God will speak to this people, to whom he said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"..... Isaiah 28:11-12 NIV
Daily Guidposts 2016, page 491 Friday, November 18
After the Boston Marathon bombings, my daughters, who both live in that city, found unexpected comfort in their universities' use of dogs to distract and soothe traumatized students. Charlotte's school enlists a herd of therapy dogs, not only in response to tragedies but also during finals week. And at Lulu's college, student can check out dogs, like books, from the library.
(The dogs are listed by name in the library catalog!)
The petting sessions awakened the girls' homesickness for their own dogs, and they started begging me to send photos. "It's a stress relief," Lulu said. The next time she was home, she installed Instagram on my phone and trained me in its use. I've been posting daily photos of our four dogs ever since.
Photographing our dogs and thinking about their capacity to soothe has taught me some valuable things about finding rest. First off, whenever they're not actively doing some important task, such as eating what we provide, guarding our farm from deer and other intruders, communicating with other dogs (or ambulances or trains) in the dead of night, or chewing whatever needs to be chewed, they're asleep in the sun. Rest is, I would say, their default state.
Also, whenever I go out to where one dog lies sleeping and I squat to take a picture, the dog invariably rolls over, exposing bis or her belly to be petted. Somehow, sleep, for a dog, is the state of being loved.
That's how I want to be: at rest whenever possible anbd keenly aware, even when barely conscious, of God's abiding presence and love.
Good Father, Provider of everything I need, help me to find rest and comfort in You. --Patty Kirk
Daily Guidposts 2016, page 491 Friday, November 18
After the Boston Marathon bombings, my daughters, who both live in that city, found unexpected comfort in their universities' use of dogs to distract and soothe traumatized students. Charlotte's school enlists a herd of therapy dogs, not only in response to tragedies but also during finals week. And at Lulu's college, student can check out dogs, like books, from the library.
(The dogs are listed by name in the library catalog!)
The petting sessions awakened the girls' homesickness for their own dogs, and they started begging me to send photos. "It's a stress relief," Lulu said. The next time she was home, she installed Instagram on my phone and trained me in its use. I've been posting daily photos of our four dogs ever since.
Photographing our dogs and thinking about their capacity to soothe has taught me some valuable things about finding rest. First off, whenever they're not actively doing some important task, such as eating what we provide, guarding our farm from deer and other intruders, communicating with other dogs (or ambulances or trains) in the dead of night, or chewing whatever needs to be chewed, they're asleep in the sun. Rest is, I would say, their default state.
Also, whenever I go out to where one dog lies sleeping and I squat to take a picture, the dog invariably rolls over, exposing bis or her belly to be petted. Somehow, sleep, for a dog, is the state of being loved.
That's how I want to be: at rest whenever possible anbd keenly aware, even when barely conscious, of God's abiding presence and love.
Good Father, Provider of everything I need, help me to find rest and comfort in You. --Patty Kirk