Leah

Our good friends responded to an advertisement for a maltese puppy. 

The advertisement had a photo of the most beautiful of all dogs... 

But when they arrived to pick up their new puppy, they were given the ugliest dog they'd ever seen. 

Nevertheless, they brought her home and named her... Leah. 

Get it?

If not, see the story of Rachel and her sister Leah in the Bible. 

Leah is the most nervous dog that ever existed. 

She has an assortment of the oddest habits. 

She had the crookedest teeth that stuck up out of her mouth from below.

That was until they all needed to be pulled because they were literally rotting. 

Now she has a difficult time keeping her tongue in her mouth. 

And now she drools and has to chew the air for several seconds to "reset" her mouth hundreds of times each day. 

But, for some reason, she took to our daughters, especially our youngest, Adele, on visits to our friends' house. 

So when our friends needed a dog sitter, we agreed. 

Leah came to stay with us for a night, a day, and another night. 

We thought we'd simply endure for the sake of friendship and a living creature who needed compassionate care. 

But, to our complete astonishment, in that small amount of time, Leah completely disarmed us, and we all fell in headlong in love with this, the silliest of dogs. 

And, wonder of wonders, Leah's chronic anxiety melted away, even disappeared entirely, and she made herself at home with all of us. 

She was running, and jumping, and playing, and snuggling, and napping with all of us. 

We were literally devastated to see her go home. 

Now, we simply can't wait to dog sit her again. 

We invited ourselves over to her owner's house to see her again later this month (and have dinner with our friends, of course.)

I simply have no rational explanation for what happened.  

All I can do is stand beside myself, observe my subdued heart in wonder, and testify as a witness: 

We love that silly dog!