H. Norman Wright - Truly Devoted: What Dogs Teach Us about Life, Love, and Loyalty

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked AMP are taken from The Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible , Copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.

Verses marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Verses marked RSV are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover photos 2012, courtesy of Watts Photography, Bakersfield, CA

Cover design by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon

The author and Harvest House Publishers have made every effort to trace the ownership of all quotes and stories. In the event of a question arising from the use of a poem, quote, or story, we regret any error made and will be pleased to make the necessary correction in future editions of this book.

TRULY DEVOTED

Copyright 2013 by H. Norman Wright

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wright, H. Norman.

Truly devoted / H. Norman Wright.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-7369-5240-8 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-5241-5 (eBook)

1. Dog ownersReligious life. 2. DogsReligious aspectsChristianityMeditations. I. Title.

BV4596.A54W75 2013

242dc23

2012047324

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Contents

I ts been a long day at work. Youre looking forward to getting home to your place of refuge. Your mind drifts to a delicious dinner, resting awhile, and all the family members eagerly awaiting your arrival. You pull into the driveway and accidentally on purpose hit the horn to let everyone know youre home so theyll come to greet you. A few seconds go by, and no one comes so you get out of the car and stroll to the door. Still no one around.

You go inside and yell, Im home! Silence. One child runs by and mumbles, Hi, Dad, and keeps on going. You can hear another child in his room judging by the volume of the music. You make your way to the kitchen, expecting dinner to be in progress, but again there are no people aroundonly a note stating the cook will be late but theres food to put in the microwave.

No one came to greet you. What a letdown! But that doesnt happen to you or me. Why? Yes, you guessed it. We are dog owners! And our pups are always excited to see us. Lets rerun the scenario with them included.

You walk up to the door. Whats that sound you hear from inside the house? You tilt your head to hear better. Yes, its a whine and then a series of barks. The animal on the other side of that door is awaiting your presence. Hes so excited to see you! You open the door and there he is. Depending on the breed, the dog may get so excited he piddles on the floor. Or he may run around and around, chasing his tail. Or perhaps hes sitting patiently waiting for a pat on the head. Maybe hes jumping up to lick your face.

Some dogs follow us everywhere we go, while others try to talk to us with their doggy sounds. Some have tails that swish back and forth a mile a minute. Perhaps your dog is trained to bring your slippers to you. Or maybe your dog has OCBD (Obsessive Compulsive Ball Disorder). He brings his tennis ball to you the instant he knows youre coming. I know some dogs who bring their leashes because they want us to walk them. Yes, dogs are wonderful greeters, and we can learn a lot from them.

The Importance of Recognition

We all want to be greeted, welcomed, acknowledged. If were married, how we greet each other when we meet after an absence is vital. At one of the marriage seminars I conduct, a husband shared, When I get home at the end of the day, I have to go looking for my wife. She never comes to the door to greet me. I get a better greeting from my dog. He comes running to see me, wags his tail like its going to fall off, runs around me, licks my hand, and makes little barking sounds.

Before I could respond, another husband piped up. You want your wife to do all that?

Soon the entire group was responding to the comment and scenario.

Are you aware that how you and your partner, family members, and even friends greet each other when you first meet at the end of the day sets the tone for the evening? That initial greeting is so critical. The first four minutes establishes the foundation for the rest of the time spent together. If your first contact includes a listing of everything that went wrong during the day, or a list of negatives, or, worse yet, complaints and criticisms of the other person, you can just imagine what the rest of the evening will be like. But if that first contact at the end of the day is similar to the greetings we get from our dogs, what a difference that would make. What if everyone involved was positive and caring and bright during that first four minutes of contact? Later on they could discuss the issues of the day, and everyone would probably be in a better mood and have a better attitude for that process. Yes, dogs model the art of greeting one another joyfully.

One of my favorite authors, Max Lucado, has an interesting story on the impact of how were greeted when we arrive home. He travels quite a bit, and in The Applause of Heaven he describes what happens when he heads home.

Home. The longest part of going home is the last partthe planes taxiing to the terminal from the runway. Im the fellow the flight attendant always has to tell to sit down.

There is a leap of the heart as I exit the plane. I almost get nervous as I walk up the ramp. I step past people. I grip my satchel. My stomach tightens. My palms sweat. I walk into the lobby like an actor walking onto a stage. The curtain is lifted, and the audience stands in a half-moon. Most of the people see that Im not the one they want and look past me.

But from the side I hear the familiar shriek of two little girls. Daddy! I turn and see themfaces scrubbed, standing on chairs, bouncing up and down in joy as the man in their life walks toward them. Jenna stops bouncing just long enough to clap. She applauds!