"When the dog bites..."

So, yesterday the song from "Sound of Music" was going through my head...Raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens...when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad....

If you notice in the picture to the right, Kiley has a bandaid across her nose. Yep, yesterday morning, she tried to get a napkin away from our puppy (later finding out that she used my boot to try and whap him on the nose instead of her hand) and he bit her nose. Thankfully, the teeth did not puncture it. She would not let me take a picture of the injury, but it takes up most of her nose. She was so brave and she really did not want to go to church after that. But, I knew she could do it. She was afraid people would make fun of her, but she handled it well and we dealt with it. I told her I would stay with her for two minutes in her Sunday School class and then that was it. She didn't like it, at first, but did it and when I came back was laughing and enjoying herself.

In life, as I told her, we have two choices. We can hide from our fears OR we can deal with them head on and find the fun or joy in the situation we find ourself. She had a choice. I was proud of her for choose to hit it head on. I told her how proud I was of her and how much courage it took for her to handle it. She was able to come and enjoy our Super Bowl party and handled all the questions about her nose with great strength. I am very proud of her! When we got home, after letting the dog out of the cage he had been pinned up in as discipline, she wanted to be the first one to hug and kiss him and tell him that she loved him and knew he didn't mean to hurt her. I was proud again of her response and not being afraid of him.

This again was a teaching moment with the other kids as well. When I had to put the dog in his cage and leave him in a dark room, Karli began to cry. "I love him mom, why are you doing this to him." I informed her that I loved her and that I had to discipline her because I loved her. He did something wrong, he has to learn. I went on to let her know that now she knows how I feel when I dicipline her. It breaks my heart (most of the time) to have to discipline for something they do wrong, but BECAUSE I LOVE HER I have to. I wouldn't be loving her if I didn't. I held her and let her cry. So many times we see dicipline as a bad thing, but in actuality it is great. And if we don't do it or allow ourselves to discipline or be disciplined we loose out on a lot.

It is funny how a dog bite could have such a great and momentous teaching experience. It again goes to show that no matter WHAT the situation...God works ALL things for his glory and for our good.