INSPIRASUNS

Some of our friends who live just across the drive from us are on a trip and left their little pomapoo name Panda with the pet “nanny”, who stays at their home while they are away. Panda is the sweetest little thing, and she loves people. She also is not a barker, I can count on one hand how many times I’ve hear her bark in the year we’ve lived here.

On Saturday morning, my husband was out washing his car and I was running some errands. He called me and said that Panda had been barking non-stop for at least 15 minutes. She was starting to whimper from barking so much 😦 He asked if I had a number to the pet nanny, which I didn’t, so he texted our friends to let them know what was going on. They gave him the code to get into their home to check on sweet Panda.

When he walked in, she ran to him as if to say, “Oh, thank you!”. He could tell she needed to go outside to do some business. Panda walked my husband around a bit, and yes did business for sure. After that, she made several stops, just smelling. He could tell, she was looking for mom and dad. When he took her back home, Panda ran to the couch and snuggled onto her favorite pillow. My husband gave her a rub and left.

I checked in about this time, as I was headed home. He told me what had happened, but she had since started barking all over again. He said he was going to go get Panda and bring her to our house, “she can be with me while I work on my car in the garage”. I was pulling onto our street at that point and volunteered to go get her. She was indeed still barking. I went inside and she ran to me. I grabbed her “princess bed” along with her leash and off we went to our house. She made me stop along the way to again begin smelling for mom and dad. Once home, I filled a bowl of water she drank some, then snuggled right into her “princess bed”.

Panda stuck around for an hour or so and we took her back to her house. She once again snuggled onto a pillow on the sofa. The pet nanny arrived just after this, she had gone in to work for a bit like she usually does.

Panda was reaching out for sure on Saturday. She was scared and felt alone, her family wasn’t around, and she needed to feel safe. When she saw us, she relaxed and felt much better, we weren’t mom and dad, but we were familiar and she knew we cared.

We’ve probably all felt like this at some point in our life, or we know someone who has. Are we listening to friends and family when the “bark sounds different” when they might be reaching out for help, for someone they know cares? Are we reaching up to Father when we need him to be the familiar connection to help us through?

Bring God into the midst of what’s happening, the good, the bad, the scary, and the fun. Let him be a part of your entire world, let him be your rock, a rock you can share with those who may need it most 🙂 And…listen when the bark sounds different, it means something 🙂

Isaiah 41:13
For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”