Small Dog Big Lesson

I am off this morning to do a little clean up work at the church. We have a group coming in from Oklahoma using our new education building as a crash pad/way station on their way to Mexico. I only want to cut the weeds down around the back of the building so they don't lose any kids.

I threw our dogs out for a few minutes, only long enough for them all to bark so the neighbors could roll over in bed and say, "Hey it's 6:45 and those freakin' dogs are barking...it must be the weekend and Michael slept in!". I'm sure that brings them great joy, since during the week I let the dogs out at 1 a.m.

As I was putting the dogs up, our two smallest stay in crates in the house which they love, Winston - the special needs dog - did something he's never done before....he pushed his head against the crate door as I was closing it. He resisted my authority. He wasn't being mean...he was asking for more of me in the only way he could express it.

I laughed, let him out of the cage and rubbed his belly for a minute; then he ambled back into his crate and plopped down peacefully. He's already asleep.

Yet, there was a life lesson in that small moment.

How often do we push back against that which we love because we think that's the only way to get the attention we need?