Never Really Alone

Well, since the last time I wrote, I adopted a puppy, Mac, and that has really upended all of my routines, but my writing routine in particular. I have to reimagine how I plan my day with the consideration of another living being, and that has been hard because I’ve been a solo act for so long. He’s also been keeping me up at night as he adjusts to his new home, so I am dog-tired (pun absolutely and shamelessly intended).

However, even with this exhaustion, I heard a small voice that said, “Keep Writing.” And so I will. Perhaps the sleep deprivation has temporarily stolen some of my eloquence and focus, but I won’t let that stop me from using my voice.

Mac, a pretty adorable 1-year-old Frenchie, has definitely had a lot of adjusting to do the past few days, but he’s had the most trouble with sleeping overnight in his crate, which I understand completely. He’s in a new place, and he’s not used to sleeping alone.

The first night was the worst.

Each hour, and at times more frequently than that, Mac made himself known through some very sad whining and howling. After a few hours and failed attempts, I did what the best of us do, and I took to the internet and searched, “how do I get my adopted dog to stop crying at night in the crate.” I found a blog written by someone who trains service dogs, and she helped remind the behavior likely stems from loneliness and fear. She also recommended I sleep on the floor next to the crate if all else fails, which I did in desperation, and it worked.

We’ve now made it through the 4th night, and I’m happy to report that I’m back to sleeping in my bed, and he’s (mostly) sleeping through the night - his crate is next to my bed now, so I can reach my fingers in if he gets really sad, but thankfully, that happens less and less as the days pass. Mac just needs to know that I’m near - he knows that I’m physically there because he can hear or see me, or maybe he knows I’m there in theory, but he needs to actually feel my presence to be comforted. And when I consider this next thing, it makes me giggle, but I think we can be like this with God.

Now, I’m not saying God puts us in a crate per say (sometimes we put ourselves into our own crates - that’s a topic for a different blog), but I am saying God certainly does put us where he wants us to be, even if we don’t want to be there. And even though we know God is always with us, we still find ourselves crying or whining or feeling lonely. Maybe we miss the people we spent our time with, or we wish things could go back to the way they were, or we can’t quite feel God’s presence the way we used to. It’s times like that when we need a reminder - we need scripture that speaks to our spirit to remind us that God never left us, and we need friends who point us to truth and pull us in for an extra-long hug.

Scripture says that God will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6) and his Holy Spirit is always with us (John 14:16-17). I pray those truths will nestle into our hearts and minds today, so when we feel a bit like Mac, we can speak them aloud or open our Bibles with our friends to take comfort in the reminder that we are never alone.