Gracie, Can You Save Me a Seat?

Gracie is going through the toddler phase of being a canine.  She’s mouthy.  Persistent in her ball fetching.  Demanding in her attention-getting.  And just when you want to groan or discipline she turns the “cute-meter” way up to a level 10 and you simply can’t get mad. 

Thankfully I’m not one of her dog parents and I don’t have to try to navigate obedience training with a stern face because I can’t do it.  But my friends are trying.  And I laugh at the futility of it all.  She is in charge and she knows it.

So when Gracie’s dog dad, Jason, and I went to run a few errands she naturally went along.  And while she does go into some stores there are others that I run in solo so that Gracie the toddler-dog and her dad can wait in the car and work on their discipline. 

On one of these errands I was walking out of a convenience store with our lunch when a man approached me.   In my mind I thought, “Oh boy, here we go, I wonder what sad story he has? “, but I stopped to listen to his story. 

He and his wife were traveling back to Washington D.C. and were nearly out of gas.  He was wondering if I had any money to help.  The story sounded simple enough and from what I could gather he wasn’t having too much luck with anyone else in the parking lot. 

Now I was raised in center-city Newville, Pennsylvania, which had a population of maybe 2,000 people.  We had, and the town still has, one red-light.  I don’t have “street smarts” but I am a thinker.  So in a matter of seconds I scanned the parking lot, saw what looked to be his wife sitting in the driver’s seat of the car, and listened to him long enough to think that maybe he was telling the truth.  I was a bit distracted because my hands were full and I could hear a dog barking in the background.  I thought it was Gracie telling me to hurry up!

I wasn’t sure that walking over to the pump and whipping out a credit card was a good idea but I knew I had some money in my pocket, so that’s what I got out and handed over to my new friend.  I didn’t have a feeling that my offer was inferior or wrong, it simply was all I had to offer that seemed somewhat safe.  He was gracious and ran inside immediately and put the $10 on the pump he was parked at.  It wasn’t going to get him the whole way there but it was a start.  It all seemed legit in my mind as I walked over and pulled the handle on the passenger door to head off towards the next errand.

As soon as I started to sit down a dog started barking but it wasn’t Gracie.  It was a small, frilly-looking, white poodle thing!  I also saw a driver sitting there but it definitely wasn’t Jason.  Between the dog having a fit and a stranger staring at me I jolted out of my giving-gamble and into an “oops, I opened the wrong car door” dilemma! 

My friend certainly doesn’t look like a 50-something, blond-haired woman that smokes cigarettes but that is a description of the owner of the car I was about to enter…before I came to my senses.  I was too busy contemplating my recent action and worried if it was real, fake, good, good-enough, or even worth it.  I apologized profusely and slinked away, closing the car door like nothing ever happened.  I backed away and walked over the correct car, the one I wanted to go home in.  That could have been really, really bad!

I sheepishly got in the correct car and asked Jason if he saw my little adventure.  Thankfully he did not because he would still be laughing at my expense!   But he did say that the same man came over to him and asked for money.  And Gracie went berserk barking so the man apologized and walked away.  But he felt bad because he did want to help, it just wasn’t working out with Gracie and her ferocious barking.  As it turned out we still helped, it just took some teamwork and leaning on another to fulfill the need.

The whole ordeal of helping and then getting in the wrong car taught me something about our perspective and purpose on earth.  We are called to do good deeds!  But we are also given a chance to give our life to Jesus and follow Him with the work He has planned for us.  He has plans for you and me…you know that, right?!  It is possible to do good but never know Jesus…and if we are looking to heaven we need to know Him!  Works alone won’t get us there and what better way to know our Creator than to allow ourselves to do the things He designed us to fulfill.  It’s not always visible to others.  It doesn’t always get “likes”.  It’s just walking towards heaven with a Father that directs our steps.  If we are simply doing good on our own terms, in our own eyes, and through the worlds accolades then we are riding in the wrong car.

Alignment with organizations, programs, causes, and purposes aren’t bad things, but they shouldn’t replace a relationship with God.  They may be part of our walk with Him but not THE thing!  Knowing, submitting, and walking daily with Him in surrender and selflessness is the way, and quite honestly, it can be a bit challenging!   That way presents opportunities to make a difference that is personal and yet reflects the heart of Jesus to a world that desperately needs to see it.  You are fulfilling the need on earth from a heavenly perspective.   Just make sure you get in the correct car.