Elizabeth Simmons - All Creatures: Life Lessons Learned From Some of Gods Lesser Creatures

All Creatures

LIFE LESSONS LEARNED

From Some of Gods
Lesser Creatures

ELIZABETH SIMMONS

New York

All Creatures

Life Lessons Learned From Some of Gods Lesser Creatures

201 Elizabeth Simmons.

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Dedicated to my father, Richard Call, who always encouraged me to use my gift of writing to entertain people while also honoring God. Though he is no longer physically here in this world, he remains in my heart every moment of every day. This is for you, Daddy.

If you know me at all, then you know that while there are many things that fill my life with untold pleasure, there is one thing in particular that really gets the warm fuzzies going inside of me: dogs. My dogs. Your dogs. Any dogs! I have fully prepared myself for the day that I am simply referred to as the crazy dog lady. And I will not take offense should my future grandchildren decide to call me their Woofy or BowWow.

My love for dogs has grown drastically since I became an adulteven more so since I became a mom. After all, owning a dog is similar in some ways to having children. They are both completely dependent on you for shelter, nourishment, discipline, love. But children have the advantage of spoken language. They can talk to you, and in the process of teaching your children, you can learn lessons from them as well. We know that dogs are more than capable of learning commands and tricks, but their lack of communication skills keeps them from being able to teach us anything in return. Or, does it?

Dont worry, Im not going to tell you my dogs have learned to decipher the Greek alphabet and we have developed a method of communicating with each other using flashcards and a xylophone. What I am going to tell you is that I have learned a lot of valuable lessons from the parade of dogs that has marched through my life. (Ive been taught a thing or two by a horse as well.)

Im no theologian, and Ive never studied philosophy or psychology. My background is very simple. I am the third of four daughters born to a Baptist preacher and his lovely bride in Fort Worth, Texas. Growing up, I was at church every time the doors were open: Sunday school, Sunday morning service, Sunday evening service and choir practice, Monday night prayer meeting, Tuesday night visitation, Wednesday evening service, and orchestra practice. You get the idea. As a result, Gods infallible word and his unfailing promises have never been far from my heart.

As I have gotten older, it seems I am better able to recognize the promises of God in the ordinary, everyday events of life. And that is why I decided to write this book. Those fantastic, four-legged friends of mine have reminded me on more than one occasion of lessons I learned in Sunday school all those years ago.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

M ornings are always hectic when you have a teenage daughter. Did you eat breakfast? Do you have your backpack? Did you grab your homework? We need to get going. Do you need lunch money? Are you staying for biology tutorials this afternoon? Were going to be late! Its always rush out the door, jump in the car, and hit the end of the driveway in seconds flat. Nothing can stop us now.

Did I say nothing ? Let me take a moment here to say my youngest daughter, Sydney, shares my love of dogs. Actually, her love far surpasses mine because it encompasses just about every animal roaming the earth. So, of course, when we saw the pitiful little dog in the bar ditch across the street, we knew we would both be late that day. He seemed extremely timid, scared of anything and everything that crossed his path. We quickly devised a plan: we would see if we could successfully coax him into the car, then I would take him to work to try to find a home for him. (Fortunately for me, my office was filled with like-minded lovers of dogs.)

Sydney got out of the car and cautiously crossed the street, trying not to startle the poor guy too much. As she began her approach, he was planning his escape, slowly turning to trot away from her. She knew if she tried to pursue him, he might become more frightened and run into the street to face the morning traffic. So she aborted the mission and returned to the car. At least we tried.

The next evening, I was in the bedroom getting things ready for the following day when I heard my husband, Ken, calling to me from the kitchen. We met halfway between the two rooms, and in his arms, I saw a dirty lump of white fur, speckled with tiny brown dots. Look what I found, was all he said as he turned to make his way to the back porch. It was the terrified dog Sydney and I had attempted to rescue the day before. Ken explained, I was out closing up the barn and saw something crawling up to me real slow. As soon as he got close enough, he just rolled over at my feet and looked up at me as if to say, Just put me out of my misery. Saddest thing I ever saw. Snuck up on me like a little ghost. I named him Casper, after the friendly ghost.