Pawed

I sat down briefly on a stool this morning and, as usual, one of my dogs sprawled out on the floor in front of me and pawed at my foot wanting me to pet him.  When I didn't respond, he buried his head under a tote bag, whined, and then continued to paw my foot.

Tyson's persistence is always great entertainment for guests in my home and even my husband and I.  All he wants is our attention - a head pat or an occasional belly rub.  As I write this, I have 2 curled up sleeping dogs at my feet who are not happy because the laptop is taking up the space in my lap.


With 3 dogs in 1300sq. ft., our house tends to feel a bit like a menagerie at times.  I can't walk from the bedroom to the kitchen without tripping over a doggy entourage. Rattle a cheese wrapper and you feel like you're being assaulted and nothing creates more excitement than the knowledge that they get to come with me on whatever adventure I'm leaving for...

Something about Tyson's paw and pout moment this morning struck a chord with me.  Perhaps it sounds a bit heretical but it was such a clear - and hard to resist - metaphor that I couldn't turn it down.

Isn't that how God is with his children, pawing at us constantly just wanting us to take a few minutes and spend time with him?  Is God hopeful every time you sit down in your living room that your are going to hang out with him for the next half hour instead of turning on the TV?  And perhaps His greatest pleasure comes from the adventures that we invite Him on... or maybe the ones during which we simply follow Him?


"From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" - (Acts 17:26-28 NIV)

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." - (Ephesians 1:4-6 NIV)

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."" - (Jeremiah 29:13-14 NIV)

We seek and God finds... even if we feel we have been banished.  Love...