Roberta Meyer's Dog is a Reminder of God's Love

The quest for the perfect dog demonstrates that God takes care of us in every aspect of our lives.

By Roberta Meyers

I have a dog. She's my special companion. She lives with me in the little apartment over the kitchen here at Yountville Community Church. I want to tell you the story of how I came to have her. My husband Jerry was approaching his 70th birthday.

Three months before, we had lost our beautiful wolf-dog, Harley. He was mostly Jerry's dog, and Jerry missed him terribly. So I came up with an idea for a birthday gift...a dog. But not just any dog, I reasoned. I only had $100 total to spend and even that was hard to hide from my husband. Also, the dog had to meet many special requirements in order to be "The Right Dog." I thought this animal should be as different from Harley as possible.

First, it should be a female dog.
Harley was long-haired, so this new one needed to be short-haired.
I didn't want a young puppy -- too hard to go through all the training phases. Ideally, she would be between 6 months and one year old.
House-trained.
Jerry was never particularly fond of small dogs, so she'd need to be medium-to-large in size. I know…A Labrador Retriever. We had a black lab many years ago, and he was a good dog.
This one had to be golden or chocolate.
I knew it was expecting a lot, but it would be great if she had had her shots and good veterinary care.
She had to have a sweet disposition.

So I began my quest and made some calls. Soon, Dave, a dear friend, called me and took me to the animal shelter to look at a golden lab puppy. Much too young. I went home disappointed, but still believing the Lord would pull it off. Soon, Dave called again. It was almost too much to hope for, but here's what happened: Dave's son knew someone who knew someone in Vallejo with an 8-month-old female chocolate lab the family couldn't keep because no one was ever home and the dog was lonely. They still owed money on her. Annette (the wife) said they'd need to pray about it (she was even a CHRISTIAN dog!), and then get back to Dave. When she called back, she said they believed the Lord wanted them to sell their dog to me for $100 - what they still owed!

The next day we all met. There, at my feet, in gentle submission, was a beautiful, shiny, chocolate lab female. Eight months old. She seemed, even then, to understand that she would be mine. She'd had all her shots and even arrived with 3-months' supply of heartworm meds, along with her veterinary record since she was born and the Kennel Club papers of her parents and herself. ALL FOR $100!

We stood, holding hands, and prayed together before they left lovely Sage with me.

What a wonderful testimony to God's tenderest attention to things we so often assume He won't care about. It is just as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "After all, God who is your Father, knows your needs before you ask him." (Matt 6:8 Phillips)

Actually, as it turned out, Jerry didn't need her as much as I did. And not so much then, as 4 1/2 years later, when my darling Jerry died.

So you see, my Sage is a very special dog. God gave her to us then, so I would have her with me now. She's not just an ordinary dog, but a daily reminder of God's love for me. He does know our needs!

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