New Puppy

 A new puppy in the family and she is a sweetie; chewing everything. Looked after her yesterday afternoon and spent the time running after her in the yard and keeping her from eating the plants that I was not sure about. She is seven weeks old and busy. Slept through the night last night waking up briefly around 5:00 a.m. but went back to sleep in just a couple of minutes. The older dog (4 year old) has allowed her in to be part of the family and the cat (2 years old) is tolerating her but keeps her in line!

My days will be busy watching all those animals cavort about the place. Animals that I know I am quite fond of and still miss Jackson who passed away just two years ago. He is still missed and my husband missed him a great deal as well. The older dog Hogan was 17 years old when he passed and he had quite bonded with Ed so much so that when he was meant to go back to his own home he would check out whether he was staying with us or going home. It was cute actually and Edward did love that dog. But like all dogs they have a shorter life span and we must part with our beloved pets but they live on forever in our hearts.

I apparently was very fond of our dog Normie when I was a little girl. He seemed to know that my sight was limited as he would follow me about when I was toddling around the house outside and if I left the perimeter of the front lawn would grab my dress and pull me back home again. I was the only one of the children (five of us at that time) that could climb up on his back and he would let me ride him. He was a large border collie and wonderful with children. I was just three when he died and greatly missed  as he was still talked about all of my childhood. How much we loved that dog. 

Labour Day Monday and the Taliban are working with Qatar to help them to establish government and reestablish the commercial air traffic in Afghanistan. That is a good sign hopefully although do not know what women's rights are like in Afghanistan but I assume that the Taliban will be a kinder regeneration of their earlier rulers in order to stabilize Afghanistan and establish her as a trading nation in order to benefit all of the people of Afghanistan. I am hopeful anyway. Getting involved in other people's countries is not our usual way. We tend to be helpful from a distance and come when asked. We should remain that way. We can not change people's ways. I note that Women's economic rights in Qatar are quite broad as they have the right to work (usually get their family's approval on their career choice and pursue a job that is socially acceptable). They are free to open and run their own businesses. Apparently in the Gulf area they are among one of the best nations for women's rights. So ever hopeful in that regard. 

The Bible Reading for the day especially spoke to me today:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

Everything Has Its Time

Everything on earth
has its own time
   and its own season.
There is a time
for birth and death,
   planting and reaping,
for killing and healing,
   destroying and building,
for crying and laughing,
   weeping and dancing,
for throwing stones
and gathering stones,
   embracing and parting.
There is a time
for finding and losing,
   keeping and giving,
for tearing and sewing,
   listening and speaking.
There is also a time
for love and hate,
   for war and peace.

What God Has Given Us To Do

What do we gain by all of our hard work? I have seen what difficult things God demands of us. God makes everything happen at the right time. Yet none of us can ever fully understand all he has done, and he puts questions in our minds about the past and the future. I know the best thing we can do is to always enjoy life, because God’s gift to us is the happiness we get from our food and drink and from the work we do. Everything God has done will last forever; nothing he does can ever be changed. God has done all this, so that we will worship him.

Everything that happens
   has happened before,
and all that will be
   has already been—
God does everything
   over and over again.