Nothing by Chance

It's nothing new to those of us who are dog lovers, that there is much to be learned from our four-legged friends. Unconditional love, loyalty, friendship, joy, humor, compassion, simplicity. The list could go on and on. Now, I know that everyone is biased when it comes to their own dog (or cat). But my husband and I may take this to the extreme with our dog, Taylor...there are days when we truly feel that she is perfection wrapped in black fur. There are days when she rolls in dead things, too, but I will leave that for a different discussion. In any case, she is perfect for us. Taylor is quite possibly the sweetest, cuddliest, funniest creature we've ever met. She's an Aquarius, like me, and therefore loves beaches, shoes and chocolate (for which we have had to induce vomiting on multiple occasions...but that's beside the point). But the best thing about Taylor? She gets us. She was made for us. I first realized this the year I lost both my grandpas. The day I lost the second one, I sat on the bathroom floor, sobbing. This was the first time Taylor had ever seen me like that. I could literally see the pain and concern in her eyes. She was still a rambunctious adolescent at the time, and yet she sat next to me and gently licked my tears until I was ready to stand up. She understood the heaviness of that moment and was ready to sit on the bathroom floor with me for as long as I needed. A year or so later, she was at Joel's side after he found out his dad had cancer. In May, when I got a positive result on a pregnancy test, she jumped up and down with me like a crazy woman. When the tests all of a sudden went negative the following day, it was Taylor who kept me warm on the couch for 5 straight hours while I slept, cried, slept, cried. On top of this, she has broken up countless arguments with her hilarious antics...funny how laughter always seems to bring perspective.

I tell you all of this, not to simply boast about what a fabulous dog we have. Rather, to remind you that God can use the unexpected in our lives for His purpose, if we only say 'yes'. You see, Taylor is special because of the way she entered our lives. We did not pick her out as a puppy, still cuddled up to her mom with her brothers and sisters. We did not pay hundreds of dollars for her. To be honest, we were not ready for her. As a newly married couple, we had just decided to wait a year or two before committing ourselves to caring for a dog. God clearly had a different plan. We were in MI, visiting Joel's family. It was a beautiful Saturday in September. We wanted to get out of the house, and since there's not much to do in rural MI, we set out looking for rummage sales. We stumbled upon one down an old country road. As we pulled up, we saw a black lab tied to the garage and a sign that read "Free Black Lab Puppy." Now 'puppy' was perhaps not the best term for her. She was about 7 months old, almost full-grown, and covered in dirt. As we approached her, her legs turned into tightly coiled springs that lifted her so high off the ground she could look you straight in the eyes with each bounce. The sign should have read "Free Adolescent Spaz-Case." We doted on her for a little while, then jumped back in the car. Her bouncing stopped and she just stared at us as we pulled away. Joel was the first to break the silence and say "you want her don't you..."

I wish I could say I did. I honestly didn't. I had in my mind the perfect timing, the perfect litter, the perfect itty bitty puppy that we could train and love from a perfectly early age. Taylor, on the other hand, was 7-months old and full of dirt...and Lord knows what else. She had shown up on the door-step of the house holding the garage sale only a month prior. We had no idea where she was from, or what had happened during the first several months of her life. Had she been abused? Had she been abandoned? Did she simply run off and get lost? We'll never know. After much debate, Joel and I came to a literal T in the road. We could go one way to pick up a dog, or the other way to continue on home to Madison. We decided to take one last look at her. As we pulled up to the house, the bouncing set in. We let her off the leash to play, and she ended up jumping straight into our hearts...and then into our tightly packed VW Golf for the next 6 hours.

I look back on that day, fondly, and think...what if we hadn't said 'yes' to her? What if our ideals of what the plan was supposed to be had won over what it could be. My heart hurts to think we were so close to missing out on all that she has brought to our little family. Now, as we watch our idealistic plans for a child slowly crumble, I find myself pondering Taylor's story again and again. There is a significance in it that wasn't there before. A new hope and a reminder that God works in mysterious ways...in amazing ways...if we just lay our plans aside and trust Him. So while this is Taylor's story, it's our story, too. It's your story. When we were dirty, disheveled and lost, God threw us into the back of His car and welcomed us into His family.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
- Romans 8:28