Bella The Black Lab

 "Dogs are the closest we come to knowing the divine love of God on this side
of eternity. They love you all the time, no matter what"-Anne Lamott.

Last June our oldest daughter adopted a 7 year old English black lab named Bella. Bella had been breeding service dogs in the mountains of Virginia for many years. Her breeder decided to retire and sell her. Evidently Bella's puppies were high commodity and very sought after. There were several families who wanted Bella. The owner wanted a premium price for the retired ole girl. My husband continued to tell our daughter to "find a dog to adopt not buy". Our daughter was convinced that this dog was divinely appointed specifically for her.

She drove all the way to those beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains to claim her stake on the fat, stocky, precious dog.  Upon arriving it was literally love at first sight. She spent several hours on the farm visiting with the owners and all of the beautiful service dogs. During the conversation the owner looked at our daughter and said "I want you to have Bella. I knew all along she would be perfect for you. We had to put a price on the website to deter the crazies."

With that Olivia Whitford loaded the dog and headed down the mountain back to the flatland's of Eastern North Carolina. The dog never looked back. No, really. She sat face forward, looking straight ahead for the next 5 hours. They have been tied at the knee, she's really stocky, ever since. 

Bella goes with Olivia Whitford to the field hockey field when she's coaching. Bella goes to the dry cleaners, Walgreens, the beach house, Food Lion. You name it the dog goes. The amazing thing about Bella is that she doesn't cry when our daughter leaves. I guess it's the service dog in her. She just accompanies our daughter everywhere to make sure she is okay. Once she has a visual that all is right in the world she just lays down and goes to sleep.

Two weeks ago Bella began crying every time our daughter left her sight. She knows she's not allowed in the rest of the house. It has never been an issue. Our daughter sits out in my husbands "man cave" with Bella while she does her lesson plans and class work. Olivia got up to go to bed one night. Bella began crying, exactly like a child, non stop. Painful excruciating whelps. 

At about 1 AM I got up, went down to the man cave,  opened her kennel and tried to console her. She flew past me, up the stairs all the way to the back of the house. She planted herself at the end of our daughter's bed. She would not move. Not one inch. The crying had stopped. All the hair on her neck was standing straight up. She would not leave. I tried dragging her, pulling her, nothing worked. So I finally just left her. Honestly, I was mad. I didn't want dog hair all over the house. I didn't want the dog scratching my hardwood floors with her nails.

At about 4AM Bella started barking wildly. I went into Olivia's room. She was burning up and somewhat lethargic. Several hours later our daughter was admitted into the hospital with what her doctor thought was fungal pneumonia. Praise God, it ended up being viral. She does have a collapsed lobe in her lung.  She is very sick. They decided, due to her Lupus, to send her home on bed-rest away from the germs of the hospital. 2 days later she was home. Bella has been at the foot of her bed every single second of the day. I have to agree, I believe this dog was heaven sent. 

As elementary as it sounds Jesus, just like Bella, never leaves our side.  Whatever we walk thru He is there with us and for us. Whatever pain, heart ache, illness, sadness, happiness, joy, elation that we feel Jesus understands. Not only does He understand He promises us that He will never leave or forsake us.

Many times we just don't want to hear all that "religious stuff". We tend to think that the world is what will fix us. Technology, plastic surgeons, mood stabilizing drugs, big ticket items, vacations, cars, boats, bigger homes. These things are all readily available to us. Guess what? They are simply band-aids to our problems. They are temporal. There is but one savior in the world. His name is Jesus Christ.

He died on a cross so that we may have new life in Him. His death took away all of our sins. Every single one of them. He "gets us". He knows us intimately. He knows our sorrow and our happiness. He knows that small gnawing hole in the depths of our souls that we can not fill. The hole we can't figure out why is so insatiable.

We try to fill that hole with every modern day pleasure. He patiently follows us. Waits for us. Occasionally we may get a glimpse of Him. Our hair stands up on the back of our necks when we are at a cross roads. Or we may hear Him gently calling us, in the very back of our brains, whispering. Telling us that we know He is the ONLY way to eternal happiness and peace. Whispering that our decisions are not worthy of who we can be, should be in Christ.

Time is short. I want my time on earth to be filled with purpose, love,  grace, kindness. I want to feel triumphant in the face of tragedy. Not wrecked with grief. I want to know that I have a purpose in this world. I want to know that my life is not in vain. I want to know that I have been divinely appointed, sealed, chosen, and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. Forever in His presence.

How about you?

"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift"-2 Corinthians 9:15