The Presence of God

These past few months have been spent trying to tame my black wolf.  If I wasn’t working on my eBay business or looking for work the rest of my time belonged to training Francis.  Am not sure how you enter into the presence of God, but for me a quite easy way is though nature - most specifically though animals.  Recently, when I started taking Francis to the dog park, I would notice how much I gave him courage.  He would venture to say hello to a dog and then run back to hide between my feet.  As his confidence grew, he would go a little farther away, always returning to me if he felt he was in trouble. His trust that I will bail him out or come to his rescue made me think of my relationship with God.  Francis has grown from being terrified of other dogs to wanting more and more to socialize with members of his species.  It just required a little patience, persistence and for him to know that in me he has a pack leader that will keep him safe no matter the circumstance.

In matters of faith I am like Francis, but sometimes not as trustful that my heavenly Father will come to my rescue.  Yet, watching my little guy explore while always keeping an eye on me or returning to me when he felt too overwhelmed made me realize that I need to have that type of relationship with God.  Wherever life takes me, whatever my experiences my gaze must never leave my Creator.  “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” I shouldn’t lose hope or quit because I have a Father who will come to my rescue.  And if for whatever reason I venture out too far, I can always run back into His protective arms or even yelp and He will come running to hold me up.  Sometimes pride makes me want to do things on my own, but seeing Francis run back to me trusting that I would make everything better made me realize how much God delights when I am small and dependent on Him.

Everyday, Francis and I spend an hour or more at the park.  Sometimes we just walk around greeting dogs in our path and even during these calm walks- I see how thankful he is to be out in nature. He smells a flower, a bush, chases ducks, stops to people watch, eats a dandelion…  Every action is full of excitement and glee and I think that in His way He is praying a gratitude prayer saying thank you God for this wonderful world and for allowing me to enjoy it.  I am almost jealous at how simple He is finding delight in things that I take for granted.  Yet, as I watch Francis' satisfaction in nature, I too thank God for all the things I take for granted and I ask Him to make me more like my little creature who appreciates so much His creation.  Francis helps me enter into the presence of God quite easily and his inquisitiveness along with his trust in me reveal deeper truths about my faith and shows me that God communicates with us in all sorts of ways- even through my relationship with an over-excited pup!