Tuesday - All Things Ellie

 Ellie does some interesting things.  One of those happens when we go on our walks in the mornings.  Our route takes us through a nearby apartment complex.  Across from the office is a bed of Jasmine.  Ellie loves this Jasmine.  It has been established for many years and has a height of about five or six inches, with the newer, softer growth on top.  

Ellie in the Jasmine

She almost always jumps into the Jasmine as we pass this spot on our walk.  Then she stretches out and wiggles and squirms in it. She scratches her back but also enjoys the coolness of the leaves.  Then she stops for a few seconds and starts all over again.  Finally, we tell her it is time to go, and she jumps out, and we continue walking.

We all probably have things we enjoy doing, perhaps for no good reason, so I can relate to Ellie's joy in the tiny-leaved plant.  Oddly, we have two different types of Jasmine at our house, and she isn't particularly interested in either of them.  We also pass other beds of Jasmine on our walks, but she never seems to want to rest in those.  There is something about that one bed that gives her great pleasure. and it gives us pleasure to watch her in it, as she enjoys it to the fullest.

Stickers in the Grass and Ellie’s Shoes

Stickers in the Grass and Ellie’s Shoes

A few years ago, I was walking Ellie, our beagle, in the schoolyard close to our house.  At one point, she stopped and held up her paw, shaking it.  I inspected her paw and saw a sticker on one of the pads of her foot.  I removed it, gave her some reassurance, and we went on.  A few moments later, the same thing occurred.  Then it happened again.

I began to look at the grass and noticed a small, prickly growth throughout the grass of the yard.  I had never seen this before, but it was clearly the source of Ellie’s discomfort.  It was so frequent that at one point, Ellie stopped trying to shake the sticker off her paw and just turned to look at me with her paw raised.  She knew she needed my help, and she also knew I was glad to help her.

Ellie in her shoes

That summer, I purchased Ellie a pair of shoes.  Well, is it still a pair if there are four of them?  I don’t know.  The shoes are precious.  The leather is the caramel color of her fur, and the top part is a leopard print.  It took her all of five seconds to get used to walking in them.

Every summer since then, she knows she will wear her shoes to the schoolyard, and her feet are well protected from the stickers. She runs just as easily with the shoes on as she does without them.

This morning, we were walking near our neighborhood when we had to cross a large patch of grass.  Ellie was not wearing her shoes (although sometimes, in the summer, she wears them to protect her feet from the heat of the concrete).  She hesitantly started her walk over the grass, not wanting to get a sticker in her paw.  But it happened anyway.  I quickly removed the sticker, rubbed her paw, and reassured her.  The rest of the way home, we could follow the sidewalk.

Glen and I discussed how much we loved and enjoyed caring for Ellie, even to the point of putting her shoes on each afternoon before our schoolyard walk.  It isn’t a trouble or an inconvenience to make her life easier; it is a joy.

We don’t think it is strange that we love caring for Ellie.  It is who we are.  As much as we love doing things for her, how much more does our Lord love caring for us?  It is not a bother to him; it is what He desires to do.  He loves us, and He is actively working to bring the best for us into our lives.  Just like Ellie might not have thought her shoes were the “best thing” the first time I put them on her, sometimes we don’t recognize the “best things” when the Lord brings them our way.  But as we trust Him in everything, He will reveal to us that He will make all things in our lives “for good.”

"Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."

1 Peter 5:7

Ellie walking in her shoes.

Friday Photos

 

I love this photo.  It was taken late one afternoon when we were kayaking in Mobile Bay.  I loved the way there was only a tiny sliver of land visible between the water and the sky.  It reminded me of us as Christians.  We are "earthy" people, born of the earth, and as believers in the Lord Jesus, we are spiritual or "heavenly" people as well, born-again by His redemptive work on the cross. He was, of course,  the prototypical person who was "of the earth" and of the heavens.

Tuesday - All Things Ellie: NATIONAL BEAGLE DAY

 

Ellie Jean Louise Davis

This seems like the perfect day to write about Ellie; it is National Beagle Day. 

Let me take a moment to explain exactly how we became to be "beagle people".

In 2001, some close friends of hours had gone on a trip and when returning home, they stopped at a kennel to pick up a couple poodles.  The couple's youngest daughter had been praying for a poodle for some time.  Concurrently, our youngest daughter had been praying for a beagle.  Our friends loved our children and thought they could not bring home two dogs for their daughter and not bring home one for ours, so they brought us a 10 week old male beagle.  We had no idea they were doing this until they showed up at our door with said beagle in their arms.

It was love at first sight for our daughter.  As we struggled trying to agree on a name for this beagle, our son - who had just finished the School of Infantry with the United States Marine Corp (where Marines are called "grunts")- thought that was the perfect name for this puppy.  Grunt it was.  

We were now officially "beagle people."

Emmie and Sparrow

Grunt grew to be an extremely athletic beagle.  He could do a vertical jump and look you straight in the eye.  He had no problem jumping to clear our extra-wide driveway.  And when he wanted to explore the world (which he wanted to do anytime the door was opened) he could run like the wind.  

Grunt slept with Emmie and sat beside her during the day when she did her homeschool lessons.  In every sense of the word, they were best friends.  Unfortunately, when Grunt was three he died in an accident.  All of our hearts were broken, but especially Emmie's.

Gruntly and Gimli

The following fall, it was time to get another beagle.  When we went to pick up our little puppy, Gruntley (named in honor of Grunt), we also to take his brother- a chocolate beagle, named Gimli (his red fur led us to his name) home as well.  Because we got the brothers as puppies, they never seemed to bond with us as much as Grunt did.  In the spring, while they were in the fenced-in back yard, someone opened the gate and took them.  I later learned that hunting dogs were at high risk for being taken, especially during hunting season.

Baby Sparrow

The loss of those two puppies so soon after the loss of Grunt, caused us to wait a long time before getting another dog.  But one day in August, close to my birthday, Glen told me to sit in a chair in the Living Room and close my eyes.  Emmie sat in a chair next to time.  Glen came in and put a gift bag in my lap.  I was shocked when I looked inside and saw a tiny tri-color beagle.  She only weighed 3 pounds, but immediately she filled my heart.

We had previously told Emmie that if we got another dog, she would be able to name it.  So this little girl dog was named Katie Sparrow Jean Louise Davis.  Her names were all from books Emmie had read.  We called her Sparrow, or if we really wanted to get her attention, Sparrow Jean.

Sparrow

Sparrow was such a sweet dog.  She didn't have the desire to roam that Grunt did. She was happy to sit at her window and watch the world, or sit on the porch and enjoy the sunshine.  Everyone in our family loved Sparrow.  She was with us for thirteen years.  She passed away five years ago from congestive heart failure.

  

When Sparrow passed away, there was a huge hole in our hearts.  We had not thought of getting another dog, but as the days passed the idea began to grow on us.  

I followed beagle breeders online until I found one that treated her puppies just the way I would want my puppy treated.  

As we began to think more seriously about a new dog, we began discussing names with our daughters.  We decided to keep part of Sparrow's name as a tribute to her.  But we needed the name we called this puppy to be just for her, but to have some history with our family as well. 

Puppy Ellie

One night while driving to dinner we discussed this with our girls.  We thought of characters from old television shows we liked.  The name Ellie popped up more than once.  I liked that because Ellie is a nickname for Eleanor which, in Hebrew, means "God is my light."  So, Ellie it was.  Her official name is Ellie Jean Louise Davis.

 The breeder I followed had a litter expected in March.  Mrs. Lisa was so good at posting pictures of all eight of the puppies in the litter each week.  I picked Ellie out before I  had ever seen her in person.  I tried to pick the puppy that looked the most like Sparrow, which is ironic since, as she has grown, she doesn't look much like Sparrow did as an adult.

Then on the first of May we drove to Louisiana to pick up our sweet little puppy.  Like Sparrow before her, everyone loves Ellie.

That was five years ago and Ellie is an established member of the family.

We brought Ellie home in 2020, making her a "pandemic puppy".  She was with us all the time then because just about everything was shut down.  Now she goes almost everywhere we go.  She even goes with us on vacations, which was something Sparrow never did.  Ellie is a great car dog and a great hotel dog!  

She seems to be content just about wherever she goes. 

 

Ellie may think she was blessed when we brought her to live with us, but the truth is she blesses us so much more than she could ever know.   

We are "beagle people" indeed.

Ellie Jean Louise Davis

Note: I have had the most difficult time getting this post to format correctly.  I apologize if it displays poorly for you.