After a busy holiday, I was looking forward to a good night’s sleep. My dogs, Kelly and Ike, had other plans.
As my husband and I retired to the bedroom, our dogs followed. They have their own beds on the floor beside our bed.
Nice ones, too. A large fleece orthopedic bed for Ike, and a medium-sized foam-bolstered one for Kelly. Thick, comfy cushions. What more could a dog want?
We had just laid our heads on our pillows, when thud! Ike jumped up on one side of the bed. Thump! Kelly jumped up on the other.
They started out cozy–curled quietly by our feet. But somewhere in the night, cute balls of fur unfurled into hairy behemoths.
Gangly legs stretched into battering rams. Heat-seeking paws zeroed in on our most sensitive regions. Doggy breath emanated inches from our faces.
I spent the night teetering on the edge of the bed with a corner of the covers under my chin. My husband tried to sleep way on the opposite side, face pushed up against the nightstand.
The dogs sprawled comfortably in the middle.
We could have pushed them off, shut them out of the room or any number of options but…well, I can only hope that some pet lovers will understand.
Sometimes, all we need is a little rest, but everything seems to conspire against it.
Work assignments pile up. Deadlines loom. The house needs cleaning. The cupboards are bare. The washing machine breaks. We’re up late, and when we finally get to bed, our sleep is restless.
That’s the time we most need to enter into God’s rest. And the only way to do this is to place full trust of every detail of our busy lives in God and His promises.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)
When God finished his work, he rested. So at the end of a busy day, we should rest too.
Let’s just hope the pets cooperate.
