Seriously… her eyes are ALWAYS on me!
Esmee is my little white dog, a four-year-old bichon frise puppy mill rescue I came home with one Saturday morning shortly after my aged golden retriever had died. As I picked her out of her crate and held her at the adoption event, trying to determine if we would be a good fit, she just huddled in my arms, unresponsive… perhaps wondering what life held for her next. She was just so scared, the foster mom asserted, promising me that in no time she would be my new best friend.
I had my doubts. Because she was a purebred, the adoption fee was high. And she was a little rough looking, any grooming having been postponed until after the more immediate need of having her spayed. Her white fur was shaggy and dirty, and there were dark tear stains underneath her eyes. But my cat and I needed a new friend to fill the hole in our hearts and our home, and since Esmee needed the latter, I decided to give her a go.
I couldn’t be more glad. Now two months since that morning, my little white buddy has blossomed. She greets me every morning standing on her hind feet in her crate, then bouncing around my legs before we head outside and she races to find a spot to do her business. For the rest of the day until she returns to her crate at night, she is by my side or watching me from the couch, the rug at my feet, or any spot in which she settles that gives her a clear view of me. She still has moments of panic when something startles her or a new situation comes into her world, but they are occurring less and less as she learns that I am her place of safety. And so every waking moment of her day, she is looking my way .She never lets me out of her sight.
What a lesson there is in that for me! I, too, am a “rescue”, you see… a life that was likewise a bit of a mess with no clear direction… until the morning my boyfriend introduced me to a Man Who was willing to pay the price of His life for mine… to take me as His own, love me, care for me, and eventually take me Home. I gradually came to trust that all my needs would be met in Him, as long as I kept Him cotinually in my sight.
And so now I strive to have “Esmee Eyes”… constantly following His movements in my life, dogging His footsteps, and rejoicing in every moment we spend together.
“You can change her name if you like – she doesn’t recognize it,” said the lady from the adoption agency. But when I found out that it means “esteemed” or “beloved”, I knew I wouldn’t. Daily she is coming to recognize that she is exactly that… and teaching me new ways to see that I am, too.
“Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end…”
(Hebrews 12:1-2 GNT)
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