A recent end of the school year field trip took us to a cookout at my daughter’s teacher’s house and huge yard.  The rain brought the class inside the house and to the dismay of Snickers, their dog, hundreds of little 1st grade fingers tried to get a grasp on the little shih tzu.  I totally understood why the kids wanted to get their hands on her.  She was so cute.  Now, we have a shih tzu and there are times when I think he’s pretty cute but there was something about Snickers that was different.  She had a bit of ugly going on that made her strikingly cute….Her ugly attribute couldn’t have been pulled off by a large dog because then it would just be gross but a little dog can get away with it… Snickers’ ugly attribute?  It was a lazy tongue… what I mean by that is that she walked around with her tongue constantly hanging out … not hanging out like she was exhausted and not hanging out because her tongue was overly long but hanging out about an inch because it was comfy.  It made what would be an average shih tzu incredibly cute.

My daughter and I had a little conversation tonight about the perception of cute.  As you may know a friend of mine recently adopted a Chinese Crested Hairless puppy into her home.   Eventhough Tasha has a bit of ugly going on, the puppy has won the hearts of our daughters.   They love the fact that she is a lap dog and acts like a lap dog when our so called “lap dog” doesn’t like to be held.  When we pass the pet section in a store they look for cute clothes for Tasha… Moe doesn’t really like the whole clothes dressing up thing….Poor Moses P. Diddy Hall…. how fast they forget.  But my friend, Michelle, she is not limited to loving only the canine pet but she also has a little marsupial ( a Sugar Glider) that my youngest daughter is very attached to and my middle daughter, after spending just a little bit of time with, begs for permission to buy one with her own money… our answer is always,”No! What about Moe? We can’t get you to take care of him” and her retort is always, “I try but he doesn’t want to be held.”…what being held and needing food and water have to do with each other have in common, I don’t know but in her mind that is justification for more pets……. poor Moe…

So back to the conversation about cuteness.  My daughter tonight was talking about how cute Tasha was… on and on and on she talked and finally I had enough and stated my thoughts,

“I don’t think she is that cute”

“What? Are you kidding me?” my daughter said

“No,” I said, “I mean she is sweet but I don’t really know that I would consider her cute”

“Well, I do.  She is just so little and so cute”

“Come on, Catie… What about Moe? He is so cute.  Just look at him.”

And at that moment, we both looked down only to find Moses P. Diddy Hall losing his supper right before our eyes.

“Ewwww!!!”  (that would be from both of us)

Gross is not cute, Moe!

Okay, Tasha is cute….

I guess all of that judging of what is cute and what is ugly and the fact that cute little Moe disgusted us all,  helped me remember that there are many ways to look at one situation (or pet) and eventhough he wasn’t referring to cute and ugly, Jehoshaphat’s orders of judging helps me remember to look at the situation as God would and let God be the judge…

Our conversation tonight ended with carpet cleaner, laughs, the understanding that ugly is in the eye of the beholder and complaints from Catie who had the honors of taking care of her dog’s mess.  …. Poor Catie.

2 Chronicles 19

⁴ Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers. ⁵ He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. ⁶ He told them, “Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. ⁷ Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”

⁸ In Jerusalem also, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests and heads of Israelite families to administer the law of the LORD and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem. ⁹ He gave them these orders: “You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the LORD. ¹⁰ In every case that comes before you from your fellow countrymen who live in the cities—whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or ordinances—you are to warn them not to sin against the LORD; otherwise his wrath will come on you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not sin.