I am going to step away from my usual praise pattern
today for a very special reason. Grace.
Three years ago God brought the gift of Grace into my
life, at a time when I needed her most. I didn’t know it then, but I was about
to face a couple of terribly hard years. Having her gentle, loving spirit by my
side truly helped me pull through what might have been a period of extreme loneliness.
She was the proverbial “rescue dog” who rescued me right back.
Through the last year of my mother’s life, Grace acted as
a service dog and loving support to me, my family, my mother’s caregivers and
the hospice staff. All while watching over my mother, literally, at times. Then,
through the year of wrapping up the estate and figuring out how to move on, she
never left my side. She never let me stay sad for too long and she never
complained through all of my moods and tears and emotional collapses.
I went back to work a year ago and I am blessed to work for
a wonderful company and with incredible people, who opened their hearts to both
of us. Grace comes to work with me every day and she works every bit as hard as
I do at her job… being the cheerful smile and wagging tail that greets each
arrival to the office. She comforts the anxious, she delights the unsuspecting
and she entertains the children of our customers and friends. Even those who are
afraid of dogs, find a friendly companionship with Grace before they leave the
office. She’s a wonderful ambassador for her species and her breed.
Within a month of starting the new job, we found out that
Grace has cancer. For the last year we have been fighting a long, and sometimes
costly, battle against the disease. In all that time Grace never broke her
stride or stopped offering loving support to all who come into the office. At
the end of the summer and into early fall, Grace’s health took a turn for the
worse and I found myself praying each night for healing and for her to simply
be happy. After two long months of very scary checkups, today we got the
wonderful news that Grace is back on track, still in remission and her liver
function is back to normal.
Driving back to work from the Vet’s office today, as I
started one more prayer of thanks for healing, wise Vets and a happy Grace, I
noticed in the distance that a faint rainbow was beginning to form. As I prayed
and praised God for His kindness the rainbow got brighter and brighter. At one
point, we finally drove into the light rain that had combined with the sunlight
behind me to make the rainbow and I realized that I had needed both the
sunshine and the rain to be able to see the rainbow. Isn’t life just like
that?!
Tonight I lift a praise of gratitude and rejoicing for
healing, for warm snuggles, for the wiggly back end and the loving heart that
that belongs to my Amazing Grace.
