What Casper the dog taught me about loving people

en·cour·age

transitive verb \in-ˈkər-ij, -ˈkə-rij, en-\

: to make (someone) more determined, hopeful, or confident
: to make (something) more appealing or more likely to happen

: to make (someone) more likely to do something : to tell or advise (someone) to do something

Synonyms

bear up, buck up, buoy (up), cheer (up), chirk (up), embolden, hearten, inspire, inspirit, steel

This is Casper the dog.

He's gone to doggy heaven now, but when he was alive, he lived with our dear friends Dave & April & their three girls. He was their gentle giant, consumer of all the Halloween candy, their valiant protector. 

Casper & I had a pretty surface relationship in the beginning. I patted his head from time to time in passing & greeted him with a customary "hello" when we arrived at his domain. He was after all, just an extension of our friends. 

Until...

Dave called from his in-laws. They were getting a late start home & could one of us pick Cas up at the kennel before it closed so they wouldn't have pay an extra night? It wasn't a big deal, my husband had done this before... except for this time, he had youth group & that left me to do the deed. So, I headed out in my husbands big beast of a truck (I didn't want the dog hair in my car) to pick him up. 

From the moment I pulled into the kennel drive, Casper began to bark. He knew our truck & knew one of us had come to rescue him. Now, I should have probably told you that Cas was an 80 pound Weimaraner & he was so excited to see me I could barely clip his leash on his collar. As he literally drug me to the truck, I'm pretty sure I saw the kennel owners in the the window... laughing. 

I opened the door & he scrambled up into the cab. Barking. 

As I slipped in beside him, I yelled (in my most authoriative voice), "Casper! STOP!" He looked at me & barked again. 

I put the truck in gear & pulled out of the driveway with Casper barking in my ear. So close I could feel his breath on my cheek. We continued on this way most of the ride home... him barking in my ear & me yelling for him to STOP! until he finally shut up & instead began licking my face & hair. No matter what I did, I couldn't get him to leave me alone. 

When we finally arrived home, I opened the door & he bounded out, barking & 'christening' every bush in sight.

Upon entering, I put some food in his bowl, gave him some water & a biscuit, patted his head & made for the door. 

As I passed the mirror in the entry, I caught site of myself. That knucklehead had licked my hair strait up into the air & his slobber had hardened into the strongest hair gel I have ever seen before or since.  I burst out laughing. 

Casper resumed his barking. 

I bent down & really rubbed his head & ears & neck. Then I hugged him. 

He was quiet. 

He looked up at me with his big amber eyes. In that moment, I knew our relationship had changed. He licked me one last time & turned away. 

I left him curled up on the chair in the living room. Resting. 

As I drove home that night, my crusted hair still defying gravity, I realized something. Cas is really no different than many people I come into contact with. When life is good, they pull you along, party hard, laugh loud, act crazy & pee on the bushes. When they are in pain, they push you away & then invade your space, bark in your ear & then lick your face. When we set aside all this ridiculousness & really love on them, they aren't really sure what to do. They are quiet. They reflect. They find peace. 

Our words, our tone, our body language & our actions hold a lot of  power.We can really amp people up or speak gently into their souls. When we choose to bend down & comfort a weary, hurting person we are are truly doing Kingdom work.

"Life takes the heart out of us... Love puts the heart back in." 

-Chuck Pelkey 

Cas... being patient with us...