My new friend Sue and I decided that since it was going to be a scorcher of a day, we’d take our dogs to the beach in the morning and leave the baking sands and hot sun of the afternoon to the rest of the crowd.
This was a big decision for me. My dog, Scoopy, had been rescued by daughter Marnella. She’d seen the little dog running down the yellow line of a Los Angeles highway – the wrong way – and after some traumatic moments scooped her up to safety. Eventually, Scoopy came to live with us.
Scoopy is an almost perfect dog – except that she hates riding in the car. Invariably, either to or from, or both ways, she throws up. We’ve tried everything, but to no avail, and I’ve resigned myself to being a dog-less driver.
So, to decide to take Scoopy and Sue’s two little woofers – Toby and Bisou – to the beach, was, as I said, a big decision. But I hoped that when Scoopy saw how her doggie pals liked riding in the car and were excited at the prospect of going somewhere, she might decide that it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
We put the three of them in the back of my Smart car, which turned out to be exactly three-doggie sized. I made sure to throw down a towel, have paper towels handy and a wet cloth within reach.
We made it to the beach – about a fifteen minute ride – with no accidents. Wow! She wasn’t even in distress when we arrived.
On the beach, Scoopy faced her second phobia – water – or to be more precise, salt water. She’d had a bad experience the first time she stepped into the “big pond”, not knowing what it was and trying to outrun it by going out further and further.
But, with Toby joyfully enjoying his first taste of the ocean, Scoopy walked quite happily through the wet sand. The section of the beach where we went was an “off-leash” area. With some trepidation, I took Scoopy off her leash. Again, she didn’t run away from the water, but walked along with us, sticking close to Bisou.
Afterwards, we drove to the library. Then lunch outside on a bistro patio. And finally, home. For the first time in the four years we’ve had her, Scoopy didn’t throw up in the car. She didn’t run way from the water. She didn’t try to hide from strangers in the library and bistro.
The only difference was Toby and Bisou were along with her on the adventure. They gave her the confidence and courage to step out bravely and enjoy every moment of the day.
I think humans are the same. So often, we find that we can face all kinds of challenges if we have a friend by our side, encouraging us and cheering us on. The courage we can’t find when we are alone is suddenly ours when we face our fears with a friend.
For Christians, when no one else steps up to our side, we have Jesus who promised, “I am with you always.” No car ride is too long. No water is too deep. No strangers are too dangerous. We can do “all things”.
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