Faithfulness, loyalty, companionship, unconditional love … I think it’s interesting that all of these traits are used to describe both God and dogs.
Over the past year we have raised our black lab Samson, the handsome one, from puppy to adult and added our second dog Ben, the crazy one, to the mix. I never thought I would learn so much about confidence, patience and anger all from a couple of dogs. But prior to this I had never really owned a dog of my own. I had grown up with pets, but I was never the one responsible for taking care of them. So when it came time to train, exercise and clean up after them it felt a bit overwhelming.
When I walk them I sometimes get so frustrated when they pull me, or rather constantly pull the whole time, that I have this sort of power struggle with them and yank them harder than I should. (You should know that when I walk them it’s on a short leash with the purpose of keeping them next to or behind me.) I know yanking them is not best practice by any means, but I’m working on. So anyways, I find myself praying a lot on walks to help me be patient and focus on being my dogs pack leader.
So the other night as we were ending our walk the dogs started acting up again, and again I tried to put them in their place. Immediately afterwards I thought how God is so patient with us that it amazed me how He deals with us even when we are rebellious and strongly pull in our own direction. But then it hit me that God doesn’t hold us on a leash. He’s given us free will and the choice to accept His love or not. But the worst part was the realization that I do more of the leash holding in my relationship with God. I try and bring Him under control to my liking and obey my every command, just like my dogs. This was shocking to me, because I had never thought about my relationship with the one who created me like this before.
But even more amazing is how God is love and no matter how much we hurt Him His love is unconditional. Just like a dog, whose minds are quick to forget and live in the moment, God is able to forgive us through the blood of Jesus and love us “in the moment” of every day of our lives. And it’s not just in walking my dog that I find myself wanting to take control over God. I am constantly having to die to myself in my marriage, at work and a lot of the time behind the wheel.
Update: The last few days on my walks with the dogs I’ve been focusing more on enjoying the walk and less on controlling them, and that’s helped tremendously. I know that practice and patience and daily exercise are the key ingredients to keeping me and my dogs happy.
Kyle,
Good insight. Grace is the thing.
It’s funny how we can learn valuable lessons from some of the simple aspects of life, we just need to slow down enough to see them.
~ Aaron I
Great post, Kyle. I too am constantly amazed at how much God can teach me through a dog that has bricks for brains. There is nothing like dogs and children to humble a man.
-Mike
Very cool, Kyle. Thanks for sharing that.
Another cool thing about pets/animals – they don’t judge. My cats have taught me a ton about unconditional love.
Thanks for sharing your experiences Kyle. Your thoughtful insight always gets me thinking…in a good way. Thank you.
Those are some good thoughts. Dogs, like most animals represent innocence and a kind of unconditional love for the world and wide open eyes that humans don’t always possess. This is a great, insightful post. Thanks.
Firstly, thanks for the comment and kind words you left on my most recent poem. I love hearing feedback.
Secondly, I loved your dogs when I met them–very sweet. What I have found most inspirational about having Lola, is that she doesn’t have bad days like I do. I come home, and no matter how I treat her, the attention I give her or don’t give her, she’s always SUPER excited to see me. She wags her tail and breathes heavy, and follows me around and can’t wait for my attention. She doesn’t get moody, or have nights when she wants everyone to leave her alone like I do, she’s just happy. And she doesn’t eat her food unless I’m there. If I have someone feed her for me when I’m late, even if it’s 11pm, she doesn’t eat until I come into the room and sit down. She’s patient, loyal, loving, consistent, and though is completely hyperactive, she’s a sweet girl.
I am only a couple of those things.
True dat. It’s like the more grace we’re given, the more grace we can give back.