Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Rainy Day, Happy God (and dog!)

I came home from the church a couple of days ago and there was a dog out running in the rain. As i pulled up and got out of my car, it came up to me and jumped up on me like it was so happy to see me. It started running around in a playful attitude like it wanted to play. As it ran through our grass, beads of water and shards of green would get thrown up into the air, and it was a beautiful site. It was a pretty dog, and it looked like it was having so much fun out in the rain.

I couldn't help but stand out there and play with it for a while. All i had to do was stamp my feet and it would go off running like i was behind it, playing tag or something. It would then come to a stop, where if i stomped again....off it would go! It just seemed so happy to have someone show it some attention and play with it in the rain.

After i went inside and showered up, had something to eat, played the piano for a bit, talked to Pat and Mary-Beth, a friend showed up to take me to another friends house to hang out for the night. We walked outside and got in the car, but as i was opening my door, the dog appeared out of nowhere!!! It must have hung around outside for a good 3 hours waiting for me to come back out!! I felt a lot of emotion for that pup as we drove off, and it stood in the middle of the road, still looking as playful as ever, and happy to be out and about.

There are many days where i marvel at God's creation, and how it continues to astound us and remind us of his presence. As I was playing with that dog the other day, i really felt like God was there.....maybe not in me, but somewhere in that dog. Like a good friend, it came out of nowhere and was so happy to see me, it played with me almost in an attempt to lift my spirits as high as it's were, and it hung around to make sure I was doing ok, and having a good time, even if it wasn't involved.

I wasn't particularly feeling down, or depressed or upset that day, but this dog didn't seem to care. It just wanted to make sure i was as happy as I could be, or at least excited as it was to be free.....out and roaming in the world.......being itself......even in the rain.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey bro~

I miss you so much and this story about the dog just really made me miss you even more for some reason. I'm so so so so so bummed that I can't go to Miami. I don't know I just really feel like I need to be around you and your family. I hope that things are going good for you in Texas and just so you know whenever I do get to see you again you're going to have a bundle of squeezes waiting for your arrival. :) xoxoxo

Anonymous said...

That's such an inspiring story! I had a similar encounter this morning, except of a more sombre nature.

There is this cat that always hangs around my boyfriend's unit, it's this cute white flufffball and because his neighbour has fed it over the years, it stuck around and made a home for itself there.

Anyway, the owner of the neighbour's unit recently sold the unit so the neighbours have been moving out over the last week.

I noticed that the cat was still hanging around the unit and wondered it had been fed or looked after since they moved out. It was sitting on my car when I went to go home this afternoon, so I gave it a pat and it didn't want to get off my car! I am quite allergic to cats and shouldn't have touched it in the first place so I was getting concerned! It just wanted my attention! Then it jumped off my car so I thought "great" and opened my car door to leave and it jumped into my car!

After much sneezing and a small amount of cursing I finally got it out of my car, through the backseat, and it ran away, out of sight within ten seconds.

As I was about to drive off, the neighbours came by to pick up some things from the unit so I stopped, got out of my car and asked them if they were taking the cat with them.

It turns out that despite the fact that they have been loving and caring for that cat for over ten years now, they have called the ranger to report it as a stray, so it can be collected and probably killed within a week.

I've seen the way the old lady used to hold and cuddle and talk to that cat so I just couldn't understand why they would do that.

I felt so sad, because I knew there was nothing I could do about it. You can't convince someone to take in a cat that they clearly don't want, and you can't keep a pet that you're allergic to :(

Angela

Brenton said...

Hey Angela! Thanks so much for the story!! I'm sorry to hear about the cat...that is very sad. Although, i think it paints a good picutre of how some people come and go in our lives, and why we can only enjoy them for a short amount of time. Sometimes we just can't control why people (or cats) come and go, but it's good to reflect on why they were there in the first place. I truly believe that God has placed everyone in our lives for a reason (as well as animals!), and He uses them in so many different ways. It's a blessing that we get to spend even a short amount of time with some people, and that He can reveal Himself, for even the shortest amount of time, through even something as simple as a dog or a cat!
Thanks so much for your story! Hope all is well back home, and keep commenting, i'd love to hear more of your stories!