I’ve been gaining a new appreciation for authentic relationships lately. Today I got a taste of one and it made me smile inside for a long time. I have one sister. She’s four years older, but we’re pretty close. We’re a lot alike in some ways, but complete opposites in others. Even though we live in the same area, because of our work and family schedules, we rarely get to spend a lot of time together. She has three kids. Her oldest came along when I was first married. I was really close to her when she was little and still hold a place for her in my heart. Anyway…they came out for a visit today. They hadn’t seen our new puppy yet and immediately fell in love with her. There isn’t much not to love about the little angel – except for her new hobby – eating anything she can find. So we’re all sitting in the den just talking and admiring how adorable the little pup is when she starts heaving. Right in the middle of the floor she presents, in the most disgusting way possible, a dead bird. Apparently she had come across it on her last trip outside. So what made me smile inside about this you ask??? The way we all reacted made me smile. If it had been ANYONE else sitting in that room I would have been mortified, but I wasn’t. And if it would have been SOME people sitting in that room they would have been revolted, but they were totally cracking up laughing. I disposed of dead bird. We all mused about how gross it was and then they went right back to taking pictures of her and loving her. Relationships like this are like oxygen to me. That’s probably why I took a deep breath as they were leaving and sent a sincere thanks to the One who gave me these two – who love me despite my puking dog.