Meet Toby.
He loves me.
More than you can possibly imagine.
Toby loves to be where I am. He doesn’t really care where that is as long as he gets to be with me. In the picture above, we are in the car driving from Lexington, MA to Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. He looks so tired because he’s recovering from the exhaustion of having to be under my seat on the airplane — a whole 3 feet away, give or take an inch — rather than on my lap. When we are home, Toby is like the buoy marking my position in the house. My daughters know when I am coming when they hear Toby’s collar jingle. If I sit on the porch, he is there. If I walk to get the mail, he’s there (mostly…sometimes he chases things outside!). Most importantly in his little doggie mind, if I take a shower he sits outside, guarding and waiting. I have no doubt that he loves me.
Toby made me think about an old Don Moen chorus we used to sing. The words say, “I just want to be where you are, dwelling daily in your presence. I don’t want to worship from afar, draw me near to where you are.” Maybe God wishes that we could be more like Toby, scampering through our world to make sure that we are sitting at his feet, snuggling in his lap. Does God wish that we would look at him with pleading brown eyes, just begging to be allowed to stay nearby?
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My dog does the same thing! Great visual reminder !