What My Dogs Teach Me About My Relationship With God, Part 6 of 7

If you haven’t read my previous posts you can find them here, here, here, here, and here.

As I mentioned in my last post. A day after putting Cooper down, I found a rescue up for adoption, the breed I wanted. It was a puppy. I iddn’t want a puppy but my husband did. We brought home a dog that was slated to be killed at a Wisconsin Amish puppy mill. He had a broken tail and a wonky jaw. Absolutely adorable.

TRAINING IS GOOD

After a few months I took dog obedience training with Oliver and a small group of people and their dogs. Oliver was a champ there, but not so much at home. The training was more for him than for myself. I still can’t get him to sit or lay down when I ask him to.

Training takes time, one-on-one time. Oliver is really good at is coming when I call him, and dancing for a treat. He’s pretty good at doing his business outside.

How much more do I need training? Not just for getting a dog to obey, but so that I can obey God? Time in His word, Bible study’s and small groups at church as well as Sunday worship all help me grow in my ability to grow more and more into the likeness of Jesus.

MENTORS ARE IMPORTANT

A week after we got Oliver, my husband had surgery. I figured Oliver needed a buddy, an older dog who could show him how to be a dog. We found Marley, a sweet old boy, whose owner was no longer physically able to care for him. He came with some bad teeth so he was a much happier dog after we had them removed. Marley helped Oliver understand how dogs do dog things.

I need people to mentor me and have been blessed with several over the years. It’s also good for me to mentor others as well, to encourage them on how to grow in their faith, and navigate a complex world filled with choices and decisions. We can’t navigate the Christian life on our own very well. Even as an author I need other writers to help show me new things, or point out where I might need to make corrections in my craft.

BE CAREFUL OF IDOLS

Marley wasn’t with us for long which saddened us greatly. I love my dogs but I firmly believe they are animals, not humans. Caring for them is caring for part of God’s creation and they bring much joy—and teach me so much. I don’t have an bottomless bank account though and cannot invest thousands of dollars to find out an old dog has dementia or a brain tumor. When Marley refused to take medication that seemed to calm him down and prevent him from possibly biting, his time was over and it still saddens me that couldn’t keep him longer. A dog that bites is a liability and we did as much as we could for as long as we could safely keep him in our home.

Before we needed to say goodbye to Marley, we could tell his time was going to be short. Oliver enjoyed having his big brother around so we started searching for another dog.

I can’t make any dog, or human, more important than God.

NEVER SAY NEVER

I decided long ago that I would never adopt an Amish puppy mill rescue. They are often traumatized and unsocialized and take a lot of effort and energy to rehabilitate. Oliver was only six months, almost too young to have been horribly impacted. The sweet shy puppy we adopted has become an energetic, happy, and almost too friendly dog, believing that everyone is his friend and wants to give him love and attention.

The rescue had some pure-bred Shit-zu puppies, all females, who had been slated for death because they weren’t producing enough puppies. Minnie Pearl (formerly Dolly Parton) was the last left to be adopted. Minnie was underweight, and had a lot of teeth removed. She was shy and submissive. No tail wags, but no snarls either. We adopted her because she needed love. I guess I needed to be reminded that God laughs when we say never.

Minnie has tested my patience, and my selfishness. Funny how a dog can show us our sin, right?

Do any of these lessons resonate with you? My dogs continue to teach me about my relationship with God and I hope I never stop learning.