Here we go again! Another first-timer puppy owner scare! And, like the ones before, once again, a surety all was well came. On this occasion, it was when the phrase, “this too shall pass” entered my mind.
Our 6 1/2 month old puppy is notorious for eating paper products—napkins, paper towels, receipts, book covers, etc. out of the trash and off of countertops.
In an instance, while preoccupied and not solely focused on her, it was a tender mercy an out-of-the blue, spontaneous alert to check on her and check on her now popped into my mind. In rapid succession came the question, “where is she?”; acknowledgement she was missing; another similarly posed question, “where did she go?”; an instinct that she had gone into our master bathroom; and a prayer while in immediate route there that I would get to her in time before she ate something she was not to eat.
Sure enough, she had gone into the bathroom. However, by the time I got to her, per the evidence of small remnant pieces on the bedroom floor next to the bathroom of an item that had been thrown out, it appeared she may have eaten some of it, though I was not for certain if she had.
I was really concerned. And especially so because it was her bedtime. I questioned, “Do I keep her up or put her in her crate for the night?” I wrestled profusely with what to do. I read up on google about various options to handle what she may have ingested—from giving her hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting within 15 minutes of ingesting a foreign object, or if that time had passed giving her straight pumpkin for the fiber to help in removal of it within 10-24 hours, or feeding her rice in place of her regular diet until she pooped it out.
Being that the veterinary office was closed and I did not know until the day after that a veterinarian was on call after hours, the only person I knew to reach out to was Heavenly Father. As I knelt in prayer desiring to hear an answer to my prayer, one by one I asked about each option and the response for each was a no. Rather, the answer I received for what to do was “you do not need to do anything”.
I questioned if the dialogue between Heavenly Father and I was actually me giving myself the answer. Urg! So frustrating! I have come to recognize His voice and yet here in this important moment, I was not sure whose voice I was hearing, my own or Heavenly Father’s. I did however feel a peace to do nothing, but I was not content. I wanted a surety that the answer I received was from Heavenly Father, so once again I turned to Him in prayer for help to know with certainty if the answer came from Him.
Through my desire to undoubtedly hear Him and faith I would receive that clarity, I decided to read a random article in the Liahona. A few paragraphs in, I stopped at a paragraph that began with the word nothing. I questioned if that was the confirmation I needed. Though I still felt a peace and comfort to do nothing, I was not settled and sure that I was hearing the answer from Heavenly Father or from my own thoughts.
After I kept our puppy up for a time and saw no signs of her having any issues, I placed her in her crate. She slept well all night long. Sometime during the night, as my mind was in rest and relaxed mode, I awoke to these words, “this too shall pass” in reference to all the other questionable items that she had before ingested and pooped out and that it would be the case this time as well. It was a tender mercy these words solidified and confirmed that I did not need to do anything.
Once up for the day, I continued to research all I could to educate myself regarding every concerning question I had. I also reached out to a veterinarian and received concurrence that I did not need to do anything unless our puppy showed signs of having problems which she had not up to that point behaved any different than her normal self. She ate, pooped, and peed like clockwork. Eighteen hours later, it was a tender mercy a portion of what she had ingested did pass and a couple hours after that, the rest, I assumed, came out. Amidst the time period of nerve-racking worry and concern, it was a tender mercy I felt comforted “this too shall pass” and relieved once it did.
When have you been concerned about what to do in an unsettling situation you had experienced before and you received a confirmation that like the prior similar instances, “this too shall pass” and all would be well?
tendermercym❤️ments~jld
“How have you noticed Heavenly Father’s awareness and mindfulness of you today?”
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