Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Dancing in the Moonlight

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently adopted a foster dog named J.R. And as previously mentioned, J.R. is a bit on the plump side, so we've been walking every evening. Many nights, we pass the same folks out for their evening stroll as well, and there are the cursory nods and hellos. A few nights ago, however, I saw some folks I had never seen before.

As J.R. and I crossed over the second bridge on our path, we came upon a young father, his daughter and their tiny puppy. I nodded as I passed them, hurrying along on my designated path. Something caused J.R. to hesitate, and as I turned to urge him forward, I heard the little girl say, "Daddy, let's dance!" I watched as this young father stopped in his tracks, scooped his little princess into his arms and began to twirl with her right there on the walking path. And then the little girl said, "Daddy, Daddy, pick up Lucy, too. She wants to dance with us!" I realized that tears were forming in my eyes as I watched this strong young father reach down and tenderly lift the little puppy into his arms along with his daughter. He began to sing and twirl and dance while the little girl laughed and squealed and the little puppy licked and wagged her tail.

I'm not sure how long I stood there watching the scene, but when I finally turned to continue walking, my heart was filled with joy at the unashamed display of love I had just witnessed. I couldn't help but think of how much God our heavenly Father loves us and wants to scoop us up into His arms for a lifetime of dancing.

Since all of my children are now out on their own, my canine companions are in some ways like children to me. So it seemed only fitting as J.R. and I got close to home near the end of our walk, I leaned over and ... yep, you guessed it ... I scooped that fat little dog into my arms and I danced.