Where Theory and Reality Clash

Ragnar on the Forbidden Couch

My friend saw this picture and caption and said, "Define forbidden."
I didn't bother. I plead the fifth. Instead I told her, "This is where theory and reality clash."
If you need further explanation, notice who is on the floor, and who is on the forbidden couch.

I never even let my (now deceased) beloved heart-dog Honeybun go on the leather couch. I feared that this one valued piece of furniture would be pierced by her nails. The couch is probably the most (only) sort of pricey furniture in our home that is largely an eclectic collection of mismatched pieces each nearing thirty-years-old. Neither my hubby or I are terribly fixated on Martha Stewart type decorating ideals. However, I did draw the line at dogs on the leather couch.

Until the granddog hopped up on it as though he owned it. Which he did. Possession is 9/10ths of the law. I always thought that my rigid ideals would just grow more rigid when I got older. Instead, the opposite is true. At least as far as dogs are concerned. Maybe if Ragnar were a mean dog or a demanding dog, I would feel differently. But he is the most pleasant, kind, nice, and perpetually good-natured dog I have ever known.

How we punished Ragnar when he stole a whole peach right out of our hand

I could learn a lot from Ragnar. No one EVER gets mad at Ragnar. It would be like wanting to beat up a cotton ball. Unthinkable. If ever a creature exemplified the Biblical admonition, "A gentle answer turneth away wrath," it would be Ragnar.

I will miss him not only because he delights in walks as much as I do, or his fur is so soft and thick that my blood pressure drops 30 points every time I pet him, or that he is funny and makes me laugh as he bounds across the house like a kangaroo. It is that his eternally sunny optimism and joie d' vivre is infectious. If I believed in reincarnation, the next body I would long for would be Ragnar.

How we teach Ragnar not to beg when he wants what ever it is I am eating

I have no doubt God sent Ragnar to me as a case study.
Look closely Vicky. Observe, absorb, and learn. 

Yes Lord. I hear you.

Ragnar returned home last night, but in a way, much of him remains. I mean...literally. Memorial day will be spent first honoring those who died that I might have the incredible freedoms I enjoy...and then, vacuuming pounds and pounds of husky dog hairs.
**************

Galatians 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Ephesians 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,

Philippians 4:5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.