My old self was quite melancholy and the new year of 2022 has brought challenges to praise, especially when my pomeranian puppy engulfed a scrunchy. The thing had to be as big as his stomach but I was shocked that he didn’t choke on it going down. In amazement I searched the surroundings just to make sure it didn’t miraculously disappear, but nope, he devoured it. After three days, 3 long days, I was growing anxious and failing miserably at fasting negativity and was certain that little doggie could not poop out this matter. My faith had waned and I was starting to tailspin into disastrous thinking. In five minutes time I added up a vet bill the size of a mortgage, not to mention the animosity toward all vets who take advantage of people’s emotions and then I started to text my friend for help with payment of this exuberant bill because it was her daughter’s scrunchy. But I stopped the runaway train of negative expectations long enough to pace back and forth between two pictures of Jesus on opposing walls and rethought how I would deal with this crisis that I had conjured up in my head. I didn’t want to feel so frantic over a dog who I often felt usurped my emotional stability after some unfortunate, unexplainable event. Then The Lord told me to go into my bedroom where I saw he had puked and there was the scrunchy!!!!! I had never been so thankful and full of praise for a direct response to prayer, at all in2021! Now, not even three weeks into 2022, I was sensing the shift in the atmosphere of God showing up in brand new ways. My spirit needed this, I needed to witness Jesus doing for me and my dog what we could not do for ourselves. I needed my patience to go on a roller coaster and almost meet my wits end to really prove that God had the whole situation in the palm of His hand. It was a day of awe and gratefulness as I was able to thank, praise and surrender for the time that led up to the purge of heaviness that no longer sat in my gut or my puppy’s.