"Ye shall have the attitude of a puppy dog"

When out in public, if people ask me if I have any siblings, I tell them I have two younger brothers. I know that I am lying. Indeed, I do have two younger brothers, but I also have a younger sister as well. You see, in my house, the puppy is a child.Yes, somehow we arrived at the notion that Abby = child.

Abby is the kind of animal that models a life that Christians could learn from. I know that the previous statement sounded crazy or insane, but just hear me out. She is a dog that models a series of behaviors that, once you simply transpose them to ways humans can understand them (as great as science is, it still hasn't produced the Universal Bark Translator), a Christian should also model. Allow me to present some examples.

1. "Go" is the word that she absolutely loves. If you tell her "Abby, let's go!", she will bolt to the back door making sure she can make it to the car. It's gotten to the point that all I have to do is look at her with the keys in my hand, and she knows to go. She doesn't know where she is going, but because Austin-dog (she becomes a child, and the people get demoted to dogs. Awesome, right?) tells her that we are going somewhere, that is a good enough of a reason to become a super happy butt-shaking dog. I wonder what would happen if I started living my faith like that. God tells me to "go" and instead of whining or putting up a fight, I would instantly and gladly go wherever God is taking me. I don't know where I am going, but because God tells me that we are going somewhere, that is all I need to know.
2.  Abby has a foe that occasionally walks by the house. We call her Nemesis-dog. When said dog walks by, Abby instantly becomes a siren, and getting her to shut up is hopeless. Yet when the front door is open, she just sits by the screen door and waits. Waits for what, I dunno, but the front door is one of her favorite spots. When she sees someone coming to the door, she runs to grab a bone (we haven't figured that one out yet), then starts shaking her butt in anticipation of this person who is coming over. It doesn't matter who the heck it is; if it's Daddy-dog, Mommy-dog, Travis-dog, Parker-dog, or a total stranger, she is always ready to greet people. I wonder what would happen if I treated the other people in my life the same way. What if I treated strangers the same way I try to treat all of the people I know in my life? What if I greeted visitors of my church or youth group with this kind of enthusiasm?
3.  While Abby has a playful side, she is known to be a protector. If Travis-dog starts yelling at Parker-dog or Parker-dog starts fighting with Travis-dog, Abby will usually step in and try to break up the conflict. Granted, often times she causes more problems than she fixes (she is a dog, after all), but she is at least trying to make sure nobody hurts each other. She will stand and face the aggressor and bark in her commanding voice, and we often imagine her saying something like "You! Stop! It! Now! I'm! Warning! You!" I wonder what would happen if I make an effort to be a peacekeeper like Jesus described in Matthew 5:9. What if I was willing to get in the face of my friends or my students when they start doing things they shouldn't do?

Abby is just awesome. But the God who created dogs is just even more awesome. He uses the simple things to teach important lessons.