My Gift of Mercy

I have been given the gift of Mercy by God when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I am also have a talent for writing, a passionate interest in psychology and an artistic personality type. I am also a dreamer when it come to the pursuit of my calling. I am seeking my destiny, longing so much to find and fulfill it. I have loved dogs for many years, but in my early childhood years I was petrified of them. I grew fascinated by the canine species as I grew up. Now I love them very much and adore them with a passion. Since I was about 20 I was certain that I wanted a Golden Retriever. I had admired and loved the breed since I started loving dogs at around age 11. The Golden Retriever was my “Dream” dog. I thought (and still do think) they are such wonderful dogs. Their loving, forgiving sweet natured demeanor along with their gorgeous coat and warm adorable happy looking faces captures my heart. When I was 20 years old, I had not even had a dog, let alone a Golden Retriever. I finally decided to get a mixed breed puppy out of the classifieds since I wanted a dog so badly, yet was on a very tight budget. Most of what I learned about dog ownership came by raising this first dog. Finally after I had had my mixed breed dog for many years, my longing for a Golden Retriever grew stronger. At age 27, I had started contacting breeders. I even visited a breeders home and got to meet her dogs. I was hoping I could accquire a pup later that same year, but it never materialized. My finances were in danger and I unfortunately had to file for bankruptcy in 2004. My dream for a Golden was put on the back burner indefinately. I eventually got married and had a baby boy. My mixed breed dog died when my new son turned 3 months old. Finally, my longing for a Golden Retriever grew more intense than ever last summer and fall after going through a period of emptiness and desolateness. I started contacting breeders again resuming what I started after 9 years of laying dormant, the search for my very own Golden Retriever. I got in touch with several breeders starting in late October 2011 after researching for 2 weeks after I resumed my search and making my final decision in early December 2011. I thought I had my mind made up before Thanksgivng which breeder I would choose. Then a bizarre turn of events changed my choice of breeder. God had just the pup in mind. I was all excited about visiting my girlfriend’s house for Thanksgiving and showing pictures of the sire and dam being bred for the next litter from what I thought was my breeder of choice. My girlfriend had recently had her second child and could not allow any guests with the slightest hint of a cold. Finally, it was the day before Thanksgiving and when I woke up for work, I heard horrible sounds of congestion coming from my son’s bedroom. I was in anguish! There would be no visiting my friend on Thanksgiving. I knew I would have to make alternative plans and scrambled to find a place for Thanksgiving dinner. I live in the quaint town of Manassas
Virginia, near the edge of the Appalachian mountains. I wanted to find a place to eat a little deeper into Virginia. Then an idea crossed my mind, perhaps I could search for additional Golden Retriever breeders. Too make a long story short, one thing led to another and I contacted yet Golden Retriever breeder on the day before Thanksgiving and put a deposit down on a puppy from that breeder on December 3rd. God later suggested I name my puppy Mercy. This pup would end up being a more of a beautiful gift of Mercy then I ever could have imagined. More details to follow tomorrow.