the drive way. He was a big male that I thought had a bit of pitbull in him; but I needed a friend, and he was sweet, so I said, "Ok, Lord, a special dog would be nice." I named him Fella and fed him and we became friends. . .before he left 2 hours later, never to be seen again.



The very next day, my mom was leaving the house to go grocery shopping. She called the house when she got to the bottom of the driveway and told me that there was a stray puppy down there that she wanted me to feed. So I went tramping off with a bowl of food once again, though I thought it was an odd coincidence.
I honestly expected the cute puppy to wander away as soon as she was done scarfing down the food. After all: once a wanderer, always a wanderer, right?

She was very much afraid of the kitties when she first arrived.
I don't think she'd ever seen one before. :P

But she ended up shadowing me everywhere I went, except into the house, because we don't allow strange dogs into the house. She was afraid of the other kids, though I could tell that she wanted to make friends.

The stray puppy stayed at our house for four weeks straight without leaving. We fed her every other day, because my dad didn't really like the idea of taking on yet another animal's care. But after four weeks, he was calling her my dog and laughing about her persistence.

Maggie wants to go out and play with "the stray puppy".

I started calling her Lexi because I got tired of referring to her as "that stray puppy".

For my birthday last year, my mom took me and a friend of mine to a small conference given by one of my favorite Christian authors.
After the weekend was over, we arrived home late that Sunday night. It was an especially cold night and snow was predicted. I couldn't help but worry about the puppy; I hoped that she wouldn't run away since I'd been gone and it had been cold. She was still afraid of the other kids.

When I walked through the door and upstairs to my bedroom, I found her, with a brand new pink collar, bouncing off my bed ecstatically to greet me! "I'll expect you to take full responsibility for her," my Dad told me, standing in the doorway.

I hadn't expected that I wanted a dog. And, funny as it may sound, a tri-color was the last color that I would have wanted (but then, I didn't want a black horse, either). And because I was so depressed at the time, I didn't want to have to care for somebody else other than my horse--I wanted only to live in self-pity, at least for a little while longer. But Lexi soon changed all that.

She eventually graduated to a bed of her own (still way too large); but God brought this puppy into my life at the perfect time. Her seemingly inexhaustive energy has kept me on my toes. And she has been so needy for love and human approval that she forced me to get over my depression faster by giving me someone to love and hug and care for.
Sure, Joey needs his care, too; but this little stray puppy that never leaves my side and is bouncing off the walls nearly all of the time begs for attention and affection way more than my introverted horse. In fact, she is the horsenality that I wish Joey had, and he is the dog that I always wanted. How weird is that? xD

It has been one year. Thank you, Lord, for the puppy that I didn't ask for.