Doing the best you can when you can

I work with a lot of students who are getting their master's degrees in Educational Leadership and others who are getting their doctorates in Educational Leadership or related subjects. I just had one of students I chair finish his final Oral Presentation, at which point we could welcome him into the fold as Dr. Reggie Wicker. To say this gentleman has overcome some pretty major hurdles these past couple of years would be a massive understatement. Suffice it to say, his dissertation which focuses on getting African American males into positions of teaching and retaining them as well is complete and so incredibly well done! I wish everyone could have heard him defend his dissertation yesterday, but trust me when I say, "Dr. Wicker is going to change lives to ensure our African American young people have some really great role models to look up to in the future."   Dr. Wicker is doing the VERY best he can, and his very best makes me want to do my very best.

I have been asked by so many students the past couple of weeks about what the policy is on turning in late papers due to illness, grandmothers who have passed away, sick children, car wrecks, and the list goes on. I tell them all the same thing: You do the best you can when you can, and the rest will follow. 

Dave and I rescue Labrador Retrievers for a local organization in Arizona called Desert Labrador Retriever Rescue.  We've been doing this ministry (and it is, indeed, a ministry for us) for the last four years, and we have successfully fostered and then adopted out 26 dogs in that time frame. Obviously, as many of you know about my work, I am on the go so very much of the time.  This fostering of dogs takes a great deal of time; sometimes there are medical issues, other times there are behavioral issues that must be addressed before the dog can be put out for adoption by qualified and "vetted" adopters.  When I am in the midst of busy travel time, we simply can't do it. We owe it to our two babies (Kirby and Rudy) to take care of them first before bringing another Lab into the fold.  We just rescued and began fostering Cidney (Cid, for short, as I have a dear college friend with the same name who loves Labs) two days ago.  Cid is 11 years old (pretty old for a Lab), and she has some fatty tumors and other minor health issues. We may or may not be able to adopt her out, but we will definitely provide palliative (or hospice) care for her, if not.  She is SUCH a joy----her tail doesn't wag, her whole body wags.  She just wants to sit or lie down near us and be pet.  The cutest thing that warms my heart is that she resembles our last Lab who passed away named L.N. (pronounced Ellen, of course). She and L.N. have a similar mannerism, which is to walk between your legs so you can put on her buttocks.  Cid does it to me, I pat her a few times, she comes out and then turns around and wants to take another go at it.  It simply warms my heart.  We can't do this work 24/7, but we do what we can when we can do it.   And it blesses us as much as it blesses the dogs and the families who end up with a Lab we have saved just for their love connection. People often ask us, "You must get so attached to the dogs. How do you do it?" My question back is, "If we've been called to do this, how can we NOT do it?"  
So grateful for all the blessings of this life.

Just for today, do the best you can when you can.

Happy Communicating!

Shelly