For years I’ve wanted a dog. It started when I first graduated from PT school. I had a place of my own, with the freedom to make my own choices. A dog would make a great running partner and so much more.

I met Blue, an Australian shepherd dog, during a Spurs game where a local shelter set up to find homes for their animals. I went back to see her many times. I really wanted to take her home, but I lived on the third floor of an apartment and worked a job with ten-hour shifts, in addition to commute time. It didn’t seem fair to the dog, my not having sufficient space or time for her.

My brother and his family are in the process of getting a new puppy. You could say I helped with the process, but that’s another story for another day.  I went with them to first meet her when she was four days old, and I have received the updates on her growth ever since. She is soooo cute!

My niece, the intuitive girl that she is, picked up on my longing for a puppy. Convinced I was getting one, too, she had come up with names for our puppies: Thing 1 and Thing 2. “Of course, aunt Jenn yours is Thing 2,” my niece informed me.

I started to make plans for how I could get a puppy, too : a puppy to play with, curl up on the couch with, and take for walks. Who wouldn’t love that? (Okay, I know some of you wouldn’t, but humor me). I so want a puppy!!!!!

But do I really?  Preparing to return to Guatemala, I remembered my life of travel and activity. If I were to get a dog, who would take care of her when I was away? Was it really fair to leave a dog for weeks and months at a time?

When I was home, I’d need to train her, feed her, walk her, and so much more.

As a puppy, she’d get into all kinds of things and there would be lots of time spent training, disciplining, and cleaning up messes.

In truth, I liked the idea of a puppy, but not the work and responsibility.

A puppy is a lot like life and ministry. Do I long for the fun and excitement, without wanting to take on the responsibility and do the work required? Ministry and life, like training a puppy, is messy. It takes time, work, and discipline to make it work as we really want. There can be days and weeks when it feels as if I’m just cleaning up messes. Who wants to show their friends pictures of the dog’s mess on the carpet or the torn up couch cushions?

Today, let’s be honest. There is a lot to life and ministry that is ugly and hard. We don’t live those edited FB lives, but if we are faithful to do the work He will do great things. He sees the beauty in the ashes. He sees our steps of faithfulness, even if they’re not pretty, that will lead us to the point of hearing “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I may not want the work of a puppy, but I will do the work needed to serve Him, work that is often messy and not a lot of fun, but that will bear fruit in the end.