No Amazing Tricks Required

"Next week we will have a pet show," Ivy's teacher announced to her class.Ivy's feet did a happy dance. She couldn't wait to bring her dog Mose to school.Violet waved her hand. "Do you want my mother to be the judge? She knows all about dog shows because my French poodle, Queenie, is in lots of them.""It's kind of you to offer, Violet, but it's not a contest, so we won't need a judge.""Queenie can do eleven tricks," Violet said. Uh-oh. Mose didn't know any tricks. Ivy better get on the ball. Hey, that would be a good one. He could stand on a ball and add numbers. When Ivy said ten plus one, he could bark eleven times. Even Violet's dog probably couldn't do that."Violet's poodle can do eleven tricks," Ivy said that night at supper. "Plus, she's a queen. And she came from France, which is a very fancy place." Ivy plunked her elbows on the table and plopped her chin in her hands. Mose had come from the plain old animal shelter.Hey, wait a minute. She didn't know where he had been before the shelter.She sat up straight. "Do you think Mose could be from a royal family?" A loud snore came from under the table where Mose was lying. "He doesn't sound very royal to me," Mama said. Daddy shrugged. "Even kings snore.""So, he could be a king!" Ivy poked her head under the table. "Did you hear that, boy? You're a royal dog!"When they finished eating, Daddy got his Bible and turned to a page near the end. "This verse says we are God's children. Since he's our King, that means we're royal. But that's not the most important thing. What matters is that we belong to Him." "Just like Mose belongs to me." Ivy gave her dog a pat. "It doesn't matter if he can do amazing tricks or if he's a king. I love him because he's mine."Mama winked at Ivy. "That's the same reason God loves you."Ivy grinned. "Even though I can't stand on a ball and do math!" –Martha Hynson