Matthew 13:16
"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear."
My old girl, Glory, will be 15 in another couple months. That's 105 in doggy years. She is pretty much blind and deaf now. Her hips are stiff, her body is frail, and her breath couldn't be helped by a gallon of Listerine. Still, I love every stinky, wobbly, deaf and blind ounce of her. She lay here sleeping beside me right now, snoring away, peaceful as ever. Bedtime is the highlight of our day together. I crawl in to bed, assume the "spoon" position, and "Tiny Tot" (as I call her) wriggles her way into that nook of my belly and rests her dear head right where I can get a good whiff of that sweet breath of hers. I don't mind….it's Tot's breath, and nothing else in the world smells quite like it. Her days are pretty much spent sleeping now. But, when she awakes, she looks around (as best she can with no vision) and she immediately knows whether she is resting at my feet or whether she needs to seek them out again. Maybe my feet smell something like her breath does to me? Either way, she is content as long as she knows she is near me. I am her light and her peace in her dark and silent world…and I am more than happy to be everything she needs me to be.
I think sometimes we can feel like we are alone, walking out life in darkness and silence. Where is God we ask? Why am I going through everything I am going through? Does He hear me? Does He see me? Does He know I am in pain? Does He care at all? I think most of us have been there at one time or another…that cold, dark place where we feel God has abandoned us. Are the feelings real? Are the struggles real? Yes. But, there is a Truth that transcends even our "reality"…God's Word and promise.
Jesus promised us in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but he will have the light of life". Jesus promised us again in John 10:27, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". Jesus is our light. Jesus is the voice calling out to us. The light is there for us to follow. The voice is there for us to follow. But, are we ready to follow? Perhaps if we were, we would see the light…and hear the voice….because they are there for us…He is there for us. Jesus is our light and our peace in this often dark and silent world…and He is more than happy to be everything we need him to be.
Glory may be blind and deaf now, but she still follows me wherever I go. She seeks me out…my smell, my touch, my warmth. I am her peace….I always have been….even when she could see me with her eyes and hear my voice with her ears. Nothing has changed really. We're both just a little older….and perhaps just a little more stinky.
In Christ and covered in dog hair,
Debbie Owczarzak
