Bare Bear

Five years ago we got a dog - a standard poodle that wouldn’t shed.  Bear became part of our family and we fell instantly in love.  Last year we noticed something strange - our non-shedding dog was shedding.  Slowly, his chocolate brown hair turned grey, turned brittle and started falling out by the handful. Bear was eventually diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called Sebaceous Adenitis.  With treatment his hair initially grew back, but now our “non-shedding” dog is shedding again.  He doesn’t know that he looks like a mangy scraggamuffin. He is just happy to be loved and cared for.  I could learn a lot from our bare Bear.  When life doesn’t work out as I expect, I would do well to remember that I am loved and cared for.  On any given day, I may look or feel like a scraggamuffin, but God loves me anyway.  Thanks be to God!