Rugby. The dog. Not the Sport.

 Since Shaun and I have been married, we have always had dogs. He brought Bo, our Poodle, into the marriage and shortly after our first anniversary, we found Broadway, our Chihuahua.

 One of the hardest decisions that we had to make before moving to Peru was what to do with our puppies, or as we called them, our little boys. We were heartbroken over even the thought of parting with them, but at the time we had no idea where we would be living, how much space we would have, if the apartment we found would even accept pets, if we would be close to a park...There were too many unknowns and to top it all off, we would have had to pay the amount of another ticket just to get them here (Close to $800). So after praying and talking about it for a while, we decided to find them new homes.

 God provided the perfect families for both Bo and Broadway, and although we were sad for us, we knew they would be happy in their new homes.

 Since coming to Peru we have been missing our dogs so much. We are “dog people” and it has been strange not having one around. We have had several conversations about getting a dog here, but for the amount of time we would be here, it didn’t really make sense. More importantly, we always strive to be good stewards of the gifts we receive and didn't feel right spending donated money towards a "want" instead of our missions work. There were many nights we would just sit in bed at the end of the day and talk about our boys. 

 After making our decision to stay in Peru for the next 5 years, our next order of business was obvious. We started talking about looking for a dog, even just to see what our options were and check out prices for the future. It wasn’t going to be immediate but we were excited about the idea. We began to pray that God would make it easy for us; putting up obstacles or opening doors. I know it sounds silly, but the Bible does say to pray about all things, right?!

 Well, let’s just say the doors flew open! Within that same week, a friend of ours contacted Shaun and told him God had put it on her heart to give us a certain amount of money as a gift, that we could ONLY spend on ourselves for something we wanted- nothing mission related. 

 We tried not to get too excited as we started looking around but quickly found a puppy we were interested in; a white, 6 week old, miniature poodle. He was our first choice, and although we didn't know if he was still available, we contacted the seller. Within 24 hours we had him in our home! 

 The seller was a very sweet woman. She really wanted to keep the puppy, but is moving to Canada and can only take her 2 current dogs. Before agreeing to meet with us she asked a lot of questions. (She was speaking with one of our friends because at the time we didn’t know she spoke English.) They spent an easy 10 minutes talking about us, our family, our ministry...the works! I felt like I was in an interrogation! (Cue the dark room, spotlight and profuse sweating). Finally, they settled on a time to bring the puppy over. She wanted to meet us in person, talk with us for a little bit, and see our home. We were very impressed with how prompt and accurate everything was. She was on time and had everything we needed, from the brand of food they had been using, to the date of his next shots. She left us her number and email incase we had any questions in the future. I had a feeling she was having a hard time with the separation, and so I asked her if she would like me to send her pictures as he got older. I thought the glasses in our kitchen were going to burst, as she let out a high pitched squeal and almost started crying. She told me she would love that, but didn’t want to ask. After about 10 goodbye hugs and kisses to the puppy, she left and we were finally alone with OUR puppy!

 Of course, Shaun wanted to name him Rugby but I was against it. The first night we had him, Shaun had a meeting and I spent some time playing with and getting to know his personality. It didn’t take me long to silently give in to the name “Rugby” and I even started calling him that before Shaun got home. Needless to say, he was excited and proud of himself for choosing the name.

 Rugby has certainly lived up to his name. He is a little ball of energy and is unstoppable! We have enjoyed every minute of the past 3 weeks and 2 days. He is already growing like a weed and his personality is hilarious. Considering he is still a puppy, we are still working through the little things, like how hard is too hard when “play biting”, but he is house trained and for the most part knows what is off limits (although like any child, he chooses to push our limits when he is in a mischievous mood). He is a great snuggler,  loves to play, and at night he sleeps in-between us. To quote Shaun, “He wants to leave room in the bed for the Holy Spirit. He is a very prayerful dog.  He likes to raise his paws a lot.”

 He has quickly become a part of our little family and everyone that meets him, loves him. God knew exactly what we needed and he provided it completely. It is a small answered prayer but we are so thankful to have a dog back in our home.