Psalm 37:23a  If Yahweh delights in a man’s way,

Our Pekingese, Snuggles, slept with us every night. Usually she slept through the night but now and then she would wake up having to go to the bathroom.  This meant that I got up, and as it was when we were in Tennessee, I got dressed and took her outside.  Without a totally fenced-in yard, it meant that I went out with her.  From the beginning this struck me as a job for me, not Donna.

Sometimes during the night I didn’t hear Snuggles when she was making sounds to go outside but Donna did.  When that happened, Donna nudged me awake and I took Snuggles out.  This was a little “big thing” for me.  On my scale of things, it’s little, but it sure blessed Donna; to her was big.

Taking Snuggles out in the middle of the night was an opportunity for me to bless my wife, the girl I love.  It wasn’t a chore and it wasn’t burdensome.  Believe it or not, it truly was a source of joy.  Standing outside in the cold, snow or rain in the middle of the night for a few minutes wasn’t a big deal; and invariably, I’d think of her snuggled in bed and it brought a smile to my face.  It was an opportunity for my actions to say “I love you” to her.

What a blessing it is to live our lives together; loving one another.  There are so many opportunities for us to communicate that love to each other through our attitudes and actions.  While we recognize our responsibilities for tasks needing to be done, pervading it all is the gratitude for the love we share.  That love and gratitude bring pleasure to jobs done; bringing delight to each other.

There is delight, in bringing delight to someone – particularly someone we love.  This truth is epitomized in our relationship with our Lord Jesus.  Given the magnitude and wonder of His love for us, I find it mind-boggling that we have the opportunity to bring Him delight!  The realization of this is truly a ‘Eureka’ moment.  It’s like finding gold!

And bringing delight to God is not just doing things for Him – it’s living our lives, doing whatever He tells us to do!!  We bring Him delight when we walk in His ways.  The more we become like Jesus, the more delight we bring Him.  We delight in Him – and He delights in us.  WOW!!

Note: Snuggles was nearly 15 and we had to have her put down last June.  I wrote about this precious love gift from the Lord in the devotional below:  https://donsdevotionals.com/2019/06/25/wednesday-june-26-2019-the-pain-and-tears-of-saying-goodbye-to-snuggles/