Tag Archives: Dogs

Nothing Else in the World

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I never questioned her loyalty until that day. Since the time I purchased her, Lily, my German Shepherd, had developed endearing qualities to proclaim her loyalty. One of my favorites always remains the time she and my husband, Richard, were walking through our neighborhood. Driving past them on my way home from the grocery store, I stopped for a second to call out a hello. With that accomplished, I resumed driving home until in my rearview mirror, I noticed Lily hated my departure. She was pulling my husband up the hill in attempt to catch up with me. In order to prevent Richard from having a heart attack, I stopped and waited until both were in the car.

On that day at the doggie park, Lily wasn’t showing any loyalty. It was her favorite spot on earth, and she did not want to leave. So instead of obeying my command to come, she bolted away. For over 15 minutes, I pleaded with her to obey or at least get close enough for me to grab her collar. She was so disobedient that even went I left her alone in the park, she wouldn’t come to the gate so we could go home.

I sometimes can see myself in Lily’s behavior. I have a tendency to want my own way, to be disloyal to my friends when it suits me. Which isn’t to say I’m a back-stabbing traitor. No, it means sometimes I miss out on the joys of being a reliable friend.

Lily and I have a strong bond, yet she hurt me. I wanted her close by me, to listen to what I said, to enjoy following me. That’s what friends do. You stick close by, you listen to what your friend says, you laugh when they laugh and cry when they cry. Being a loyal friend means your relationship makes you stronger than you would be without it. You love harder, laugh louder, live richer and become more together than you could ever be by yourselves.

This isn’t for the faint of heart, much like trying to train a dog – which I sadly found out that day. Life is full of twists and turns and staying in step with someone else is not easy. We struggle to be vulnerable to another especially when the way we want to go isn’t the same as our friends. We battle with ways of feeling safe, secure and significant with another all the while trying to get our own needs met. We tend to want our hurts to be addressed rather than helping others through theirs. It is so difficult to lay your heart into someone’s hands and say, “I trust you with all of this,” and have that person do the same.

There are times in our friendships when we must heed to the other person’s instructions. Lily lacked the perspective I did. A treat was awaiting her at home, along with her dinner and an evening of warm snuggles. It was time to leave the park to enjoy some of these other delights.

Proverbs 18: 24 tells us, “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Friendships never just happen – they are forged. They are knit together by leaning into each other, by staying close, by experiencing life’s bitter and sweet moments together. And it means standing by one another even when disappointment sets in.

I eventually got a leash on Lily and we went home to an enjoyable evening. Despite her unfaithfulness, I remained loyal to her, but I learned to create a fulfilling friendship, sometimes you have to work at it – sometimes you have to chase after it. It’s worth it, because being close to another human being matters like nothing else in the world.

Rescuing Max

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I wanted to celebrate! Knowing that afternoon was the end of a grueling public speaking class, I made arrangements to have dinner with a friend. The night signaled the end of speech writing, practicing and worse yet, standing in front of a camera to be videotaped. It was time for salad, garlic bread and fettuccini. And fun!

Living between my friend’s house and the restaurant, I asked her if she’d like to split the driving. She could drive to my house and I’d drive the rest of the way to our evening’s destination. When she arrived at my home, seeing she was clearly upset, I asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Do you know the owner of a golden retriever or maybe a golden lab?”

I shook my head no. “Why?”

“When I pulled into your subdivision, I noticed one walking aimlessly around. There didn’t seem to be anyone with him and I am worried.” Still, she hopped into my car and we prepared to leave.

golden retrieverDriving a little further down the street, we saw him – a golden dog sniffing the ground just out for a stroll by himself. I decided to turn my car to follow him down the street. He was an older dog, so it didn’t seem like he would be hard to catch. Would he even come to us? Fortunately, he ducked into a garage and walked around the car located inside. My friend stood at one end of the car; I stood at the other.

The dog didn’t seem to like my friend, but he came directly to me. Soon, I was holding him by his collar and reading his tags. Max, it said. Max Horton. And beside that both an address and a phone number. Pay dirt!

Because it was my car and I own a dog, I grabbed a leash from the back seat, put it on Max and lead him to my car. He jumped right into my backseat covered with blankets to protect the leather from my dog’s claws.

Calling the phone number got us voice mail, so we decided to drive Max to his house. As we made the last turn onto the street, a few teenage boys stood at the corner. One of them yelled, “Max!” As soon as I stopped my car, the boy opened the door and began hugging his newly found dog. This truly heartfelt reunion almost made two grown women cry.

The Lord directs the ways of the godly. He delights in every detail of their life. Psalm 37:23.

Both my friend and I were reminded once again God is always one step ahead of us. When my friend and I were making plans, the original plan was to meet at the restaurant since the end time of my class might be fluid. She was willing to be flexible, so we changed our plans and decided I’d call her once home and we’d go together. This meant she’d see Max on the way to my house and I’d be driving a car that was not only dog-proofed, but also contained a very necessary item: a dog leash. God had orchestrated our steps to help a needy canine.

It isn’t just dogs that need rescuing. Even though we are anxious about what is happening in our lives, God goes before us. He knew you would encounter a difficulty even before you were born and He has been planning its resolution since then.

If you are going through a rough patch in a relationship, God goes before you. He directs the steps of the godly. This means it’s up to God to be the director. Your job is to follow His direction. When we want to be in control, following is tough. But always remember, when you are navigating your life, God cannot direct you to His best.

All of us belong to a loving God. He is Lord and the sole director of our lives. It is only His grace that we are rescued and redeemed. No matter where your path is going –  through the weeds or to a sunny mountaintop victory – God is always directing your steps. He is writing a beautiful story worth telling. Keep trusting Him and keep walking in His grace. He will always be one step ahead of you.

Stuck

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For months, I’d been encouraging people (especially women) to enlarge their vision of the power of God. Too often, we limit God’s strength based our preconceptions, our disappointment in unanswered prayer or even the shame from our past. God is vast, unlimited, able to do incredible things in our lives. He is wild and untamable. Nothing is as formidable as our God.

Then it came time for me to put my money where my mouth was…

Driving from Illinois to California, our car broke down on I-40 about 50 miles west of Oklahoma City. Read: literally in the middle of nowhere. When the car coasted to a stop, I heard the devil whispering in my ear, jeering at me, “Let’s see how great your God is now.”

image003Both my husband and I were confused, frustrated and disoriented. We didn’t know anyone in Oklahoma who could help us, had never been in this situation and felt an almost heart-shattering longing to be home. Neither of us was operating at our best as one decision after another had to be made.

But God was there… At every turn, His blessings abounded.

When we called AAA to be towed, our driver was a friendly Okie, who not only took the car to a repair shop, did his best to find us a rental car and directed us to a local hotel.

That hotel had a huge sign in the lobby, “No pets allowed.” Since we were traveling with an adult German Shepherd and this was the only hotel in walking distance, the rule could have meant sleeping under the stars in a nearby park. When I explained our situation to the hotel clerk, she graciously rented a room to us and Lily.

In the morning, we found the shop didn’t do the type of repairs needed, so we had the car towed again to a fantastic repair shop owned by Christians. The type of people who didn’t hide their faith – that was obvious when you walked in. They not only provided guidance about the car repair, but when the time came to pay the bill, sliced the amount owed substantially.

Because the car was moved closer to Oklahoma City, I randomly picked a new hotel off the internet. This one ended up being about a mile away from a wonderful lake and recreation area that even had a doggie park for Lily. When I checked in, the hotel clerk upgraded our room – without any knowledge of the stress we were under.

When renting a car, I booked a compact car thinking we’d only be using it to tool around Oklahoma City for a few days. Once at the agency, they asked if it would okay to upgrade us to a Jeep for the same price. This ended up being crucial, because it was the Jeep we eventually drove back to California and the vehicle provided just enough room for our luggage and dog supplies.

The list goes on, but at every juncture, people went out of their way to help us, be kind to us, show us graciousness, even if they didn’t know the burdens we were bearing.

Being stuck is frustrating, confusing and emotionally taxing. Still, God shows up. We were never alone. Despite the devil’s taunts, God’s blessings were too many to count.

If you are stuck, here are some helpful suggestions to get you moving again.

Give yourself freedom to mourn – Too often we gloss over our feelings of loss. But denying feelings is emotionally unhealthy. Trust God as much as you can and allow yourself to feel your grief inside of His tender, loving embrace.

Give thanks for all the good – It would have been very easy to hold a pity party at the side of the interstate. Looking for the good, like a friendly clerk or a safe place to sleep at night, keeps you positive and makes moving forward easier.

Control the things you can – Realize your decisions can make positive changes, but let go of the things over which you have no control. I had no control over how long we were stuck in Oklahoma, but I could control my attitude towards it. Every morning I woke up thinking of new adventures to experience in a city I’d basically only driven through instead of moping in our hotel room.

Give others grace – One thing I am most proud of is despite the stress both Richard and I were under, we never argued, never fought and never blamed the other. We both understood how much grace God gives us and we just followed His lead.

Look forward to God’s surprises – He plants so many of them along our path. Don’t be amazed by them; anticipate them as you move through our day.

Remember where the finish line is – We both understood this was a temporary setback. Granted there were times when we thought we’d never get through it…when it seemed just too daunting. Knowing our ultimate finish line wasn’t California, but is heaven brought a beauty to what could have been a very ugly time. So every day, run well and enjoy the scenery along the way.

I’m not sure what has you stuck, but step out boldly into a freefall towards His grace. He will catch you. He always will.