Lola

Her name is Lola, and she’s a six-year-old pug. A solid mass of a dog. A thick brick of a fawn-colored canine. A rectangular chunk of fur with wrinkles. Lots and lots of wrinkles on her smashed, but charming face.

Marie Antoinette had one and so did Josephine Bonaparte. Queen Victoria had lots of pugs. My sister Janie has Lola.

Lola eats and eats and eats, but she’s mostly hungry for love. Lola loves to be loved. It’s her favorite thing. She’s a lap dog who laps up all the love she can get.

Except for shedding, she’s low-maintenance. She’ll even play dress-up when my sister wants to dress her up and rarely complains as long as she can sit in your lap. And she has lots of holiday spirit. 

But she disappeared one day and couldn’t be found anywhere. The other dogs are roamers; not Lola. It was odd that she wasn’t around.

My sister and brother-in-law searched the house, the yard, the fields, the barns; but no Lola.  Janie has already buried two dogs in the three years she’s lived at this house. Please not Lola, too.

And then my brother-in-law happened to walk on the other side of the bed in their room, and there she was.

Stuck head-first inside a pillow case.

Quiet. Calm. At peace.

Not yapping or whimpering. Not bothered by all the commotion caused by her absence.

Lola was simply waiting to be found.

My sister thinks she crawled inside the pillow case, looking for a place to cuddle, and then fell off the bed while still stuck inside. And when she couldn’t get out, she simply waited.  

Not a stick-in-the-mud, but a stuck-in-the pillow-case kind of dog.

I guess she knew they’d find her.

OK, Lola. You’ve figured it out. There’s no need to worry when you trust the one who cares for you the most.

Just a thought.

 “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 MSG