The late comedian, George Carlin, had a great line about dogs: “What does a dog do on its day off? It can’t lie around — that’s its job.” That is the kind of dog I wanted; that is not the kind of dog we got. The dog we got is part Terrier on caffeine. She is really hyper. Maggie also, in fairness, is a sweet and cute dog. I resented her at first because she is not what I wanted — she is what I got.

Her hyper-activity is heightened when a storm is approaching. Like lots of dogs, she seems to get really scared at any sign of bad weather. She is an outside dog during the day, so we can’t always get home when a storm comes to let her in.

She has figured out recently that when a storm approaches and we aren’t home, she can dig her way under our fence and out of the backyard. She must think that safety is at a neighbor’s house. One day she escaped the backyard, and we could not see any sign of her escape — no digging, no holes in the fence. Thus, I dubbed her “Hairy Houdini.” I scolded her for getting out to which she replied, “That was nothing,” and she promptly pulled a rabbit out of a hat. (OK, I made that part up.)

She is a really good dog, but she is not what I wanted. How wide is the gap between what you wanted in life and what you got? Maybe as big as a Wallmart parking lot. Take heart, though Moses never shopped Wal-Mart, he once had a Wallmart-sized dream. He would step foot in the Promised Land. That was his destiny, his dream. He deserved it, right? Consider this: “Then Moses went up … to the top of Pisgah … and the Lord showed him the whole land… and the Lord said to Moses, ‘This is the land I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob … I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over it’” (Deuteronomy 34: 1-4). Ouch!

That Moses moment on Mount Pisgah is one that happens all too often in real life at the foot of the mountain. The truth is, for many of God’s children, the life you have is the life you have, and it is not going to change. And no amount of wishing and hoping is going to change a thing. There are some dreams that deserve a decent burial.

For others, however, life has turned out better than you ever imagined; as we say, “beyond your wildest dreams.” Congratulations.

But for many, not so. Sometimes real life unfolds in ways that are difficult to accept. If I could go back in time, I would make darn sure that the dog we got was a “lying around” kind of dog. The truth is, we are stuck with what we have, and we had better adjust to it. Maggie is about 2 years old, and so I had better take my vitamins or she may outlive me. So, I am adjusting to life with a hyper dog; I am appreciating her good qualities and basking in how much our daughter loves her.

When Maggie was a puppy, running wildly about the house and chewing up shoes, ankles, and furniture, I had secretly hoped that she would pull a Harry Houdini and disappear (to someone else’s home). I wasn’t proud of those thoughts, but it was a way to reduce the gap between what I wanted and what I got. I have given that dream a decent burial, and now I am content with the cute dog we have. There, I said it.

Davis is pastor of the First Baptist Church in Carrollton.