<\/p>\n
After my husband and I had been married for a year and a half, I was having doggy fever. Yes, I said doggy fever and not baby fever. Unlike most women, my passion and love for babies is minimal compared to my devotion and affection for dogs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For weeks, I\u2019d been searching local Facebook groups, animal shelters, and talking with potential rescues. Growing up, my family always had dogs, so getting one for my husband and me seemed like a good fit. After a few months, we stumbled across an adorable goldendoodle mix. He was almost 2 years old and had come from a re-homing situation. The only problem? He was significantly larger than we had anticipated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Quickly, my husband and I went out on a whim and visited him. When we left, we both said, \u201cWow, that would be a lot of work to get him.\u201d And yet, God began to do a work in us over the next week. After much deliberation, we adopted the 50-pound fluff ball.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From the beginning, the adoption process was rough. Our golden delight was sneaky and had 2 ER visits in one week. We were stressed, confused, and anxious. But today, nearly a year later, I can tell you we\u2019re so blessed. Not only has our dog bonded with us, but he\u2019s made us better. Nothing beats coming home to his goofy character and smiling face when you\u2019ve had an exhausting, overwhelming, and emotionally draining day. He greets us with unconditional love, and like we\u2019re the best thing in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nearly every day, I thank and praise God for my dog and dogs in general. It might seem silly, but having our now 70-pound ball of fluff has made me realize this: Sometimes, God\u2019s gifts aren\u2019t always loud or obvious. Sometimes, they come in the shape of a dog. And to me and many others, dogs are more than companions; they reflect small, profound truths about how God designed us to live.<\/p>\n
Unlike dogs, most of us have forgotten the sacredness of play. We don\u2019t do it on purpose, but as we grow and assume \u201cadult\u201d responsibilities, we forget how to enjoy life. Thankfully, most dogs haven\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dogs that belong to loving and caring homes play freely, fully, and without guilt. They aren\u2019t consumed with productivity, pressure, or being \u201cgood enough.\u201d Now granted, they don\u2019t work full-time jobs or assume \u201cadult\u201d responsibilities, but they teach us something important about living life to the fullest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As humans, we attach our worth to our productivity (I know I do). Habits like rest and play feel \u201cearned\u201d instead of essential to our overall well-being. But in Ecclesiastes 3:9-14, we see that we are\u00a0<\/em>to enjoy life. God didn\u2019t create us to be machines that work endlessly without joy. If all we live for is work on this side of Heaven, we will be sadly disappointed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil\u2014this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him\u201d (Ecclesiastes 3:9-14, NIV)<\/p>\n Friends, God didn\u2019t design us to live in a state of constant striving. And every time I see my dog push his butt into the air and wag his tail, I\u2019m reminded of this. Play isn\u2019t childish, but rather it\u2019s restorative. It\u2019s not optional, but essential to a life lived well.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today, I\u2019d ask you to ponder these two questions:<\/p>\n The second thing that dogs teach us about living is a healthy model of rest, nourishment, and presence. Ironically, dogs live in rhythms we resist but desperately need. For example, my dog Oso eats when he\u2019s hungry, rests when he\u2019s tired, and is present in every moment. As humans (myself included), we ignore hunger cues, overwork ourselves to the point of exhaustion, endlessly scroll, and live distracted lives. We think we\u2019re multitasking for the better when the reality is we\u2019re living lives at a pace we were never meant to uphold.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Psalm 23, we read that Christ \u201cmakes us lie down in green pastures.\u201d While a traditionally common Psalm, I\u2019m often reminded that most of us avoid doing what this Scripture actually says. God leads us into rest, but we often resist it. But rest isn\u2019t laziness, friends, it\u2019s obedience to one of the highest callings in our lives. When we avoid rest, we embrace chronic exhaustion, burnout, and anxiety\u2014not the tradeoff we were looking for if you ask me.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead of avoiding the soul-nourishing things we need in this life, try asking yourself: \u201cWhere am I overriding my God-given limits?\u201d Then, take a lesson from our furry friends and practice eating regularly, honoring rest, and being present in one moment today.\u00a0<\/p>\n The final thing that dogs teach me about living life to the fullest is that they love in a way that mirrors the heart of God. For those of you who don\u2019t love dogs, hang with me. Even if you aren\u2019t a fan of these tail-wagging, four-legged friends, it\u2019s undeniable\u2014dogs don\u2019t hold grudges, and are the most loyal creatures God\u2019s created.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thankfully, dogs don\u2019t withdraw affection based on our performance, but many humans do. We often live out of conditional love, fear of rejection, or performance-based worth. But Romans 5:8 reminds us that God loved us while we were still sinners<\/em>. Dogs remind us what love looks like without ego. What it looks like to love when we\u2019re forgotten about, not played with in 3 days, or yelled at for an accident. Their love is relentless.\u00a0<\/p>\n When I think about the gift God gave us through dogs, I ponder why it\u2019s often easier to accept love from a dog than from God. Perhaps because we\u2019re still trying to prove ourselves or live with unrealistic expectations. But Jesus invites us into receiving His love without earning it. He offers us a love without bounds\u2014a love you can choose to accept today.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first week my husband and I adopted our dog was a stressful adjustment. But looking back, I know that moment wasn\u2019t random. These furry friends aren\u2019t random creatures; they are beautiful, playful, and loving reminders of God\u2019s love and care for His creation.<\/p>\n If you open your eyes, God can use ordinary things to teach us extraordinary truths, and I know He teaches me a lot through my pet. This week, I encourage you to notice when your dog plays, rests, and loves. Then, join them in the joy. Honor your own limits. And when you receive the love, choose to pour it back out.\u00a0<\/p>\n Maybe the wagging tail at your feet is pointing you back to the heart of God\u2014the heart of a God who chose to bless us with dogs.<\/p>\n Photo Credit: \u00a9Getty Images\/Gary Yeowell<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Amber Ginter<\/strong> is a teacher-turned-author who loves Jesus, her husband Ben, and granola. Growing up Amber looked for faith and mental health resources and found none. Today, she offers hope for young Christians struggling with mental illness that goes beyond simply reading your Bible and praying more. Because you can love Jesus and still suffer from anxiety. You can download her top faith and mental health resources for\u00a0free to help navigate books, podcasts, videos, and influencers from a faith lens perspective. Visit her website at\u00a0amberginter.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After my husband and I had been married for a year and a half, I was having doggy fever. Yes, I said doggy fever and not baby fever. Unlike most women, my passion and love for babies is minimal compared to my devotion and affection for dogs.\u00a0 For weeks, I\u2019d been searching local Facebook groups,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[8929,348,331,2333],"class_list":{"0":"post-26857","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-christian-living","8":"tag-dogs","9":"tag-faith","10":"tag-life","11":"tag-teach"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Dogs Model Rhythms of Rest, Nourishment, and Presence<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Dogs Reflect Unconditional Love and Loyalty<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Tail-Wagging Reminders<\/strong><\/h2>\n