...Poked you.

I've been dealing with my dog Ginger's health a lot recently. Actually she is in great health, but has a congenital problem with her knee which requires surgery. Before surgery she was given a pain patch to minimize the pain for 72 hours post op. Being my dog and therefore prone to being high maintenance, she of course reacted to the fentanyl and her body temperature dropped to a very dangerous 93. She spent the better part of the day at the vets on an drip in the hot room, instead of having her surgery. I spent the better part of the day freaking out, terrified that we would loose her. She finally got to come home that night, but I had to stay up all night taking her temperature and praying. Of course she is tough and made a full recovery, Thank God! Now we just have to get through the actual surgery next week.

The interesting thing about dealing with dogs is that it is completely non verbal. Are they sick, are the ok? A dog can throw up and be just fine seconds later. It is the little cues however that we have to watch for. It made me really start thinking about the small cues we receive in life that we don't pay attention to. The small gestures from our friends, partners and families. If you are on Facebook then you know what a "poke" is. Just a quick click and you can let someone know that they are in your thoughts. I used to hate poking! Mainly because a certain someone, seemed to poke me every half hour. I used to wonder "don't you have anything better to do"? Until, that is, that I realized that they were thinking about me a lot and letting me know. Maybe they were too busy for a phone call or note, but a quick poke let me know that I was cared for. I learned to love it.

There are so many small signs that we take for granted. We, for example, duck in from the rain like we are going to melt, but then once it has stopped marvel at the rainbow! The reality is that the rain is the real blessing in the first place, that we take for granted (unless you are living in Texas!). We take a lot of Gods gifts for granted the sunrise and sunset,a light breeze, the smell of jasmine on the wind. God "pokes" us all of the time and we forget to poke back! Just a simple thank you God for anything that you notice will suffice.

So God, I admit that I was so relieved when Ginger recovered that I forgot to poke you back, so I am doing it now.