Elsa Won’t Let Go

Joyful are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home!

THE FIRST TIME ASHLEY DROVE HOME from the grocery store and found her Akita, Elsa, sitting in the front yard, she didn’t think much of it. She had left the two-year-old dog inside the house, but Ashley assumed her husband had let the dog out just before she got home. When Ashley opened the car door, Elsa leapt onto her lap. Her happy cries and sounds made Ashley laugh.

The next time Ashley drove up to find Elsa sitting by the driveway, she asked her husband how long their dog had been outside. “She started whining as soon as you left so I let her outside.” Then, looking a bit sheepish, he added, “I forgot she was there.”

The third time Ashley pulled up to find Elsa sitting at attention at the top of the driveway, she suspected her dog was actually waiting for her.

Ashley shouldn’t have been surprised—after all, Elsa waited for her outside the bathroom door, lay at her feet when she was working on her computer or at her desk, and slept on the floor next to her side of the bed at night. But Elsa’s front-yard vigil deeply touched Ashley’s heart.

Something about her dog choosing to wait outside for her, ignoring all the distractions on their street, and then racing to greet her the minute she got out of her vehicle made Ashley choke up.

Elsa was the picture of loyalty and devotion.

Over the next few months, whenever Ashley left and someone else was home, Elsa would whine at the back door until she was allowed outside to sit vigil for Ashley’s return.

It got to the point that Elsa could identify Ashley’s car from six houses away.

Her eyes were always searching for it, her ears listening for the voice of the human she adored.

Elsa became Ashley’s living, breathing, tail-wagging picture of what it looks like to wait in anticipation and joy for God—waiting for him to answer a prayer, waiting for him to reveal his plan, watching for evidences of his grace. The loyal dog also served as a beautiful picture of the delight God surely feels when his beloved children come home to him.

PAWS & PONDER . . .

Are you waiting on God for something? Are you watching with joyful anticipation? Or does your wait feel more like a burden? What evidences of God’s grace have you seen recently—either in your life or someone else’s?

Paws & Pray

Father, thank you for loving me. Thank you for delighting in each one of your children and rejoicing when a person comes to faith through your Son. God, because you love me, I know I can trust you—even when the waiting is long. Fill my heart with joy and anticipation as I wait and hope in you.

A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul.