We are Adopted by a loving Father
Today we welcome our guest writer, Luwana Locke to Laced with Grace. Luwana lives on a farm in Northwest Florida. with her husband of forty-four years. She is a veteran language arts teacher in adult education,high school and college.
Jake wandered up the street to my husband’s place of business last fall, a most unlikely visitor to the barber shop. He was a thirsty and thin throwaway; his enormous eyes begged, “take me home.” By mid-afternoon, my husband was searching for vaccinations at the hardware store and by the end of the day, he was calling me out to the driveway to meet his new found friend. I was not amused. We already had a farm dog, and over the years our family has suffered through many heartaches related to puppyhood, accidents on the highway and in the nearby wetlands. All I thought was, “Just great; here comes trouble.”
I didn’t need a gangly puppy to deal with, especially not one who insisted on wrapping his legs in mine to get a belly rub every time I stepped out the door. His insistence to follow everyone everywhere even cost Jake a broken foreleg which required a vet trip and three-week hiatus in the cattle trailer to recover. He is, however, a most loving and grateful dog.
He follows my husband devotedly; this spring they developed the routine of visiting the feed store and the plant nursery together every Friday morning. Recently, Jake and I have had disagreements about using the truck. He usually wins and has accompanied me to pick up the lawn mower, my bicycles, and gardening supplies. This week I took him to the credit union and the library at his insistence. Jake has flourished and filled out on the farm. His size and bark are intimidating to delivery men, but they soon learn all he wants is a scratch behind the ears. He has become my guardian when I work outside, sniffing out intruding bugs or snakes and bristling when he hears something unusual. He is determined to make me love him.
It occurred to me this week that Jake’s gratitude and love are a picture of how I should feel toward my heavenly Father.
“In love, he [God] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will…” Ephesians 1:5
Like Jake, we are adopted by a loving Father who sees our dire distress, our hunger. God is committed to not only meeting our physical needs, but he longs to become our companion, our paraclete, our friend. Jake would not have been my first choice as a new addition to our busy farm household, but he has taught me a lesson or two about humility and unswerving devotion. I guess he’ll have to stay.
Luwana Locke
I love it! Yesterday I posted on my sister rescuing a cat, and today you are posting on rescuing a dog. There are parallels to how God rescues/adopts us.
Thanks for sharing your story – I enjoyed your post!
Thank you for sharing with us.
Thank you for sharing with us!
That is such a beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. And yes, our Heavenly Father has the same compassion for us.
Lovely story. Thank you for sharing.