Little Brown Dog
I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies. 2 Samuel 22:4
A trip to the animal shelter is traumatic for me! In fact, I end up sobbing and blubbering and it takes me weeks to forget what I saw. Once loved dogs and cats reside there until either they are adopted or their time runs out. Devon O’Day has a message (All God’s Creatures) that will make you stop and think—maybe even shed a tear or two.
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“I just can’t go to a shelter. I’d want to take them all home. It’s just so depressing.” Haven’t we all heard someone say something like that? Hearing sentences like that hurts my heart. I think of my little brown dog, Mike. He isn’t a fancy doodle mix or an easily identifiable breed you might see at Westminster. He is brown. Like shoes you can’t wear with a black belt. He knows my needs just as he knows the difference in my approaching for a meal or worm medicine. He knows when my heart is happy and when it’s breaking. He hugs me like it’s his job. Well, I guess it is his job. He also has an amazing way of reminding me that life isn’t only about work, and that zoomies are an essential part of anyone’s day.
I get teary eyed when I think about how easy it would have been to overlook a little brown dog in a world of specialty breeds and strikingly colored magazine-ready pups. But treasures are often like that, aren’t they? Hidden. How many people would walk past a diamond in the rough because it looked plain in its uncut state?
If God were walking through the shelter of unwanted people, He might see me as a brown dog too. But the brown dog He would see would catch His eye because He would not see the dull brown outside of a rough diamond. He would see the treasure waiting within.
My life was changed forever when a little brown dog named Mike came into it. As the rest of my pack crossed the bridge one by one because they were all so very old, Mike stepped into his potential as my protector. He loves being a farm dog. He loves so very much being loved. That is the rescue dog’s superpower.
Dear Lord, let me always see the treasure hidden in plain sight of my heart. AMEN.