Pam Padgett ... teacher
Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
God constantly watches over those who belong to Him, knowing and
providing exactly what we need, and leading us in the best way for us. I've been reminded of this several times during the past few days as some changes have unfolded in my life ...
Recently, by late morning or early afternoon I found myself with nothing
to do and asking God "what am I supposed to do now?" Joan had also been concerned for about five days that I might need
something more in my life, and had turned to God with this concern. Neither of us knew of the others' concern.
Then a couple days ago we were talking on the telephone and started
talking about a certain breed of dogs. An idea came forth
that I could get one of these puppies and train it to be a therapy dog,
taking it to hospitals and rehab centers for patients to see and bringing a little of normal life into the hospital setting.
The idea of taking a dog to visit patients appealed to me very much, but I didn't know if this was God's will, so I prayed, and then started getting some more information about these things.
Every time I thought of getting a puppy, I was concerned. It might be hard for my older animals
to have an active puppy around, and I was also concerned that it might
be too much for me to handle having and training a puppy in addition to
the increasing care my older animals need. I turned to God and asked
what I should do, and had the idea to train one of the dogs I already
have to be a therapy dog.
Although getting a puppy had concerned me, doing therapy dog work did not, and it continued to interest me. So I prayed about how to get started with this
type of work. On the internet I learned what it takes for a dog to be
certified as a therapy dog. The first step is for the dog to pass a Canine Good Citizen exam. When I saw this, I remembered that a
neighbor's dog had received training for this exam at a pet store very
near where I live, and I know the trainer at that store. When taking the neighbor's dog to a class this trainer led a few months ago, I found that she communicates what to do in a way I can understand.
I took my dog
to the store and talked with the trainer. She told me about the
six-week class we would need to take. Interestingly, a new session of
this class was starting the very next day, and there was room in the
class for us. The trainer has been doing therapy dog work with her own
dogs for about 15 years, and is in the process of getting certified to
do evaluations for the final certification step for therapy dogs. She also
told me that there aren't nearly enough therapy dogs to meet the needs
in our community, something I had also seen on the internet. So there are lots of opportunities to do this type of
work if we get certified and enjoy doing it. We attended the
first class. The dog did well, and I very much enjoyed the class.
Its amazing to me how everything has moved very quickly, but it has been
very easy and not at all rushed. Its as though the way has been
prepared and is unfolding as needed in front of me. I don't know where this will lead, but have prayed and am trusting God to lead me in what is best for me. Even taking this class is filling time for me with something I enjoy, and I am very grateful to God for this.
It causes me to marvel in God to consider how wonderfully HE watches over and cares for us. And God knows how to lead us to the "pasture" that is best for us at each point in our lives.