I believe God can use anything at all to teach us lessons about Him and ourselves, and I’m thankful that He does. Sometimes we just need something relevant to help us understand what He’s trying to teach us.
Not long ago, I posted on my blog a series of articles entitled What I Learned About God from My Daughter (Who Has Autism). As I was praying about a topic for this article for The Busy Mom, that series came to mind. At that same moment, I noticed my sweet little “rescue” dog happily snoozing in a chair beside me as I worked at my desk. So here’s what I learned about God from my dog.
We adopted our little dog, Callie Sue, two years ago. She was living down the road from us, but she wasn’t being cared for very well, so she was more or less on her own. And she had a terrible habit of chasing cars. It was only a matter of time before the habit caused big trouble for her.
In mid August of 2013, my daughter, Mary Grace, came running home one afternoon saying that Callie Sue had been hit by a car and was badly injured but that her owners weren’t going to take her to the vet. My daughter was crying and upset and begged me to go take a look at the dog.
But there was a problem. That little dog hated me! Every time she saw me, she growled and snapped and was in general very eager to let me know that she wanted me to keep my distance. But what could I do? My daughter (who was 10 years old at the time) was crying and upset and desperate for me to take a look at the little dog whom she had begun to love and who loved her too. So I went to check on the dog.
When I got there, the little dog was obviously in pain and not doing well. My heart went out to her! I talked with her owners and got permission to take her to the vet. The condition was that I could take her if I was willing to pay the bill for her care.
I drove my car down to her house to pick her up. Mary Grace sat in the back seat ready to hold Callie Sue during the drive and helped her stay calm and still. But I had to pick the dog up to hand her to my daughter. I’ve always been afraid of dogs ever since I was a little girl and a big dog chased after me and frightened me badly, so I was literally shaking as I knelt down to pick Callie Sue up. And then the most amazing thing happened! She looked at me with those big eyes of hers, and she sat quietly and allowed me to pick her up and place her in my daughter’s lap!
I took her to the vet and found out that her leg and pelvis were badly broken—to the point that surgery wasn’t recommended. Dogs in that condition were usually put to sleep. Mary Grace begged the vet (and me) to do the surgery and give Callie Sue a chance. We agreed.
A few days later, Mary Grace and I went back to the vet to pick Callie Sue up and bring her home to recover. We were amazed! Callie Sue was a whole different animal! She was clean and trimmed and, though she was still in pain, she wagged her entire little body when she saw that we were there to take her home.
Since then, Callie Sue has loved me with her whole heart. It’s as if she knew that I was the one who chose to rescue her. To love her even though she hated me. To save her life when otherwise she would have been left to die.
For the past 2 years, Callie Sue has been living in our home, and she is one pampered little puppy! She insists on sitting in a chair beside me when I’m working at my desk. She sits in my lap when I drive my daughter to ballet or art (or anywhere else we’ll let her ride with us!). She sleeps beside my pillow every night. She “kisses” me every night and again every morning. She jumps up and down and barks and wags her tail literally every single time I walk into the house—even if I just walked to the mailbox and back! That little dog is totally in love with me, and it only took an instant for that change to happen.
And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how, even though it may sound funny, our relationship with God is a whole lot like my relationship with Callie Sue. God loved us when we hated Him. He saw the potential in us even though we were dirty and mean and angry. He had compassion for us when we didn’t deserve it. He picked us up, cleaned us up, and loved us just because He wanted to–when we had done absolutely nothing to deserve it!
When I look at the change in Callie Sue’s life and how happy and loved she is, my heart is happy. It makes me smile. It makes me feel so good to see the huge difference in her life and how much joy she brings us every day.
And though she brings me joy, we bring God even more joy than that! I simply cannot imagine how much joy we bring God! It’s impossible for me to begin to understand how much God loves us. How much He cares for us. How much He wants to give good gifts to us and to make us happy. And the best part is that we don’t deserve it!!
Author information
Wendy Hilton
Owner and Writer at Hip Homeschool Moms
Hi! I'm Wendy. I live in the South with my wonderful hubby and 3 great special needs kiddos. I'm a Christian, homeschooling, work-from-home mom. I've homeschooled for 17 years, and I love encouraging moms who homeschool their special needs kids!
TwitterFacebookGoogle+
