Lucy "the Beagle" (aka Unexpected Surprise!)

This month the Hill family is celebrating our first year as dog owners.

A birthday present for our little boy, Lucy joined our family about a year ago, rounding out what has to be the most Rockwellian family unit in greater Southeast Missouri. The Hill family now consists of Jason and Jessica, son Jacob, daughter Caitlin, cat Gideon, dog Lucy, and one white picket fence under construction.

As you can see from the image (taken the day we got Lucy), Lucy's got us all licked in the cuteness department. Look into her big brown eyes. If your heart doesn't immediately become a pile of sticky red goo pooling at your feet I would definitely plan a visit to a local health care provider. And hurry up with it, because it might already be too late for you.

Did you know that puppies don't stay puppies for very long? Seemingly overnight, Lucy "the Puppy" (aka Lucy "the Beagle") has become Lucy "the-no-longer-a-puppy" or perhaps Lucy "the not-so-beaglish". Vets and wikipedia assure me that Lucy won't be an adult dog for another year or so, but she has exhibited a decided lack of puppiness lately. She's obeying well. She's "going" outdoors and outdoors only. She's sleeping in later than I usually get to. She's getting picky about her food (if it's in her bowl and it ain't got "meaty loaf" in it she ain't eating it... unless it's on the floor, under the couch, or buried under the rug).

This past weekend we had our refrigerator delivered to our new house here in Cape Girardeau. Asked by one of the delivery men "what kind of dog is she", I responded as I always had: "She's a beagle".

The delivery man promptly started to laugh. I've gotten this response too many times of late (mostly from delivery men.. who seem to know a lot about dogs). At least that's what the adoption agency led us to believe, I explain. Beagles, you see, fall in two general categories: 13" and 15". Recently measured for the purposes of this blog, Lucy "the Puppy", aka Lucy "the Beagle", comes in at a robust 23" from toenail to the top of her shoulders.

So, she's not a beagle. The nice lady at the rescue center was a big ol' liar. More than likely, Lucy's very beaglish mommy or daddy got preoccupied one evening by a lab or a pointer or a grizzly bear and the freakish result was our sweet Lucy... beagle in spirit and bark (bay) and Rottweiler in size.

Unexpected surprise? Absolutely. But, I wouldn't trade her for some rinky-dink 13" don't-step-on-me-or-you-might-crush-me real beagle.

In two weeks at Cape Naz we're going to be talking about dogs and some of their best attributes. They're loyal. They're fun-loving. They're fixated either on you or on your food or on your smells. It's going to be great fun. Bring your own meaty loaf!

Paul, who's love of dogs I'm going to seriously question, admonishes us to "fix our eyes" on the truth of Christ. Don't be like those "mongrels", he proclaims, that would try to distract you from the simplicity of our faith and life with God.

Dog analogies will abound. Truth will be our scent and we'll sniff it out of whatever foxhole it might be hiding in. More to come on the subject... both on Paul and on Lucy. Stay tuned (or should I say, stay... stay... good girl!)