Dad Knows Best: Service Dog Meeko

One of the hardest things to do as a dog owner is leave your little guy or little girl behind. There is always a look in Meeko’s eyes of sadness when I leave the house without him. Meeko has toys that I’ve given him. He has things inside the house for his pleasure and benefit. He has such a great setup at our house. In spite of this, Meeko still gives me a look like, “Dad, I know what this is. You’re going to go play outside all day and you are choosing to make me stay here.” The look is a reaction to pure betrayal. Obviously this is not the case, but how do I tell him that? He, like us, seems to always want what he can’t have. The fact of the matter is that, as the one who is responsible for the well being of this little creature, I can’t take him everywhere I go. My life takes me to many places that are dangerous environments for a dog of any size. This is especially true for a dog the size of my foot.

I am a musician so life takes me to environments with loud music and big, heavy things that could crush Meeko if something went wrong. I know that Meeko would be extremely uncomfortable and maybe even scared in these places. I have to go to these places without him to afford the things that make his life so good. He isn’t capable of understanding this fact so I still get that look when I leave him behind.

Meeko is a registered service dog for my wife so he has the legal capability to go anywhere that we go with no restrictions. However, my wife and I still have to make decisions on his behalf in order to protect him. This relationship that I have with Meeko is so much like our relationship with our heavenly father. There are things in our own lives that we think might be fun. There are things that we want to do or places that we want to go so badly sometimes. We beg God, “Please, God, let me do this one thing and I will be so happy. My life will be so content if this happens.” We give a similar look to God in these times like He is holding something back from us just to hurt us.

Like I do with Meeko, God says “No.” or “Not this time.” sometimes to keep us safe. The difference in this analogy comes with the free will that we have been given. When I decide that Meeko shouldn’t go somewhere, he cannot go. His freedom to make poor, dangerous decisions is limited to the parameters in which he lives. These parameters are the walls of my house. The Bible speaks of all things being permissible but not all things being beneficial. As humans, we can do whatever we want. We have the ability to open the door and go outside on our own. This ability can open up a world of hurt when we have to deal with the consequences of our actions.

We have parameters in which to live that are for our benefit. When we live within the parameters that God has set for our lives, we stay safe. In the old testament, the book of Jeremiah tells us that there is a plan for us and that this plan keeps us safe and prospers us without harming us.

God has done many things that were hard on Him so that I could have the kind of life that He wants for me, things that would make me uncomfortable and certainly scare me.

In the same way that I work hard and go places without Meeko sometimes so that his life might be the best it can be, our future is secure in the relationship that we have with our heavenly father. He went on without us and did these things so that we wouldn’t have to and so that we could enjoy our safe and bright future with Him. Are we still going to get sick? Yes. Are we still going to die eventually? Yes. In spite of this fact, does our Dad still know what is best for us? You bet. One of the hardest lessons for us to learn is that we need to look around at what has been given to us in this moment, know that it is good, and watch the door with an expectation that our Dad will come back soon.