MONDAY MEDITATION: Reverse Adoption (August 31)

NOTE: Recently our pet beagle, Jake, passed away. One person suggested doing some meditations based on reflections on our four-legged friend. So, each day this week I’ll pass on a doggie devotion. Our regular weekly/Monday meditations will resume next week. Hope these are meaningful for you!

One fall afternoon, 2015, my wife was working in the garage when a beagle wandered in.

It was odd for a dog to be loose. She petted him and gave him some water, thinking the owner would be by. When that didn’t happen, she and our daughter took him for a walk in the neighborhood searching for his home.  

They found a frantic woman looking for “Jake,” so named for the Jacob Lane address where she lived. She expressed her thanks for finding him, then explained that they would be looking for a home for him, due to family circumstances.

And that’s how Jake came to be part of our family.

We weren’t looking for a dog. Well, that’s not true. I wasn’t looking for a dog. Being a covert Scrooge, I didn’t care for the cost, messiness, inconvenience, and heartbreak a dog brings into a household. But, being outvoted by my family, we added the canine to our home.

Regardless of my hesitancy, though, Jake didn’t hesitate adopting us. He made himself right at home. He picked a favorite sofa on which to take his naps. He taught us his favorite game, where he ran around with a sock, waiting for us to chase him. He urged us to walk him so he could discover his new neighborhood, stopping every three feet to smell something. He curled up in his new doggie bed in our bedroom and serenaded us with his snoring.

It’s said that we don’t adopt dogs, but that dogs adopt us. That’s grace. I would never have taken in a dog on my own. Rather, with canine cunning, he easily and gently became an intimate part of our lives. He brought with him warmth, love, cuteness, and laughs. 

All because one afternoon he decided to make his home with us.

The Word became flesh and made his home among us. – John 1:14a