Running free

Owning a dog is so much more rewarding than I expected it to be, especially the walks. We have been a bit careful because Frodo, whilst very gentle and good, has not learned yet to obey many commands... He does now "sit" when we tell him to, and he "stops" and "waits," but we were not sure if he would "come," and we were afraid of losing him... We have been letting him run free in the large garden at Redcliffe because we can close both the gates there. But nowhere else. But I was so looking forward to letting him off the leash on a walk, so that he could run ahead and explore a bit and follow those oh so exciting smells that drive him crazy. But until he knew us well enough and until we trusted him to want to come back, we didn't feel safe letting him off.

But a few days ago I took him to a big field on the edge of a wood, and took courage and set him free. He LOVED it! He ran ahead, ran back, ran around me in circles, followed his nose, rolled in the grass (that is, in something in the grass...) But he kept waiting for me when he got ahead, and if he lost sight of me, he would come tearing back around the corner to find me.

It made me think in a way of God's desire for that relationship with us as his people. Not that we are like his pets as such...  but, what fun it is to have a dog running free and happy alongside me when I am walking, keeping within sight of me and even waiting for me. So much nicer than having him on the leash, knowing he wants to go faster or further but restraining him in case he runs and never comes back. I am sure this is why God gave us free will, so that he could enjoy the Walk with us this much more. To enjoy that mutual love and companionship.

Of course, letting Frodo off means he probably will run away from time to time... Sometimes his love for us gets momentarily forgotten, subsumed by a sudden curiosity, a new, too-tempting smell, a rabbit, a duck... Today in the park, Frodo was suddenly a ball of black fur bombing away from us towards a group of training football players - but he veered off to where their piles of kit lay and I caught up with him as he was rambling around from pile to pile sniffing the men's shoes and jumpers! What I do know is that I will always catch up with him, because I will always chase him as far and as fast as it takes until I find him and get him back. If necessary I'd call the police, even the helicopters! So I also know God gives us freedom and lets us run, but if we are his, he will never lose us to ourselves, or let us completely run away forever, he will never give up on the relationship he has with us. Unlike us getting a dog though, he does not pick us out and dump us into his kingdom and family - that is our choice.

This is a Tibetan terrier but it is not a picture of Frodo (it has more white on the front than Frodo) - but it gives you an idea of how beautiful Frodo looks when he is running towards me. He looks exuberant, and I feel exuberant, to see his fluffy chest hurtling towards me, his front legs bounding forward, his ears flying back in the wind. Even more than this dog Frodo looks as though he is smiling when he bounds towards me. So beautiful. Don't you think God feels this way when we run back to him?