When a dog teaches you something about life
Every morning I come to one of the office buildings of Adventures In Missions for my CGA classes. We have a frequent visitor to our classroom space. She comes in at random times and just loves on whoever she wants to love on. She is an adorable little dog, and her name is Asha. Asha belongs to Seth Barnes, the founder of AIM. Most days he brings her to work with him, and she playfully runs around the office space like it’s her own home.
One morning all the CGA apprentices and many AIM staff members were gathered in one of our training rooms. Seth walked in, followed eagerly by Asha. She exuberantly began wandering around to make friends.
She would walk up to one person, let them pet her, lick their hand, then she would run back to Seth and stand on her hind legs, begging for him to pick her up. Joyfully Seth would pick her up, hold her, and scratch her head. Soon, she’d decide to go love on someone else. She’d pick someone, love on them, then turn back to Seth and run back to his open arms
I was one of the people she chose to love. I had this adorable connection with her for just a moment before her attention was turned back to her daddy.
For several minutes I sat and just watched her. I was in a crowd full of people but didn’t talk to anyone, because I was so fascinated with Asha. Wherever she went and whoever she was with, she was aware of exactly where daddy was.
And after a few minutes, Seth had to leave to go to his office. As he walked out, she left everyone and followed him out. She wasn’t going to stay anywhere if he wasn’t there with her.
I want my life to look like Asha’s. I want to be so aware of where Papa is and never truly leave His presence. I want to eagerly love everyone around me and be able to brighten people’s day in just a short encounter.
I want to trust Papa and know that He will always pick me up and hold me when I run to Him. I want to be where He is, and I want to follow Him when He moves. I want to constantly receive love from Him, and I want to take that love and share it with everyone I’m around, every day.
Thanks, Papa, for this beautiful lesson you showed me through a cute, furry, lovable dog.
