Guide Dog School: Day 4
This week has flown by. The first three days were full of excitement: the trip here, traveling with my potential dog, and the climax of learning my dog’s name and finally meeting my new friend. It was like Christmas on steroids.
My dog is a black lab, and that is all I can divulge until the weekend. I expected her to be dealing with feelings of rejection. Her trainer now ignores her and Lori has left her with this stranger (me). I prepared myself emotionally for her to pine after Lori, but she didn’t. Thankfully we have bonded quickly, and that bond will continue to grow.
I have been studying rejection with the “Uninvited” online Bible study with Proverbs 31, so I thought a lot about what my dog may feel. If she felt unwanted, it was not genuine. Her interpretation of the change in “Mommas” has nothing to do with her.
As humans, we often view the actions of others as making us feel unincluded. Just like my dog, that is not always the honest intent of the person who we believe overlooked us. The enemy wants to divide and cause hurt feelings. Most cases of rejection are truly a misunderstanding on our part. Be slow to rush to a rash conclusion.
We have a great group of people in this class. The returnees say it is not always the case. We all get along, and we spend most of our time together even though there is ample room to be alone. I feel more accepted here than with some folks I have known for years. It is because you all are sight impaired someone may chime in. No, it goes beyond that, although that is a major portion of the kindred spirit. I had considered the possibility of feeling out of place and void of Christian fellowship. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even the cook and nursing staff go above and beyond in friendliness and helpfulness.
Back to my black beauty. Everyone says it is a beautiful dog, and well-behaved.
Yesterday was a short walk and a relationship building day. Today, we walked a morning and afternoon route in White Plains New York. There is not as much traffic as I expected, but definitely more than what I am use to. I gave the forward command at the wrong time, and my dog did not cross, responding with disobedient obedience.
Tomorrow will be more of the same. Black Beauty (not the real name) is sleeping now, getting ready for another long day of work.
A Mountain of Faith 