The Tiede’s have taken the enormous step of adding a teeny tiny Tiede to our mix. Yesterday we purchased 2# Gracie Mae. She is a Teddy Bear puppy which is a Bishon Frise/Shih Tzu mix. Last night was a bit sleepless for this new “mom”, however, we are nearly 24 hours into this and are (so far) accident free!

The fun part of this event is that the three kids did 95% of the work. Shortly after we had to put our beloved 14 year old Pomeranian down last spring, the kids saw a picture of a Teddy Bear puppy in the classifieds. I knew I needed grieving time, so we put the burden of “saving” for the puppy on the kids. They prompty created the “Tiede Teddy Bear Fund” and collected their nickels and dimes in a coffee jar, complete with a label and tons of pictures of their dream puppies.

It was with great pride and excitement that the kids presented the puppy jar to “Mr. Jeff” yesterday in exchange for Gracie. Yes, Grandpa helped a little and Mom here threw in some book sale money, but the everyone in the family gave sacrificially. That’s the lesson we all learned. In the beginning their were discussions of who would get Gracie most since “some” were giving more money than others. Let’s see…an 11 year old who babysits vs. a 4-year-old. Thus we were given a God-portunity to share the story of the Widow who gave everything she had and it was enough.

It’s so easy to look at the accomplishments of my favorite Christian speakers and published author friends and think, “What I have to offer will never be enough…it will never compare.” Instead, today I want to look less at the offerings of other humans and just be the best me I can be with Jesus’ help. Today I want to give to Him sacrificially. It will be more than enough.