My family and I were busy preparing for our annual vacation. We would be gone for nearly a month this year, and though we weren’t leaving for another 2½ weeks, we were already packing the trailer, stocking the food, preparing the maps, and a host of other things that could be done in advance.

About the same time we began our preparations, our Golden Retriever, Salida, started acting funny. She wouldn’t eat as well as usual and she didn’t want to play. Instead, she just wanted to slink against my legs and ask to be petted. Whenever she looked at me there was a distinct expression of worry on her brow.

I didn’t need to be a trained doggy psychologist to realize what was going on. This was Salida’s third summer with us, and this was the third time she had watched us prepare for our summer trip. She knew what was going on, and she also knew that she would be left behind. It didn’t matter how well she would be cared for while we were away. She would simply be unhappy because we weren’t there.

I was thinking about all of this as we went for our run the other day. Especially as she was tugging on her leash. She couldn’t wait for me to free her so that she could chase the abundant squirrels! How is it that a dog who grieves so much when she is away from her family’s presence can be so anxious to get away from her family on a walk? It just didn’t make sense!

Then God reached out His divine hand and tapped me on the shoulder: “Psst!”

I averted me attention away from the dog, to Him. I knew something profound was about to be revealed.

“Aren’t you exactly the same???”

“Me?” cried out my mind. “Why . . . Why NO!!! I’m NOTHING like that!” But as my mind screamed out the words, I began to wonder . . .

Like my dog, the very thought of being far from the presence of God is a scary, disheartening one. Yet when I am walking with God, I am awfully quick to ignore his still-small voice; to take off and do my own thing; to push Him out of the driver’s seat and take over the leadership of my own life . . .

Hum. Maybe God is right (isn’t He ALWAYS?)! Maybe I AM just like Salida . . . It’s a sobering thought!

Lord, help me to be content with You holding onto the leash of my life. Help me to stop trying to take off chasing the “squirrels”. Help me to let YOU be in control!

Lyn Chaffart