Midnight Rendezvous

Having a puppy has had an unexpected benefit, besides new uses for my kitchen sink (puppy bath tub) and more exercise (walking her every four hours, round the clock). I have found another “rendezvous point” with my Heavenly Father.

It's 1 am and I've just come in from walking “Gila” (as in Hava nagila) our 6 month old Havanese puppy. She's a pretty little black and white powder puff on 4 legs – very sweet, very anxious to please, but still a puppy with a tiny bladder and an avocation of sniffing every leaf and blade of grass on our property. But I digress ...

The Midnight Rendezvous with the Lover of my soul is so sweet. Walking along with flashlight in hand and Gila at my feet in the cool midnight hour has a charm to it that I find difficult to fully express. It's quiet, but not really: crickets sing their praises as do the owls and a dog's bark in the distance punctuates their chorus. Occasionally the neighborhood mocking bird wakes up and steals the show, singing unto Yah a new song ... sometimes for several hours! The moon floats above us, playing tag with wispy clouds. Fragrances from the water plants in the pond gently perfume the air. All in all, each night (even the rainy ones as tropical depression Beryl made its way through here recently) is perfect. It is as if He gifted ME with each of these walks. Sounds crazy, I'm sure.

I think about these things just as I am about to let loose with the latest barrage of needs, fears and trivia ... and then I stop! How could I not praise Him for these nightly gifts? How could I not tell Him how awesome I think He is and thank Him – even for little Gila and her tiny bladder -- so that I could savor the serenity of the moment? Truly, He has prepared a place for me, in this world and the world to come. Oh, my Father, my Sovereign Master, I thank you for Your abundant loving kindness! There are just not enough words to praise You adequately. Please accept this meager offering of words. May they be a fitting sacrifice of praise to You, my Creator / Redeemer / Bridegroom and Sovereign Master!

Walking back to the house through the inky darkness into the light of the back door lamp, the words of the 23^rd psalm float through my head. “You prepare a table for me ... you anoint my head with oil ... goodness and grace will pursue me every day of my life ... I fear no disaster for You are with me. Suddenly, the realization that all the fears and griefs that I was going to belch out at YHVH just a few short minutes previously no longer were the trouble. My own impatience and unwillingness to “Be still and know that He is YHVH” was the real 'problem'.

Hmmmm ... “Be still” ... I wonder if that is the real issue all the while.

Thank you, Abba, for the Midnight Rendezvous ... and Gila's tiny bladder.