This dog is one of the special ones. All that know me know I love all dogs, and that I love the three that reside at my house and are part of my family. But every now and again there comes along one that is special. This one is one of the special ones.
She is not much to look at, and any enthusiast of her breed would be quick to point out all her many faults. She looks like a Great Dane, with the head of a Boxer, her backend is higher than her front end, her legs and toes are all gangly and crooked, and she has the worst under bite I have ever seen in a dog. No she’s not much to look at…….but neither am I. She and I have a bond, and she is dear to my heart.
She has known sorrow in her life, she has suffered, she has known days where there was no love, no breakfast and no dinner. She first came to us, skinny, browbeaten, with rotten toe nails that fell off her feet if she knocked them against something…….but despite it all, she had a huge heart and all it needed was a little love for it to blossom. She loves big, one must be careful speaking to her as if there is any excitement in your voice she will burst into dance, her entire body wagging, and she will leap with joy, and furniture and plants and drinks on tables will go flying. She loves big.
As I sit here praying, and as my gaze shifts from the bright blue sky, to the hazel eyes of the big white dog at my feet, I think of my Lord, and how much this big white dog is teaching me about worship. I want to be like her, I want to be content to sit at His feet and gaze upon Him, I want to listen attentively for the sound of His voice, I want to please Him, I want to walk with Him, commune with Him, to live every moment of my existence fully aware of His presence with me. When He speaks I want to be so full of joy at the sound of His voice that I cannot contain myself, bursting into dance, with no thought or worry as to whether I have the rhythm required for such antics.
I call her to me, as I get ready to leave the house for work, her head in my lap I gently rub her ears and tell her she is good and that I love her. I tell her everything is going to be okay, and she trusts me, she stands sure upon my every word, she looks at me with eyes that say, “Just say the word, and I will lie right down and die for you, if that is what makes you happy”. I truly believe she would, were she able to understand such a request. I want to hold and keep that kind of faith in Jesus, a faith so certain that if he simply says “lay right down and die”, I would do it willingly, gladly and with a song on my lips.
The older I get, the more I realize that this world is full of instruction, if we only pause and look. Creation really does cry out “there is a God, come and know Him!” The heavens declare Him, the mountains declare Him, the trees declare Him, and the creatures declare Him! I look upon this big white dog, and her ungainly body, her bulldog face, her trusting eyes….and I see the hand of our Creator God.
““Lord, we thank you for our dogs — your simple gift to us. Open us to what they teach. We thank you for the grateful exuberance of our dogs.
“We thank you for the way they bound across the hills, splash in the waters, chew on sticks, and roll in the dewy grass. Teach us, every day, to say our own ‘thank you’ with every fiber of our being, for the wondrous works of your creation.
“We thank you, Lord, for the honest, direct loyalty of our dogs. We thank you for the wag of their tails and the offer of a cuddle for friend and stranger alike, the way they make people . . . into our neighbors, the way they regard not body type, color of hair, or color of skin. We thank you for the easy way they forgive faults — the way they love us, not because we can love back, but because of our need for love. . . .” (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2013/04/a-prayer-for-dogs/)
“I look up and I see God, I look down and see my dog.
Simple spelling G O D, same word backwards, D O G.
They would stay with me all day. I'm the one who walks away.
But both of them just wait for me, and dance at my return with glee.
Both love me no matter what - divine God and canine mutt.
I take it hard each time I fail, but God forgives, dog wags his tail.
God thought up and made the dog, dog reflects a part of God.
I've seen love from both sides now, it's everywhere, amen, bow wow.
I look up and I see God, I look down and see my dog.
And in my human frailty...I can't match their love for me. “ (God and Dog, by Wendy Francisco)
The above are lyrics to the song “God and Dog”, but few are aware of the story behind that video and song. The below link tells the story and also has links to the video. Enjoy.
http://www.guideposts.org/pets/story-behind-god-and-dog-youtube-video