Grace came to us two summers ago. I was at work one day and heard barking outside. Two small dogs were on the adjacent property owned by the water company; one white with brown patches, the other black with brown muzzle and feet. They were running wild together up and down Mt. Vernon Avenue, dodging cars as they ran and barked, and taking breaks at the storage tank yard where water leaked into a little canine oasis behind a broken fence. The little dogs were clearly in danger running on the main arterial. I tried to rescue them.
First I coaxed them to come to me using food as bait. I whistled, I called. I set out water and sat outside on my lunch break hoping to become familiar with them. Nothing worked. The white Chihuahua wanted nothing to do with me, and his pal, a Doxie-Chihuahua female mix, followed his lead. After several attempts to rescue them I had all but given up when my daughter, Rachel, stopped by my office. I told her about the dogs, and she perked up when the barking began again. She walked out to see for herself just as the canines galloped past. Only this time, when she whistled and called to the little dogs, the black one stopped and listened.
Rachel crouched low to the ground, cooed and called gently. And of all things, the little black dog turned and trotted right up to her, flopping down and rolling belly-up in surrender. Rachel picked up the pooch, cuddled her close and said, “For by grace you are saved.” And thus our little friend was named.
After the initial surrender, Grace rode home with us, curled up in my daughter's lap. She was timid at first, but a loving family was definitely her thing, and today she adores us all, especially whoever allows her to climb into their lap to snuggle.
Any dog owner will attest to the great companionship of a dog, faithful and trusting and true. And so it is with Grace. She dances with delight when we arrive home. She skitters around us with open pleasure, racing to and fro like a pinball set loose, bouncing off couch and chair and wall with exuberance. She loves to be in the presence of her family. She is wholly devoted.
I want to love the Lord the way Grace loves her family: openly, with abandon; fiercely, and with all the fire my little heart can muster; with energy and spirit and endless forgiveness; with eyes focused intently on my Master. I want to show faithfulness and pleasure in my Lord. I want to be grateful and genuinely happy for the blessing of time with Him. I want to know the contentment of sitting at His feet, awaiting the moment He stirs that I might enjoy a touch from His hand or a kind word, causing me to snuggle into the crook of His arm, and sigh with deep contentment.
Grace's example shows me daily how to be fully devoted to the One who reigns supreme. May we always be as content in the presence of our Master as a simple little dog named Grace.