The new year often comes with a lot of new beginnings. New goals and aspirations, finally making the changes we have wanted to for months before. It pushes us to dive into something new. With that said, I have a very big announcement to make! We have a new bundle of joy joining the Crawford family in 2022! That’s right, I got a puppy! Her name is Chloe and she is the sweetest cockapoo.
If you follow along on our Instagram, you probably already knew and have seen all our fun with her these past few weeks, but this is the official announcement and story of how we came to bring her home. The story of how we got her taught me a big lesson about trusting in God’s timing so I especially wanted to share it with y’all.
For a bit of a back story to get us started, we had been looking to get a puppy ever since our childhood dog Cassie passed away in 2020. She was a massive part of our life and her passing left us with a huge hole in our lives. When I say I used to tell her about my whole entire day I am not kidding. If you have had childhood pets, or pets in general, you know how hard it is to lose them. Until this point though, we had never found a dog that would be quite the right fit. Until…
A few days before New Years we had been speaking with a breeder who had cockapoo puppies. There was one boy in particular that I thought was cute and we had already started talking about potential names. The first name that came to me was Theo, short for Theodore. I had never thought of this name for a dog before, and had no idea where it came from, but it stuck with me. That night on my night shift, I was praying about if this was the right dog and if I should be going to visit it to see if it was a good match. I prayed and asked God “God, is this your gift to me?”. A few hours later, I randomly looked up the name Theodore to see what it meant. What does it mean? God’s Gift. That couldn’t just be a coincidence. I texted my sister right after and confirmed that we would go see the puppy on New Years Eve (that day). I prayed to God that if this dog was the right one, He would still be there by the time we got there the next day.
Since it was a holiday, all the stores would be closing early so we headed to the pet store to buy the basic supplies we would need to bring the puppy home if it worked out. The minute we got to the breeders, the puppy I had wanted had sold just earlier that day. I was so disappointed. Everything had worked out thus far and I had felt like it was from God. We spent some time with the other puppies they had there but it just didn’t feel right. They were quite hyper puppies and I was looking for one that was more reserved and quiet.
I went home devastated, with a whole trunk of dog supplies that had to be returned. I had been so excited to bring a puppy home and it left me feeling so confused. What I had hoped for, and what I thought God wanted for me, wasn’t. When I got home, I talked to my family about it, sat in my sorrow for a bit, and then checked to see if there were any other cockapoos available from breeders in the area. I came across one litter with a female puppy that really caught my eye – right away I said that she would be the dog. Unfortunately, when we contacted the breeder, she said that the puppy was already spoken for pending pick up the next morning. We asked about the other puppies as they were all very cute too, but they were all spoken for. She said she would keep us updated if someone didn’t come for one of the puppies.
I worked another night shift that night and continued looking at the puppies wondering what God was trying to tell me. I went to bed that next morning and was soon woken up at noon by my sister telling me that one of the puppies never got picked up that day. When I asked which one it was – it was the one. The first puppy I looked at and said would be the puppy I wanted. We asked some more questions about the puppy and her temperament and talked as a family about the decision. After a phone call with the breeder, I was out the door at 1245 to go see this puppy. Luckily, I still had all the puppy supplies from the day before because it was New Years Day, and all the stores were closed. I was prepared, and the dog that I wanted was available. When we got there, she was perfect – she was well behaved, sweet, beautiful, healthy, and more than anything I could have imagined. We formed a connection immediately and it felt right. I felt peace about it.
God taught me a huge lesson in those few days. The thing is, the other dog that I thought I wanted was quite hyper according to the breeder – which wasn’t what I prefer in a dog. God worked it out that I had all the supplies that I needed to bring Chloe home, and though it wasn’t the same dog or day I thought it would be, it worked out perfectly (despite being extremely sleep deprived for the third night shift I had to go in for – luckily God got me through it without crashing).
We may think we know what we want, and we may even feel like it is right until it doesn’t work out. But when we are patient and trust in what God is doing, it really pays off. What God has for us is so much more than we could ever picture ourselves and it is so worth the wait. The same goes for a lot in life – future careers, a husband, buying a house. When we trust in God, He works all things for our good and goes above and beyond our expectations.
Love,
~ Sarah
Comments