Meet Bella The Lab. She is the sweetest soul you will ever know. She is also my grand dog. My daughter is student teaching this year. I am Bella's official care giver while Olivia Whitford is at school.
Bella is a 7 year old English Lab that our daughter adopted in June. She and her Dad spent Fathers Day driving to the mountains of Virginia to pick up Bella.
Bella is a total love. She has a blocky head, gray muzzle, she's fat, happy, and snores loudly. She is spoiled beyond rotten.
I'll be honest I didn't want Bella in my home at first. We lost all three of our labs last year. It was agony. As the pain subsided Robin and I got used to their being gone. We missed them dearly but we had a new sense of freedom.
Bella The Lab wants to do nothing but love you. She is a social butterfly. Meet and great is her forte. Olivia Whitford takes her to the drug store, grocery store, the dry cleaners, the pool and to the beach. The more places she rides the happier she is. She's a wonderful companion. There's one problem. When our daughter leaves the dog cries. I mean like all day.
Our daughter took Bella The Lab to the vet. The dog has separation anxiety. Instead of medicine the vet suggested she first try The Thunder Shirt. A $35 shirt that essentially swaddles the dog. I was skeptical.
Amazon shipped the shirt in two days. We anxiously unpackaged it and wrapped Bella The Lab right up. The first day she stopped crying! She still paced and watched out the back door for her Mama --but the crying stopped! The second day she didn't cry at all and she was happy! The third day, when we tried to take the shirt off, she nipped at our hands as if to say "Don't you dare!" Bella's security blanket is her Thunder Shirt.
I can't help but think of Jesus all swaddled in the manger when I look at Bella The Black Lab. Did baby Jesus, like Bella, know He'd been taken from His Father in Heaven? Did He understand that His earthly parents adored him too?
I know it's a bit ridiculous to draw comparisons between a dog and our Savior. If you read this blog you know I can find Jesus literally anywhere.
My family definitely knows Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Bella The Black Lab, though, has been a 4-legged savior of sorts. Both my daughter and I have an auto-immune disease that can make the most optimistic person in the world pretty low at times. Bella never leaves our side. I'm telling you, she knows when we don't feel good.
{But} I often wonder if these flat lands of Eastern North Carolina leave her longing for the high hills of Virginia. Did Jesus miss his Heavenly Father while living in Joseph and Mary's house? Scripture paints a beautiful love story between He and His earthly Mother. He knew He had an earthly job to do. We also know He longed for His Daddy.
We all need a Savior. Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Bella The Black Lab? Well, she soothes my soul. She sits on my feet and reminds me that love has no boundaries. She rests her blocky head on my knees when I read her scripture. Yes, I read her the bible. Not surprisingly she acts as if it soothes her when she misses her Mama.
What soothes your soul? Do you long to have someone swaddle you. To let you know all is OK in this crazy world? Jesus is Our Comforter, Our Redeemer, Our Savior. Most of us don't want Him when we first are introduced. We think He'll steal our freedom. Cramp our style. Change our comfortable lives.
Oh, but when we get to know Him? We can't let Him go! We start to have anxiety if we can't meet with Him or see Him at work in our daily lives. The bible becomes our security blanket -our direct line of communication. If someone challenges our relationship? Watch out! We are liable to bite their heads off!
Jesus longs to wrap His loving arms around you! Grab hold of Him! Cling to Him tightly. He will change your life. You'll have no idea how you ever lived without Him.
"You did not choose Me but I chose you..."-John 15:16
