Happy dances, little grunts, front paws raised, you can just hear them praising God! "Hallelujah! They're home! Hallelujah, we're no longer alone! Hallelujah, it's almost time for dinner!" You can hear them gratefully growl out, "Grrrryyeeeeeessss, grrrryyeeeeessss!" Yes, at home, the puppy love flows in abundance. It's Valentine's Day, every day..at home. Mark Twain once said, "Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in."

Yes, I believe our dogs will go to heaven, unless they have to go for a walk first..I think that every time the leashes come out, the puppies transform into poopies. They lose their obedience gene and are taken over by the obstinate gene. All of a sudden their submissiveness transforms to subversiveness and what once were the eyes of love have turned into the eyes of impatience. What once were paws of embrace have turned into paws of pull. What once were flexible elbows have turned into stiff, locked elbows extended out toward the direction of the walk. A truck pull has nothing on our dogs! And if by some chance they are allowed off the leash, might as well put on your running shoes, because they suddenly have after burners as their motors.

To be fair, it's the blonde one that is the most disobedient and the same goes for the blonde puppy too. (If you knew my honey, you'd know exactly what I'm writing about!) Our puppy "of color" returns when called, wants only to please and cares more about love than food. Not Blondie. Blondie turns deaf when called. Blondie prefers food over love. Blondie's independence is of the utmost importance. Despite the big differences in both puppies, we love them equally. Not hard to believe is it? Our love flows to both equally, regardless of their polar opposite obedience issues. Do we get more frustrated by Blondie? Yes. Do we shake our heads in disappointment sometimes? Yes. But love her less? No way! We wouldn't trade either of them for the world.

Sound familiar? It should. See, God accepts all of us, even if some of us are more obedient than others. God loves all of us equally. Different levels of frustration? Probably. Different levels of disappointment? Surely. Different levels of love? No way. God's love flows to all of us equally and God wouldn't trade us in for the world. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28 NIV

Hallelujah, we're home! Hallelujah, we're never alone! Hallelujah it's time to live abundantly! With God, every day is Valentine's Day.