Last week, I shared about my experience in seeing God’s grace while grocery shopping. I continue to find glimpses of God’s grace in my daily experiences. I hope this might awaken you to some of the ways God is speaking to you each day.

The gate was cracked open and I saw something that made my heart race and my shoulders shrug up toward my ears. I was scared!

The head of a large rottweiler emerged through the gate, followed by a young woman, trying to hold on to it by its collar. No leash! At the same time, she was trying to keep the gate open just enough for the dog to pass through while keeping the second rottweiler inside.

“Oh, no! They have two!!!!” I thought. 

I don’t know about you, but I’ve not had the best experiences with rottweilers, so I tend to think of them as aggressive, mean dogs. A few threatened to chase us a few times in my running days. After having a German shepherd attack me a couple times in our neighborhood at the start of the pandemic, I am definitely more aware of a fear of large, unfamiliar dogs.

I took a breath and remembered the first day I had seen him and then seen a friend of mine. She isn’t a big fan of dogs. She had seen the dog earlier and had been scared, too, until a little dog ran toward the huge rottweiler, barking. The big dog cowered. Remembering this helped calm my fears.

I walked by without incidence, and on my next lap around the neighborhood, I considered taking a different route but realized I couldn’t let my fear keep me from going that way. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have anyplace else to walk in the neighborhood.

I passed the house without incident and without seeing the dogs or the young lady. As I turned the corner and started down the street, I was suddenly aware of some nipping at my heels and what I thought was growling. I jumped and quickly turned around. Another dog! Really!

I reflexively started yelling at it to keep it away, until I looked more closely. It was a puppy and I had scared it. The puppy just wanted to play and now I had scared it, too.

I squatted down and gently called the puppy back. It hesitantly came and let me pet her.

We played a bit before I resumed my walk.

Getting home,  I wondered whether this was one of the puppies that had been outside our gates in the fall of 2020, when we were still under strict restrictions in Guatemala. Oh, how I had enjoyed them. It brought such delight to walk outside and see them run down the street. Sometimes, they even walked with me for a bit.  Had one of them returned? I realized it couldn’t be, as this dog was still a puppy itself, not even a year old.

However, I sensed God speak to me as I pondered this. He reminded me it is He who give and takes away, that there are times and season for things, and sometimes things that change or leave in a season will return in others. He is at work and I can trust Him.

I’d love to hear from you. Where have you seen God’s grace this week?