Note: For those of you who might get bored reading about my dogs, I apologize. I promise I will make some kind of spiritually provocative point by the end (at least I will attempt to make one!).
Recently, I have been out of the house a lot, leaving my dogs all alone and cooped up. Don’t feel too bad for them, though, because they have more toys than most small European countries! So, to give my dogs a treat, I decided to take them to the dog park just a few minutes away. We had not been there yet…since it has rained CONSTANTLY ever since I discovered the park. I thought today might be a good day to check out the park, since the last two days have actually been sunny, and cold, so the muddy ground is relatively frozen (most places…not so much at the dog park, it turns out).
Anyway, I loaded the dogs into the car…and I think they would have been just as excited to only take a car ride. There are so easy to please! Once we got to the park and I got them out of the car, they were wound up like little kids on Christmas morning. Cesar (the “Dog Whisperer”) says that dogs can sense your emotions, so I am wondering if the dogs got so excited simply because I was so excited. Really, I was the one who felt like it was Christmas morning! I couldn’t wait to see how happy they would be once they got to run around like crazy, wild beasts. We live in a townhouse with no back yard, so every time we are outside, it is on a leash (just for the dogs, not for me). I’ve never seen them “run free”!
Once we got inside the fenced dog area (which was HUGE!)…it was sniffing heaven. About 30 seconds into the whole operation, I gave up any hope of leaving without all three of us being caked in mud. Ariel and Pepper ran and pranced and jumped. They were so cute; I could not stop laughing.
For a while, we were the only ones there…then a couple other people and their dogs wandered inside. I worried that my “children” would not play well with others. But, true to their individual personalities, Pepper ran up and personally greeted everyone and their dog, while Ariel hid behind my legs! Once Pepper had paved the way, both she and Ariel played with some “new friends”. Again, it was very cute!!!
By the time we left, we were ALL completely covered in mud…but my “mud puppies” were happily wagging their dirt covered tails all the way back to the car. I had to give them each a bath in the sink before they were allowed access to the rest of the house. My dogs—who think baths are torturous—were so blissfully happy, they didn’t seem to mind the bath--ok, they didn’t like their baths, but the dislike was not as extreme as normal!
I think I had just as much fun as the dogs. We played fetch. We made new friends. We romped and frolicked in the sun (and praise the Lord for a day without rain…what a miracle!). I took such delight in my dogs’ delight. That may sound odd. I mean, I know they are just dogs (they don’t know that, however), but I love them. They are the light of my life. Watching them playing and excited and happy…it made me happy--deep-down in your bones happy
It reminded me of an experience that I once had with some humans. I remember being out at dinner with my dad, step-mom, my little brother, and my best friend several years ago. My brother was young enough that he still found me incredibly amusing; I am very entertaining in the “junior high boy" world. The more I made him laugh, the more I wanted to make him laugh. That is my nature: the more of an audience I have, the more I put on a show! At any rate, I got my brother laughing so hard that he was crying…tears streaming down his face, right in the middle of the restaurant. I couldn’t stop myself; I was on a roll and his continued laughter only prodded me onward. I remember catching sight of my step-mom out of the corner of my eye, as she watched him laughing. She had the biggest smile on her face, and was laughing, too…but more than that, there was a look in her eyes: the look that a parent has as they watch their child being truly joyful. She was happier to see him delighting in an experience than if she had been the one receiving the delight.
My experience at the dog park and that memory make me think that God must take great pleasure in our pleasure. By “pleasure”, I don’t mean the kind of fleeting pleasure that the things of this world offer us—like the pleasure that sin brings: instant, transitory pleasure…the kind that feels good in the moment, but when you think back on it, you cringe with shame. By pleasure, I mean enjoying everything that is good, right, pure, and enduring: laughter, close relationships, love, creation, and sunny, muddy, running play-times…the kind of pleasure that you think back on and experience again, knowing that it was a good, life-affirming, life-giving thing.
I think of God as one who laughs at our laughter…with a twinkle in His eye—the twinkle that only a Parent can have when His child is fully alive, living the depth of the moment, arms open wide to the Grace that is all around us. When God made this world, He looked at it and said, “That’s good stuff”. When he made us, “He said, “That’s even better!” (my personal paraphrase). He loves us and delights in us…and most fully delights in us when we are joyously, freely open to receiving His gifts and His love.
For some reason, it makes me think of a quote from “Chariots of Fire”. I leave you, tonight, with this quote. May you live—fully, abundantly live—the life God gave you and, as you do, may you feel His pleasure.
Recently, I have been out of the house a lot, leaving my dogs all alone and cooped up. Don’t feel too bad for them, though, because they have more toys than most small European countries! So, to give my dogs a treat, I decided to take them to the dog park just a few minutes away. We had not been there yet…since it has rained CONSTANTLY ever since I discovered the park. I thought today might be a good day to check out the park, since the last two days have actually been sunny, and cold, so the muddy ground is relatively frozen (most places…not so much at the dog park, it turns out).
Anyway, I loaded the dogs into the car…and I think they would have been just as excited to only take a car ride. There are so easy to please! Once we got to the park and I got them out of the car, they were wound up like little kids on Christmas morning. Cesar (the “Dog Whisperer”) says that dogs can sense your emotions, so I am wondering if the dogs got so excited simply because I was so excited. Really, I was the one who felt like it was Christmas morning! I couldn’t wait to see how happy they would be once they got to run around like crazy, wild beasts. We live in a townhouse with no back yard, so every time we are outside, it is on a leash (just for the dogs, not for me). I’ve never seen them “run free”!
Once we got inside the fenced dog area (which was HUGE!)…it was sniffing heaven. About 30 seconds into the whole operation, I gave up any hope of leaving without all three of us being caked in mud. Ariel and Pepper ran and pranced and jumped. They were so cute; I could not stop laughing.
For a while, we were the only ones there…then a couple other people and their dogs wandered inside. I worried that my “children” would not play well with others. But, true to their individual personalities, Pepper ran up and personally greeted everyone and their dog, while Ariel hid behind my legs! Once Pepper had paved the way, both she and Ariel played with some “new friends”. Again, it was very cute!!!
By the time we left, we were ALL completely covered in mud…but my “mud puppies” were happily wagging their dirt covered tails all the way back to the car. I had to give them each a bath in the sink before they were allowed access to the rest of the house. My dogs—who think baths are torturous—were so blissfully happy, they didn’t seem to mind the bath--ok, they didn’t like their baths, but the dislike was not as extreme as normal!
I think I had just as much fun as the dogs. We played fetch. We made new friends. We romped and frolicked in the sun (and praise the Lord for a day without rain…what a miracle!). I took such delight in my dogs’ delight. That may sound odd. I mean, I know they are just dogs (they don’t know that, however), but I love them. They are the light of my life. Watching them playing and excited and happy…it made me happy--deep-down in your bones happy
It reminded me of an experience that I once had with some humans. I remember being out at dinner with my dad, step-mom, my little brother, and my best friend several years ago. My brother was young enough that he still found me incredibly amusing; I am very entertaining in the “junior high boy" world. The more I made him laugh, the more I wanted to make him laugh. That is my nature: the more of an audience I have, the more I put on a show! At any rate, I got my brother laughing so hard that he was crying…tears streaming down his face, right in the middle of the restaurant. I couldn’t stop myself; I was on a roll and his continued laughter only prodded me onward. I remember catching sight of my step-mom out of the corner of my eye, as she watched him laughing. She had the biggest smile on her face, and was laughing, too…but more than that, there was a look in her eyes: the look that a parent has as they watch their child being truly joyful. She was happier to see him delighting in an experience than if she had been the one receiving the delight.
My experience at the dog park and that memory make me think that God must take great pleasure in our pleasure. By “pleasure”, I don’t mean the kind of fleeting pleasure that the things of this world offer us—like the pleasure that sin brings: instant, transitory pleasure…the kind that feels good in the moment, but when you think back on it, you cringe with shame. By pleasure, I mean enjoying everything that is good, right, pure, and enduring: laughter, close relationships, love, creation, and sunny, muddy, running play-times…the kind of pleasure that you think back on and experience again, knowing that it was a good, life-affirming, life-giving thing.
I think of God as one who laughs at our laughter…with a twinkle in His eye—the twinkle that only a Parent can have when His child is fully alive, living the depth of the moment, arms open wide to the Grace that is all around us. When God made this world, He looked at it and said, “That’s good stuff”. When he made us, “He said, “That’s even better!” (my personal paraphrase). He loves us and delights in us…and most fully delights in us when we are joyously, freely open to receiving His gifts and His love.
For some reason, it makes me think of a quote from “Chariots of Fire”. I leave you, tonight, with this quote. May you live—fully, abundantly live—the life God gave you and, as you do, may you feel His pleasure.
“I believe God made me for a purpose--for China. But He also made me fast! And when I run, I feel His pleasure. To give that up would be to hold Him in contempt. …to win is to honor Him.”
~Eric Liddell, “Chariots of Fire”
3 comments:
Tina!
Can you tell me where to dog park is ont he East side of C-bus??? Thanks!!!!
Amy :)
awoods@wocumc.org
I remember the days of letting my dog run free, how he would tear around the yard as fast as he could, and I made the connection, too, about the joy it brought me to see him and the joy it brings God to see me when I get to do what I love
Was that dinner with TJ laughing and Margie watching at Houston's Restaurant in Georgia? (or was it some other time with some other 'best friend' - you cheater!) If it was that night, I remember that was when my TBS nickname was coined - but I shall not mention what it stood for.
-Jes-Co
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