Well despite my hopes to blog weekly it seems I've been a bit busy of late. Final preparations for my BAP, plus Mike's ongoing health issues and return to work, have meant little time for reflection. Then there was the decision we took to extend our family- Lucy the beagle arrived just over a week ago and in all honesty we already can't imagine our lives without her- we're head over heels and irreversibly in love with this gentle, sleepy and stinky hound.
Mike and I have had family dogs before we were Married, and as a couple we've had a variety of furry rodents. When we 1st moved in with my mum she had two pooches who sadly have now died. We always knew we'd get a dog one day and now seemed the right time.
Years ago, during my early days on HTU, I nursed a patient through chemo and a transplant. Let's call him Clive (not his real name). The main thing I remembered about Clive was his obsessive love for his dog. Years later he was back for a very brief stay but on this admission I learned that Clive was a very committed Christian. He gave me a copy of a book he'd written all about his dog (now sadly dead) and what he believed his relationship with him revealed about God's love. It was a delightful testimonial.
Now with Lucy in my life I understand what Clive meant. There's something about the unconditional love of a dog, the early morning walks in quiet reflection, the joy they show when you come home and the knowledge that they'll never judge you. A dog loves us as we should love God- with unconditional joy.
Job 12:7-10
But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.
