Thanksgiving and a Dog Named Libby

“The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart.  He helps me and my heart is filled with joy.  I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.” 
Psalm 28:7

Are you bursting out in thanksgiving today?  Is your heart filled with joy?  When I read this verse, I cannot help but think of Libby, a dog I used to pet sit for. I don’t know what it was about her, but for a dog, she could really be inspiring at times and on one particular morning, she inspired my worship.  

I was pet-sitting Libby so I brought her to work with me for the morning.  Her reaction to the car ride was definitely a burst of thanksgiving and heartfelt joy.  She bounded out of the house as fast as her legs could carry her and leaped into the van.  I had the window down enough for her to stick her head out and that’s when pure joy came over her.  With her tongue hanging out and her ears flapping in the wind, I am convinced that if she could talk she would have shouted, “This is the BEST DAY EVER!”  I was very tempted to stick MY head out the window to see if the same amount of joy would flow over ME!  Oh to be satisfied with just the wind blowing in our faces!

Well, if the window thing doesn’t work for you, think about the verse above.  There is so much packed in to that small verse to inspire our worship of God today.  For starters, God is our strength.  He is strong enough for us.  He will shield us and protect us.  We can trust him with all of our heart because He never fails.  He is our helper and source of true joy.  When I am reminded of these things and all of those times when God followed through on those promises, I can’t help but burst out in worship and thanksgiving! Like Libby, when she sticks her head out the car window, all my senses are heightened and the air on my face is more than a breeze. It becomes an adventure!  

I pray that God’s Word will bring you pure joy today and that the promises in the verses above stir your heart to worship Him.  I also hope that you will see that inspiration for worship comes from many different things.  We just have to keep our heart and eyes open.  Sometimes it will even be in the form of a black dog named Libby enjoying the wind on her face.

With much joy and thanksgiving!

Lisa