My car dashboard read 21 degrees when I pulled into the driveway, so I knew getting Lily to go for a walk was going to be a challenge. She’s a bull mastiff mix from Mississippi and she does not like cold weather. We bought her a coat, but even that hasn’t helped.

When I grabbed Lily’s coat off the hook to put it on her, she darted past me and ran upstairs to our bedroom. She was curled up on her bed, looking like she was trying to make herself as small as possible. Probably in hopes that I would not make her go out for her after-dinner walk. I bent down and she darted off again, this time to the family room. I found her under the sofa table. I called her to come out and she ignored me. I called her again. And a third time. Finally, on the fourth try she came out, head down almost to the floor, clearly ashamed for ignoring my commands.

Lily’s delayed obedience struck a raw nerve with me. In a recent sermon our pastor spoke about the fact that delayed obedience = disobedience. And I have been just as guilty of it as Lily.

I love Jesus, and He often has to get creative in His attempts to reach me and teach me because I can be both disobedient and obstinate. (Insert appropriate shocked responses here – or not.) And he often uses my dogs to point out things about me that He wants me to change.

Several months ago I felt a prompting to share some of the lessons God’s taught me about my own faith through our dogs. But, until now, I haven’t done it. Why? Mostly because I didn’t think anyone would be interested in reading about it. And, if I’m honest, I just didn’t feel like it. It’s work I just didn’t feel like doing.

But if I’ve learned anything over my years of following Jesus, it’s that He’s persistent. Really persistent. Some might even say pushy. Until eventually, it’s more work to resist than it is to just do whatever it is I’m being directed to.

So here I am.

I love Jesus and I love dogs. A lot. And this is my record of how Jesus has used a whole slew of shelter dogs (and a couple of spoiled rotten purebred puppies) to teach me about love, life and the path to redemption.

If you enjoy what you read, please share it with your friends. If you don’t, leave me a comment and tell me why.