Beauty in My Dog

If you were listening to me tell you about my week, chances are you would want to step back a bit. Tomorrow might be the day the voice actually goes as this sniffly cold takes over. I hope it doesn't happen since it is the one day I get directly paid to teach! Tomorrow in orchestra we're talking about Mozart, only one of the greatest composers of all time. So much happened in history during his lifetime--this once great nation was birthed, we elected our first president, the Industrial Revolution began...Mozart only lived for 35 years and when I think of all he did, it naturally causes a moment of self reflection.

"What have I done in my 35 + years?"

I'm pretty motivated, so I do what I'm supposed to do most days with a measure of vigor....once I wake up. If you've not found a way to keep yourself humble, have a goal and fail at it daily. For me it is rising before someone else in this house, anyone will do. The goal feels so attainable when my head hits the pillow, be it 10 pm or 2 am...but when 8 am rolls around, I realize that alas, goals are for continually STRIVING for. Who wants to check everything off their list, anyway?

It's often good to evaluate our lists, to be honest. How critical is getting up early, given my life circumstances? Maybe that energy should go to something more important, which brings me to the reason for this post. Jake.

Our sweet dog is now 15 years old. I took him to the vet earlier this week for a much needed chest xray. While there,  a neatly dressed family of four walked in, standing in the small entryway. It was unclear what they were doing, though the dad looked like he could be a vet or something, so I thought maybe it was business. Their little girl, who was near 8 yrs old, stooped down to cradle my dog's head and gently pet him for as long as she wanted. Our pooch is patient like that, with pretty much anyone.

Another lady was in the office with a dog that looked strikingly similar to mine. We talked at length, enjoying the casual banter folks strike up in this particular veterinary office. She thought it might be 'the' day for her old friend of 14 yrs; of course, it was hoped to not be. They were called back, the office bustled, the family of four still stood waiting for something.

At one point I looked over my shoulder to see the sweet woman whose dog looked so much like mine that I'd photographed it, crying. It only takes a second to connect with another human being pained in the way she was. The family of four went into the exam room, and there stood that lady, alone in the entryway by the front desk. It is amazing to me how the Lord comforts those we don't know in ways that suddenly feel so natural.  When she paid, Jake went over to her and she went down low on the floor to talk with him and pet him, twice. What a good dog~comforting a stranger who needed a little quiet moment with him. My time with the woman had come to a natural end.

I didn't know what the xray's would reveal for our old friend that day, but one thing I did know, God used an old dog to comfort a little girl and a middle-aged woman that he had never met before. He didn't care where they'd come from, where they were going, what they'd done in this life or what they were going to do. How much money they made never entered his doggy mind, nor did their level of education.

Thankfully, we should have our Jakey a while longer. The xrays revealed his heart is enlarged, his trachea is compressed and he has fluid on his lungs. He coughs when he can't breathe, and prior to the medication he takes daily, that was many times a day. Knowing how Jake felt while he waited for his appointment showed me something else: feeling well isn't part of my mission for Christ--obedience is, glorifying Him is, putting others before myself is.

Of course, we can't expect a dog to think the way a human does.  Still, I'm taking some lessons away from that vet visit where I was spared the heartache others were feeling.