Woof, woof

I haven't written in a while because a) I'm obsessed with dogs, and b) a couple of conflicts have kept my few other synapses firing.

The conflicts were inevitable: when a community moves from being "we'll accept anything you do as long as no one ever has to address it" to "following Jesus means taking responsibility for your actions and we will hold you accountable", there are bound to be conflicts. We have also moved from "pastors are saints who must never err (but eventually fall from grace in a big way)" to "pastors and leaders are all models for Christian living, including modeling confession and reconciliation". It's a recipe for eventual pissiness. And, I pray, eventual health, grace, and faithfulness.

But the other thing is really what's been keeping me from blogging. I am ready for a dog. After our very beloved boxer, Mo, died two years ago, I just couldn't think about it. Plus, my longterm friend Kenya the black torty cat died a couple of months later, in my lap. Then, since we're trying to adopt a human baby, I thought that getting a new dog at the same time we were getting a new baby was a recipe for exhaustion, if not disaster. But the baby isn't hurrying, so I'm getting a dog.

Now the big decisions have been 1) boxer or french bulldog; 2) rescue or puppy; 3) how much we are willing to pay at the outset. Of course, that's gotten us into summer -- when no one can ship flat-faced dogs. But I'll tell you what: we will have a dog by mid-August. The baby is in God's hands.