A New Book

Today's blog starts another new book. This one is Lessons from a Girl's Best Friend: What my Dogs Taught me About Life, Love, and God by Michelle McKinney Hammond. As a dog lover the title intrigued me. In the first chapter Michelle tells us about her initial distain for all pets and dogs in particular. She equates this to those people who miss out on all that God has to offer because of past experiences. She also comments on how we have distorted what "Fear of the LORD" is really all about. Michelle shares that what they miss out on is much like what she missed out on with her misunderstanding about the joys of having a dog.
My two dogs are precious to me even though they can be a nuisance at times. They can also be loving, comical, and adoring. Their reactions when I first get home everyday, they are overjoyed and act like it has been days or even weeks since they last saw me. This is a reminder to me of the joy I feel when I spend time with God, particularly after a time of absence. It is also the same when I am in a valley of darkness for some reason. One of my dogs, Dancer a female manchester terrier/chichaua mix, has allergy problems to some of the local grasses and some household scents. When her tummy itches she scoots along the carpet on her stomach. When her nose itches she almost stands on her head in order to scratch her nose on the carpet. Both actions bring my laughter because she just looks so goofy. I believe that God sometimes laughs at me because of the silly, goofy things I do. My other dog Doodlebug is a dachsund/basset mix who is overweight and to see him run down the hall with his ears flying out in a straight line from his head as his stubby little legs propel him at his top speed (which is not very fast) is just to funny. He even seems to be grinning much like a child glad that their parent has come home. There have been times in my life where I wanted to run to the foot of the cross in just that way. My joy over been one of God's children was just that great.
However, the are time when Doodle is grumpy, like when he is buried under the pillows on the sofa asleep and I wake him up. At those times he reminds me that there are times when I feel grumpy about going to church, studying my Bible, or other things I know God wants me to do. Or when he is just lazy and won't move off the sofa and just wants to you scratch his belly reminds me that at times I'm just being lazy instead of doing what God urges me to do. Oh yes, I agree with Michelle there are many lessons my dogs bring me.