One of the things I love about my first book, The Yellow Brick Road: A Woman's Journey to the Edge and Back, is its cover. It's a photograph
of me, wearing RED shoes, on a beat up brick road, that's slightly yellowed. I wanted a real picture because my story is a real story. In writing it, I strived to be brutally honest, so that people would be able to identify with me and the difficulties I faced.
We live in the day of "reality shows." You're getting the scoop as it happens. It's not scripted in advance. There's no one famous playing the part of someone else. Regular people are just being themselves. That's how I view my writing. I'm a regular person, just like you, only I'm living my life right out in front of you. What you read, is how it actually happens. When The Red Shoe Project is completed, it will be a "real-life" journal depicting "My Year in Red Shoes." All this said, I began to wonder,
"What will the cover of my new book look like?"
The Lord suggested that it be a picture of me, in my RED shoes, with Pauly. Really? What's with that? Why Pauly? Are you ready for this? The Lord said,
"Because you're my Pauly!"
"Everyday, there you are in your RED shoes waiting for me, looking for me, eager to hang out with me."
Yeah... Pauly's just like that with me. Wherever I go, he follows me around, from one room to the other. When I go out, he sits at the window and waits for me to return.
"You just love me whole-heartedly and I love that about you!"
Yeah... One of the things I love about Pauly is that he just loves me unconditionally. He gets so excited when he sees me. He just runs at me, wagging his tail.
"You pour out your praise and worship to me generously."
Yeah... Pauly loves to jump on me and lavish me with dog kisses, (also known as licks). But Pauly's kisses are wet, slobbery and slimy. I suppose I can be a bit wet, slobbery and slimy in my worship at times. But God knows my heart and receives my affection, regardless.
"You're eager to rest by me, even when the lights go out and it's time to sleep."
Yeah... Pauly jumps up on the king size bed every night. Even when he sleeps, he wants to be near me.
"You trust me to take care of your every need."
Yeah... Pauly knows that I will take him out everyday for his walks. He trusts that I'll fill his bowls with fresh water and nourishing food. When he's sick, I make sure he's tended to. He worries about nothing.
This whole conversation got me to thinking... I do love my dog, but he's my dog. I don't expect all my friends to love everything about Pauly, because he's not their dog. I mean, after all, he can be stinky and drooly and overly playful. Sometimes he barks and barks. Sometimes he even jumps up on me. It's not uncommon for me to walk out of the house and realize I'm covered in fur, drool, or both. What do I do about that? I go back in the house and wipe myself down with a damp cloth, or I keep a sticky roller in my car so that I can clean the fur off my clothes when needed. When he barks, I take a moment to give him my attention. He's just a dog... but he loves me so much, I overlook some things. I don't want to quench his joyful spirit.
It's not that difficult a stretch to realize that sometimes I can be stinky, drooly and overly playful around God. Ya know? Sometimes I bark and bark. But He overlooks some of these things because He doesn't want to quench my joyful spirit. He sees my love and my human attempt at presenting that to Him and responds by pouring his love out on me!
Okay... so I realize that some of you may not be pet owners or dog lovers. This analogy may be totally off the wall for you. And I do realize that I can't parallel everything about my dog with how God deals with me. However, somehow, in this stupid, silly example, God saw to it, that I received a better understanding of His love for me.
Pauly is a dog and I am his master.
I am human and God is my Master.
It's so funny how God can use the craziest things to speak words of truth to me. I'm thankful that He presents things in a variety of ways... some of which are fun and easy for me to grasp ahold of.
In Red Shoes,
Gail
