Be Still and Know

A few weeks ago during the pitch black of night, I woke to feel a warm nose pressing against the top of my hand. It was Roxie, of course, and she was standing at my bedside, nudging me into existence. I threw the covers back and pressed my feet to the cold wooden floor as she happily bounded from the room and ran toward the back door.

It was still dark out but the morning sky was nearing. Stars were in abundance and the air was damp and cool. Roxie ran down the ramp and leaped in circles on her leash like a bunny, sniffing fresh air and having a high old time.

"Pottie," I mumbled.

Roxie turned and walked a few feet, the length of her leash, then sat down and stared high up into the sky. Motionless.

"Pottie," I tried again.

Still, she sat. I could see her little nose twitching as she sniffed the fresh air, but her eyes never moved nor did her chin tilt downward. She was fixed on the heavens, deep brown eyes gazing from one star to the next.

We stood that way for at least ten minutes, both of us staring into the night sky. I'm not sure what Roxie was thinking but I was thanking God for puppies who make us stop and think on Him, even if they have to force us to do it in the middle of the night.

"Look," Roxie might have said, "I know you had a busy day. Working, cooking, playing with me, cleaning a little, and then some time returning emails. I didn't want to wake you but seriously, when would you have stopped to consider the universe and its Creator?"

And so she sat and I stood, looking at the heavens and just *being still and knowing*.