Tonight’s post will be short and sweet as I’m so tired that I’m concerned my words won’t make a lick of sense (pun intended). :o) But I do have something to say, and I hope you find it noteworthy.

I have two granddogs. One giant, bouncy, Sheepdog named Hugo who lives with my daughter and her husband and kids, and one eerily smart Native American Indian dog named Anja who, I swear, shares a brain with my son. Those two are quite the pair, I tell ya. She goes pretty much wherever he does as she can have some pretty strong separation anxiety so she joined us on our recent trip south. She hasn’t been a car ride that long in a couple years and she’s only four so this felt pretty new to her. She didn’t eat anything for our two driving days and barely drank water. She was pretty concerned about the situation. The hotel was upsetting to her (so many strange smells and noises) and she stayed by the door all night to keep us safe so I’m pretty sure she didn’t sleep a wink.

There’s not much you can do to help even the smartest dog you’ve ever known to understand that you’re driving to get to the good part. There’s just not a way to tell them that, though things are weird and you’ll have to go to the bathroom in disgusting truck stop grass and we won’t stop moving for a looooong time, it’s because we have a beach house destination coming that you will love where there is no snow and the air is warm! She just can’t comprehend what’s happening. To her, we were just keeping her from comfort and familiarity and she didn’t feel safe. She did, however, lap up the ice cream with much acceptance and enjoyed smelling new air with her cute nose out the window or on Papa’s shoulder while he drove.

My sweet man commented at some point that it’s kinda how we feel in our trust-relationship with God and we all expounded a bit. When we give Him our everything, there are so many points of waiting where we just feel like the dog in the backseat. We don’t know, and couldn’t handle knowing what’s coming because we’re just not able to understand the big picture. We just get to trust and deal with some struggles and stress and once in a while get some ice cream and eventually see that the outcome is for our very best.

Along the way, there is some real stuff that I’m not making light of. I promise. Life is not always a beach vacation and sometimes you just can’t see the point at all. But, I do think that we have to, at some point, understand that it can’t be all good all the time, and our best option may be to stick our heads out the figurative window and just let the fresh, new air fluff our hair and trust that our Daddy has only good in store for us in the end. I can attest that He has proven every single time that He’s got me all along the way. I’d sure rather do this whole trip knowing I have Him holding me close, and that He loves me through it all than trying to figure it out on my own!

Is my little word-picture ringing true for you? Are you ready to stick your head out the window and smile with me?