Our daughter’s dearly loved chocolate lab, Truffles, was ready to have pups. My niece was poised to help. Everything was washed and ready. Two o’clock on Saturday, June 1^st, the first puppy arrived, a fox red, followed by a champagne, then a little silver. By midnight we had eight pups born and two to go.

Let me pause and explain the wonder that goes into this for me. Yes, we did our homework and the genetic testing to know the coat possibilities in pairing a silver male with a chocolate female. But the Christmas-day-like surprise of variety hit me when four different, highly-treasured colors came from our mahogany pet. I was stunned.

But no chocolates. My love for variety kept me from pairing a chocolate to a chocolate, something I’d have to work on in order to meet the current demand. The market is forever changing. So, we had been praying for chocolates. The kids had been praying the entire time, even during labor. (Whatever God does with those after the fact sort of prayers, I’d love to know.) Anyway, shortly after midnight I sent them off to bed, promising them I would tell them if Truffles birthed a chocolate puppy.

Then it happened, a moment I will treasure in my Mom’s Keepsake of Memories. I carried a freshly born chocolate pup to my eight-year-old son’s bed, laid its wiggling wet body over his heart and said, “Caleb, look what God did.”

“What?” he said in his sleepy voice. The puppy waggled its way to his chin and started kissing him awake. Neither pup nor boy had their eyes open.

“It’s a CHOCOLATE GIRL.”

I had promised all of our younger kids, since we started in 2012, they could raise one if they wanted. And Caleb would be the 4^th. It would have to be a girl, and it would have to be a coat color that would produce pups we could sell. Our little business is designed to teach them proprietor skills. Truffles’ previous litter produced one chocolate and it was a boy. Super cute but not what we were needing.

Caleb smiled, eyes still closed. Puppy wriggled its nose under his chin, tickling him awake. Eyes still sealed shut. “Mama, what is it?”

“It’s what you prayed for. It’s your chocolate girl.”

These moments bring me so much joy! I wonder what God must feel when He delivers fresh gifts to His kids: sunshine, laughter, good food, shelter, flowers, loved ones, puppies, friendships, life—eternal life.

It will take me an entire lifetime to learn how deep and how wide and how high the love of God is for us. But I am determined to see it, admire it, and proclaim it. Please join me.