Stickers in the Grass and Ellie’s Shoes

Stickers in the Grass and Ellie’s Shoes

A few years ago, I was walking Ellie, our beagle, in the schoolyard close to our house.  At one point, she stopped and held up her paw, shaking it.  I inspected her paw and saw a sticker on one of the pads of her foot.  I removed it, gave her some reassurance, and we went on.  A few moments later, the same thing occurred.  Then it happened again.

I began to look at the grass and noticed a small, prickly growth throughout the grass of the yard.  I had never seen this before, but it was clearly the source of Ellie’s discomfort.  It was so frequent that at one point, Ellie stopped trying to shake the sticker off her paw and just turned to look at me with her paw raised.  She knew she needed my help, and she also knew I was glad to help her.

Ellie in her shoes

That summer, I purchased Ellie a pair of shoes.  Well, is it still a pair if there are four of them?  I don’t know.  The shoes are precious.  The leather is the caramel color of her fur, and the top part is a leopard print.  It took her all of five seconds to get used to walking in them.

Every summer since then, she knows she will wear her shoes to the schoolyard, and her feet are well protected from the stickers. She runs just as easily with the shoes on as she does without them.

This morning, we were walking near our neighborhood when we had to cross a large patch of grass.  Ellie was not wearing her shoes (although sometimes, in the summer, she wears them to protect her feet from the heat of the concrete).  She hesitantly started her walk over the grass, not wanting to get a sticker in her paw.  But it happened anyway.  I quickly removed the sticker, rubbed her paw, and reassured her.  The rest of the way home, we could follow the sidewalk.

Glen and I discussed how much we loved and enjoyed caring for Ellie, even to the point of putting her shoes on each afternoon before our schoolyard walk.  It isn’t a trouble or an inconvenience to make her life easier; it is a joy.

We don’t think it is strange that we love caring for Ellie.  It is who we are.  As much as we love doing things for her, how much more does our Lord love caring for us?  It is not a bother to him; it is what He desires to do.  He loves us, and He is actively working to bring the best for us into our lives.  Just like Ellie might not have thought her shoes were the “best thing” the first time I put them on her, sometimes we don’t recognize the “best things” when the Lord brings them our way.  But as we trust Him in everything, He will reveal to us that He will make all things in our lives “for good.”

"Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."

1 Peter 5:7

Ellie walking in her shoes.