As we arrived at my sister-in-law’s house on a sunny afternoon, her chocolate Lab came running out to meet us. Ruffy could barely control her excitement, with her body wriggling and tail wagging furiously. She tried not to jump up on us or our two sons and their cousin, but you could see how much of a struggle it was for her to keep all four paws on the ground.
Even though Ruffy didn’t know us, she was absolutely certain that she loved us and that we were going to have fun. She met us with excitement, enthusiasm and joy.
Our children, who don’t know many dogs, were more tentative, stepping back from this wildly happy dog. I wasn’t worried. I had a feeling that Ruffy would win them over in the end.
And she did.
As the boys started swimming in my sister-in-law’s pool, Ruffy brought them a rubber stick to throw into the water for her to fetch. The children tentatively joined the game at first, and Ruffy watched, looking for ways to bring them into her game – and to join theirs. As the afternoon continued, they started looking for other ways to involve Ruffy themselves.
“Ruffy! Ruffy! Ruffy!” the boys would call, and the dog would come running to see what they were doing. When she wasn’t leaping into the pool to fetch the stick, she was running around the edge of the pool to be there as soon as the racing swimmers reached the side.
Long after she was exhausted, Ruffy was still looking for another way to connect with her newest friends. She couldn’t get enough of them, and they enjoyed every moment with her. Outside the pool, she trailed them happily around the yard, looking up at them, knowing that whatever happened next, she wanted to be part of it.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the children discover their new doggy friend. And I loved Ruffy’s willingness to keep reaching out to them in every possible way, even though they had been tentative at first.
I like to keep in mind that God is like that, too – loving us with complete joy even when we aren’t sure we are ready to be loved so entirely. He wins us over, finding little and large ways to connect with us. He watches us living our lives and looks for ways to connect that will be meaningful and win our hearts.
Our Lord longs for a loving relationship with us, and he seeks opportunities to show us that love wherever we are in our day. What a joy it can be to make time to notice God’s love in our everyday life – and show him our love in return.
Not every day is a sunny day of swimming fun, of course. Many times are full of challenge, confusion or even pain. But God is with us through all those times too, loving us completely, walking with us through our day, waiting to see how he can be part of our experiences and surround us with his love.
And he gently urges us to love those around us in the same way – loving not out of obligation, but out of joy.
“If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well, we must manifest our joy in the service we render to him and them,” said St. Katharine Drexel. “Let us open wide our hearts. It is joy which invites us. Press forward and fear nothing.”
As we said goodbye to Ruffy and her family and climbed into our van to start our drive home, the dog jumped into our front seat and refused to move. She knew her new friends were leaving, and she was determined to go along and continue the fun of the day. She didn’t know or care where we were headed. She just knew she wanted to be part of the journey.
That’s love – wanting to be with those who matter to you and being open to whatever comes along the way. May our hearts be open to loving and being loved every day.
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