JAVA: The True Story of a Shelter Dog Who Rescued a Woman - Softcover

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JAVA: The True Story of a Shelter Dog Who Rescued a Woman, is author Stacy Lewis’ debut in the inspirational and pet arena. Drawing from her 11 years of experience in teaching children, animals and adults, her book showcases the mindset and methods needed to work with challenging creatures successfully. JAVA: The True Story of a Shelter Dog Who Rescued a Woman is a must read for any person who’s ever followed their heart and fulfilled a dream.

Stacy Lewis is the Creature Teacher™ with Dancing Porcupine LLC, and is a Level 2 Certified Tellington TTouch® Practitioner for Companion Animals. She is an educator, musician, artist, writer, entrepreneur, and student of life. Her work with animals has been published in print, and she has appeared on national television. Stacy continues to be a sought after public speaker and clinician.

Java is an accomplished teacher, student, dancer, and warrior. She is an exuberant Plott Hound with the wisdom of a sage, and the spirit of a puppy. She is the dog who led Stacy to where she is today, and vice versa. They continue to dance, grow and learn as a team. Stacy and Java make their home where their heart is—together.

Aus dem Klappentext

I remember it as if it were yesterday. Dressed to look like the sweet, little girl I was, I felt unbelievably proud of being chosen. At age five there was nothing better than kindergarten. There we were, a bunch of giggly, wiggly little children lined up like individual crayons on the floor, lying impatiently on our primary-colored mats. We pretended to take a nap, but in reality, we were just waiting for that special moment. Struggling to settle my body, I heard the clickety-clack of my teacher s navy blue heels on the linoleum floor, and I giggled in anticipation.

As the clickety-clack came to a halt by my head, a warm hand reached down to touch my arm. Finally, it was my turn! Handing me the magic wand with a silver tinfoil star on top, I was the chosen one. My mission? Wake up the kids one at a time by gently touching them on the shoulder with the wand.

Unfortunately, I was overzealous, even at age five. Walking proudly through the sea of squirmy children! , I began to wake up my classmates with my special, super powers. Then, I lost my balance. My clunky, red, orthopedic shoe found it s way quickly onto a finger, which was attached to a hand, which was attached to one of my classmates. A high-pitched, girl-squeal filled the air like a siren as I stumbled to catch myself.

It was an accident! It was an accident!

But through the tiny giggles of my classmates the teacher gently asked that I put my wand away and sit down. My sister did the same thing a few years earlier but she whacked all the kids on the head. It must run in the family. Born pigheaded, I never quite gave up the idea that I had special powers. I ve held that magic wand close to my heart since then, even though I was asked to put it away when I was five.

Not always one to follow the rules or take the same path as everyone else, somehow I always get where I want to be. In one, powerful, nap-waking moment, I realized the power of holding the wand, and that the choices I made in life were mine and sometimes there are challenges and consequences.

One of those challenges was the Grand Canyon. On the day before my hike into the Big Hole, I met with a psychic in Sedona, Arizona. Victor informed me I would be challenged repeatedly in my lifetime. I felt both invigorated and worried. Having already spent fourteen years in a tumultuous marriage, surviving a serious car accident, and a recent divorce, I faced a hike into the Grand Canyon the next day. What could possibly be more challenging than what I d already experienced? Feeling angry, scared and excited all at the same time, I tucked his information away for later.

Victor s words rang clear to me that day, when he told me, "You have an incredible amount to offer to the world, and you will be challenged over and over again." He was right. Challenged I ve been, and offered I ve done. It s my pleasure to share with you the light, dark and everything in between of my journey from then to now.

I never dreamed I d be where I am today writing, creating, teaching, working with people and animals, and loving life. There isn t any reason for why my life has gone the way it has, other than it s the way it s supposed to be. Years ago my therapist told me that resiliency holds a special gift for those brave enough to tackle it. I figured resiliency was just a necessary part of life that everyone experienced if they wanted to survive the challenges of living.

Challenges? We all have them. I ve experienced my share of challenges, as I m sure you have, too. It is because of the challenges my life presented me that I m able to share my lessons with you. I look at challenges as opportunities as beautiful gems that teach us how to grow and change, rather than obstacles that keep us stuck in fear. It doesn t mean that on some days I haven t wanted to whip those stupid gems back into the river and scream at my Higher Power for all of the blessed challenges. I ve done that, too. But the lessons I ve learned along the way, by choosing to see obstacles as opportunities, have made me who I am just as your challenges have molded your life and experiences.

Java s story gently nudged me, and sometimes snarled at me, to write this book and share both of our stories. The dance we ve shared together for the past five years reflects the dualism in our lives in a way that s creepy, clumsy, and filled with stunning beauty. She s my angel, and I know I m hers although she may not admit it in public.

It is my sincere wish to you that you learn, enjoy, and live your life the way you truly want to live. With each new day, may you walk your path with awareness and love knowing you have the power to wave your own sparkly, magic wand.

Blessings, Stacy and Java

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"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched they must be felt with the heart." ~ Helen Keller

I believe in love at first sight. There s something about that instantaneous feeling. It grabs every cell in your body, and makes you feel as if something immediately shifts inside you. If you re lucky enough, the other being feels it, too. Like a rocket blasting off, there s a heat and energy that only some of us can describe in words, yet the feeling in our hearts is crystal clear. I once read that it s only in the heart where anything really happens. Love is lucky to live there.

The first moment I laid eyes on her, my whole soul shifted to a place that was like a dream. I was floating gracefully on a pink, fluffy cloud as everything downshifted into slow motion except her. My life was going to change. I could feel it. How dramatically it would change, I didn t know. Thank goodness I was naïve or she would have stayed at the shelter that morning.

Have you ever walked into an animal shelter and connected deeply with one specific animal? So deeply you felt your heart become wider and freer, and chills ran up and down your spine? You walk slowly down the rows and rows of bleach-scented caged runs, and there s almost always one special being who pulls gently, or sometimes demandingly, at your heartstrings. If you re like me, there s always one.

Maybe it s the shaggy, quiet one lying in the back of the kennel, looking sheepishly yet lovingly straight into your eyes through the scraggled fur that s covering theirs. Or maybe it s the other one, two doors down the one who wags its whole body feverishly and smiles along with you as you pass by. You keep going, but then you can t help yourself so you back up to take a second look. For some of you, like me, it s the one you can t explain in words because only your heart knows the real answer.

I happened to be sitting at home on that blustery, winter morning in February of 2001 the year I perfectly deemed The Year of Love. On the other side of town, my soon-to-be ex-husband was gathering up his last load of stuff that he wanted and I didn t hauling it away from the life we built together for over fourteen years. I still felt kind of scared and a bit wobbly in my new role as a single woman. Actually, I felt really scared and very wobbly. I had moved out on my own only a few months earlier, taking my dog, Clio, my car, and my heart, (along with a few material items like clothes and the furniture that was light and easy to carry). Our world seemed very small, just Clio and I, so I adopted a second senior greyhound, Veta, a week after we had our own house. I landed softly in a very fragile, new place, and now my life was about to change.