Lamb Chop Gets A New Job

Every Thanksgiving, there are always a few toys I hope mama doesn't notice I'm not adding to my "Share My Toys, Share The Love" project.

I've been lucky so far, but this year, she found one of those toys. I'll tell you the story in just a bit, but first, let me explain how this all works.

It's simple—I sniff out a big pile of toys and put them aside to take to the dogs who're waiting at a shelter for their furever home to arrive. Dogs who don't have any toys, to help them feel better when they're feeling sad or scared, or maybe even think that they'll never be loved.

You'd think it would be easy, too. Just grab some toys I don't play with much and put them inside the big brown donation bag.

And everything was easy and going just fine, like it always had been—my orange ball that's still very bouncy? Sure, I definitely have enough to share. I even added more than a few to my donation pile. My funky monkey? No problem—it's almost the same as my funny bunny. My cute canvas tortoise? Sure, it's not very fluffy, but I'm all about fluffy and snuggly. And I'm sure not all dogs are into fluffy and snuggly—they might prefer squeaky and shiny, and would love the tortoise I didn't care for so much.

I was feeling pretty good about myself, being so giving and thoughtful! And in just a snap, I’d set aside a big pile of love.

But then things got more than a little tricky. Mama changed the rules of MY "Share My Toys, Share The Love" project.

She decided that even though this was a wonderful gesture of kindness and I understood how much it meant to the pups at the shelter, because I was now older and wiser, I could make my Thanksgiving project even more special—not just for the other pups at the shelter, but also for myself too.

What was the new rule?

OMD (remember, this means Oh my dog!)! All I can say is that it was never even a consideration to be a part of MY plan for MY "Share My Toys, Share The Love" project. Why did she always have to "level things up" when everything was going just fine? Couldn't she save that for her paying clients?

But when my mama gets a plan in her head, I know better than to think there's a way to get it out of her head. The new rule? I couldn't just donate toys I didn't like or play with anymore. I also had to choose a few toys I still liked and still played with to give to the pups waiting at a shelter for their furever home to arrive.

So, with my toys still around me, I now had to use my heart more than my head. And suddenly this wasn't simple or easy. My brain stopped working, my heart didn't know what to feel, and I didn't know which toy to add next to my big toy donation pile. But as always, Mama was there to "help" me keep things moving along. "What about this one, Toffy?" she asked, holding Lamb Chop up for me to see. "I haven't seen you play with him in a very long time.”

That may have been right. It was true that I hadn't played with Lamb Chop in quite a while. But that didn't mean I didn't still love Lamb Chop or want to GIVE him AWAY. He was one of my very first. I even remember who gave him to me. And he was fluffy and squeaky, just how I like my toys to be. I had so many special memories of the fun we'd had. And he was always there to comfort me when I was small and felt sad or very scared.

But when I stopped to think about the puppies at the shelter and not me, I knew exactly what I wanted to, and my heart knew exactly what to feel—some of it was mad at Mama for interfering, and some of it was sad at the thought of losing Lamb Chop. But there was another part of my heart that was growing bigger than both of these when I thought about how much Lamb Chop would help the puppies at the shelter stay strong and pawsitive if they had him right by their side while they were waiting for their furever home to arrive.

I took a very deep sniff, and with huge tears in my eyes, I gently nudged Lamb Chop toward the big brown donation bag with my small brown nose. I told Lamb Chop I wasn't sending him away because I didn't love him or because I wasn't grateful for how much he helped me, but because other pups needed him more than I did, and it was time for him to move on to a new and impawtant job. I would never forget Lamb Chop, or stop loving him. And Mama was right, because she always is.  Even though what I was doing looked the same on the outside, it felt very different inside

my heart. And in that moment, I started thinking of everything in my life I was so grateful for— all of the fluffy and squeaky toys I still had, my extra warm and soft bed, and a bowl full of food so I would never go hungry (except when mama or the vet decided I was too flooffy). And I was espawcially grateful, and still am, to have a Mama who always makes sure I have more than I need—except when it comes to treats.

And you know what else - I was also right. I still remember Lamb Chop just as if he were here now. Because the pictures and feelings of all the expawriences we shared are in my head and my heart, and those will never go away. And now, when I think of him, with my puppy by my side, my heart is even fuller because I can see him snuggling with the pups waiting at a shelter for their furever home to arrive, and I know how much comfort he is giving them. And that’s how Lamb Chop got an impawtent new job, my life became richer, and my "Share My Toys, Share The Love" project became so much more than it had ever felt before.

The Big Lesson! When you share with true kindness and love in your heart, and don't expect anything in return, you'll never feel like you're losing. And now I’m even more grateful for what I have because it means I can share it with those who need it more than I do. I hope you get to expawrience this type of gratitude and full heart in your life too.

Toffy xoxo

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