A girl, her dog and God.

Growing up, my family wasn’t big on pets.

We did have a goldfish, appropriately named ‘Goldie’, who might not have been your typical “pet”, but was the closest thing we were ever going to get to the word. Goldie was one to keep to herself, spending her days swimming in her poop, drinking her water and living her best life. In the eyes of my parents, she was the perfect pet.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have her for long (she OD on fish flakes) and we were back to our human only household.

RIP, Goldie.

So, when I started dating my boyfriend, turned husband (hey, boo!) I was introduced to what would become my first, four-legged pet.

A Black Labrador Retriever named Susie.

As you can imagine, taking care of a 50-pound dog would prove to be a little different than a 2-pound fish, but it was a challenge and a task that I was prepared to tackle.

What I wasn’t prepared for was how this drooling machine would take care of me. Without her ever saying a word, Susie has shown me what unconditional love looks like. What forgiving, and in her case, immediately forgetting looks like.

What it is to be loved by God looks like.

In this upcoming series, you will see the joy, lessons and laughs that being a dog-mom has brought me. How instruction and correction is, as the Good Book says, the way in which the Lord loves and delights in His children.

How, in the most unlikely of ways, my dog brought me closer to Christ.