Coming home

(I'm going to try again to write what I thought I was writing last night. If you were surprised by last night's post, just imagine how surprised I was! I thought I was writing about the Wonder Girls, but no. I was volunteering for war duty, and meant every word of what I wrote. I just didn't mean to reveal it. There is no telling what will happen when I get started writing. It's always been that way!)

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Yesterday, I pulled in to my drive way and was delighted to see Maggie the Wonder Dog and Mamie the Apprentice Wonder Puppy outside playing. When they saw my car, they started running around in circles and barking like crazy. They were insanely excited and it was hilarious. When I opened the car door, they both jumped in, landed in my lap, and refused to get out. They wanted their mama and they were not letting her go! 

When we finally made it out of the car and into the house, they could not be contained. Mamie alternated between running in circles and hopping up and down. Maggie had one thing on her mind, and she would not be deterred. Lap time! Maggie insisted I follow her to the big green chair and sit. She promptly jumped into my lap and snuggled in, intermittently reaching over to give my hand a lick or two. The dogs have followed me everywhere since I got home, and it's surprising how welcome I've felt. 

Truthfully, the dogs are excited to see me whether I've been gone seven days or seven hours. Sometimes, I go to the barn without them and, when I get back to the house, you'd think I had been gone a month. They know how to make a woman feel welcome! 

It's not like that everywhere I go, but wouldn't it be nice if it were? Just imagine people being glad to see us every time we entered a room. Imagine keeping an eye out for the new arrival and celebrating their presence. It goes both ways and it makes arrivals much more fun. 

The thing we often forget is how glad God is when we enter His presence. The psalmist said an interesting thing about being in God's presence:

In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalms 16:11 NASB)

"Fullness of joy" means everyone present is fully joyful. I guess that means we are glad to be there and He is glad to have us. What a precious welcome our Lord would offer if we would slow down long enough to enter His presence and stay there long enough to share His joy! A Wonder Dog welcome is a fun greeting, but it does not even compare to the greeting of Almighty God. Get still and spend time today with the One who loves you most. Fullness of joy awaits! Don't miss it!