Marrying my husband Johnny meant that in addition to becoming a wife, I also became a dog owner. Our dog Maya is a three year old, sixty pound, black lab mix from the pound. She has such a sweet personality and I don’t know that I could go back to being “pet-less” after living with her.
I came home from work today and was pretty tired. I had a day of meetings that included a lot of talking to people, which can be really draining for me. I was looking forward to getting home and doing nothing for a little while. As soon as I walked in the door Maya was glued to me. I patted her head once and then went on to do various things around my condo. For the next five minutes or so Maya followed me. She followed me… into a small closet, into the bedroom, into the kitchen and into the bathroom with her cold wet nose continually brushing the back of my knee. I started to get irritated at her and her cold nose and then realized that all that she wanted was a proper greeting. As soon as I looked at her and pet her for more than 2 seconds she stopped following me.
This may seem like a silly story and it kind of is, but it reminded me of myself and something that I don’t do. Maya knows exactly what she wants and needs. She wants/needs affection from me when I have been gone all day. Unlike Maya, when I am feeling down or need something from others I isolate myself. Instead of calling a friend and talking about a tough day at work I watch mindless t.v. or go to sleep when what I really need is community. Instead of taking my hurt and pain and crying out to God, I think that He doesn’t care and isolate myself from Him too. This is not what I was meant for. I think it is cool that God can use the behavior of my dog to remind me to turn to Him instead of isolating myself.
August 26th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Cute dog! I tend to do the same thing when I’m down - isolate myself, and I’m an extrovert! And I recognize it too. I’ve been working on not isolating myself so much and call people instead.