God Given Opportunities in Disguise

God definitly has a way of humbling us, and I thank him for that acutally. Let me tell you about Derek and Missy. Every year on the first weekend of December, I load up the equipment and with the Needy Paws Animal Shelter Volunteers, we photograph hundreds of people and pets to raise money for the shelter. It is a very quick in/out with sometimes just a few shots. Somehow we manage to get wonderful pictures over and over again, year after year. For 16 hours that weekend, we shoot and then another several hours preparing and ordering images, then the sorting and such.
This year, Derek brought in his dogs for a pic, and another pic with his mom, and one more with his 21 year old cat - Missy. Missy was deaf, blind, and did not react to any movement, toys, sounds - she just wanted out of there and the only shot we got was one that Derek had to hold her head up. Okay image, not the best ever, but the best we could get that day. When Derek picked up his prints on Saturday the following week, he called me and asked if they could be redone.
Now this is the part I am not exactly proud of. It was Saturday afternoon, I had not had a day off in 14 days, and had worked through a stomach bug the week before. I was tired, cranky and frankly not in the mood to re photograph a cat from a charity event. I told him no, then he asked again and I softened a little, but was still not particurally thrilled about it, but he was on his way.

When Derek and Missy got to the studio, all we could get was cat head down, no reaction to movement or noise. I was thinking all we were going to get was the same pic we got at the shelter. So I started pulling out my bag of tricks - nothing. Then as a last ditch effort, I took some Captain Crunch that I keep for little kids out, and she became interested, the head came up, and we got the shot before she hung her head again. No matter, it was better than before and that was all that counted. During this time, I got to visit with Derek and find out a little bit about him and his love for animals and this 21 year old cat he had since she was a kitten. By the time he left, I was not feeling so much like Scrooge.

This morning, Derek called me and told me that Missy passed away last night. He apologized for being so pushy to get that done on Saturday, but it was me that owed an apology. What an opportunity I almost passed up! Yes, there are probably many photos of Missy throughout her years, but I know which one will be the most important to this man who loves his animals the way I do.

Another person that used to push me and get under my skin passed away earlier this year. I think back to all I accomplished because of him. Yes, at the time we are being aggitated and pushed it is uncomfortable, but through it, God is giving us growing opportunities.

This Christmas season, when so many of us get cranky and tired, and tired of people, look for the opportunity to grow.

Merry Christmas

Becky