This Tuesday brought to you in part by Jesus & Caffeine.
This morning I have bags under my eyes and makeup is the last thing I’m thinking about. I just finished up a dog sitting job yesterday and I am looking after my roommates 2 dogs for the rest of this week. I do this a lot, so don’t feel bad for me. I honestly love watching people’s animals. I love putting their mind at ease knowing their pet doesn’t have to be boarded and not in their own home. Friends help each other out and take care of each other’s fur babies, and real babies!
My real talk is coming from the less glamorous side of watching people’s animals. I don’t want to be that person who only posts the highlights of my life on social media. There’s always going to be a little “messy” in our lives and it’s something we have to be open about.
Bailey is in the above picture and she’s upset because her brother is not feeling well. I came home from work yesterday to diarrhea all over the house, in Riley’s crate and… All over him. My Monday date night with Zack turned into scrubbing down the whole house and getting Riley back up and running.
Zack came over and helped me quarantine the dogs to the wooden floor. I scrubbed Riley, washed soiled towels, and scrubbed down the carpets and his crate. I also had to make the house smell like a bed of roses again. Truth is I have a very weak stomach, so things like this always challenge me to “grow.” Part 2 of damage control was making rice for Riley to eat. It was the only mellow thing in the pantry that could possibly make him feel better.
It was exhausting. It was gross. And it was real. I could have freaked out and locked him in the garage until Erin got back, but that’s now how I handle things. In this moment I had to be there to take care of a mess because as a friend, dog sitter, and daughter of Christ, that’s what I do. I don’t leave messes for other people, because God has always welcomed my mess. Erin is out of the country and doesn’t have cell service so this post will be a fun story from our week for her to read. Wink wink. We finished cleaning everything just in time for The Bachelor and just in time for me to burn the dinner I was making for me and Zack. Yay! The good times just keep on rolling.
As I stood there looking a hot mess, looking over at sick Riley, looking at the burnt dinner and then looking at Zack, I felt a little lost. I felt insecure. I felt unprepared to be a wife. Zack wrapped his arms around me and said, “I can’t wait to marry you.”
He ate his entire burnt dinner… And mine. I had lost my appetite from cleaning up Riley’s grossness for 2 hours. It made me realize that we are really never prepared for a mess. We can shove our messes under a rug and tell the world that we don’t have struggles, or we can share our messes in hope that others can relate.
Real Talk Tuesday: I’m not ready to have kids.
