When we first got our pets we laid down firm rules that we were not going to feed the pets anything while having dinner. But then our little mutt learned to sit up by the table and wait with begging eyes. And then the cat would come and sit next to him, waiting. Well, they were both really cute, and the rules just never stood up to the test. Soon they were getting tasty tidbits of some of what we were eating. One food that they liked in particular was waffles. They both liked them so well that it became a contest between them to see who could get the most. (They even got into a fight under our daughter's chair one morning, scaring her so that she let out a scream). Sometimes if we had a leftover waffle, I would take it out and toss it up on the garage roof for the birds to eat. When the birds picked at the waffle, pieces of it would fall down over the edge of the roof and onto the ground. The cat and dog got wise to that, so whenever I threw a waffle up there they would sit down below just waiting for a piece to fall down. This had been the case one summer morning when I went out to water some of the flowers I had planted the day before. As I pulled the hose through the gate, I saw the dog digging a hole right where I had planted a lovely chrysanthemum. He had a waffle and was digging a hole to bury it. Now if you gave this dog a bone he would chew on it till it was gone. But if you gave him a waffle, he would bury it... probably so the cat couldn't get it! When I saw where he was digging I sprinkled him with the hose. He didn't like getting sprinkled, so I figured that would back him off. He continued to dig. So then I just let the water run on his back (it was a warm day), but still he didn't stop. The plant was looking worse by the minute, so finally I gave him a swat, but he was intent on what he was doing. By this time both of us were wet. So I dropped the hose, picked him up, scolding him, and took him to another part of the yard. Then I went to turn the water off. When I came back to try to repair the damage to the chrysanthemum plant, I found the waffle with a large rock laying on it. The dog had laid a rock on it so the cat couldn't get it. The plant survived, just barely, but the dog was really miffed at me. Even so I had to laugh at what he had done. Sometimes when I put waffles out for the birds, the dog would even go up to the cat and smell her breath (he would sniff right in her face) to see if she had been eating waffles. He always tried to outdo her, but often he didn't win. I wonder how many waffles he buried...

© 2006 Arlene Schwartzkopf

When our children were in grade school and still small, our family attended a large church which had very wonderful worship in their services. We didn't have a "song book", nor did we use an overhead projector. The people would just learn the songs as they came each week and sing them from memory. The worship was beautiful as the people sang and worshipped from their hearts and raised their hands in praise to the Almighty God. After one of the evening services I was standing by the piano, and a young man from India came to me to inquire if there was a source or a song book where he could get some of the songs we sang. I told him that our church didn't have such a book, but that there was a small chorus book with some of the songs which was available in our church book store. He thanked me and left. Now sometimes after the services we would give our children change to go to the book store and buy something. That was true this particular evening. Our son came back with a refrigerator magnet about Jesus..... he collected them. But our daughter didn't have anything when she came back. I said to her, "Why didn't you buy something?" This was her answer: "A man came into the store to buy a song book. It cost $1.25, and all he had was a dollar, so I gave him my quarter." This so touched my heart...... and I'm sure it touched the man's heart too, because our daughter was only seven or eight years old at the time.

"It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35b NKJ

© 2004 Arlene Schwartzkopf