My sister has a 13-year-old dog. Over time I've had to take care of that dog for a lot longer than I would have thought possible, a few years here and a few years there, as my sister has had various life upheavals. I wasn't always thrilled to do it, but I did it. I'm not sure what the breed is. She's a mixture of tennis ball chaser and something else. When I was taking care of her, I would exercise her by throwing a tennis ball for about five to twenty minutes a day depending on what the weather was like. She loved it.
A few weeks ago my sister called to tell me that, due to a bacterial infection, her dog's kidneys had shut down. The vet wasn't sure if they would start working again, but they were going to give her two weeks of antibiotics and see what happened. Various tests and examinations were done.
One of the reasons the vet had hope for the antibiotics was the fact that the dog's heart was extremely healthy. The vet and other people at the vet's office were saying they wished they had a heart that strong. Her liver function was also very good. In fact, except for the kidney problem, the test results were very good for a dog her age. It wasn't something they were used to seeing.
Her kidneys started working again, and she pulled through. I can't take too much credit, but I know that all that tennis ball chasing contributed to how healthy that dog is now. It made me realize that we can do things that turn out to be a blessing to others without really knowing it at the time. I didn't want to take care of the dog as much as I did, but years later all that exercise has paid off. If the antibiotics hadn't worked, the alternative would have been expensive dialysis that my sister couldn't afford.
It's made me think about life and how it may take years for the seed of a blessing to sprout. It makes me wonder what impact doing seemingly small things, even inconvenient things, can have in other people's lives.
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