I fill the blue Solo cup with cold, filtered water from the door of the refrigerator and pour the clean liquid into the dog bowl on the left.
Dog #2 dances a jig at my heels and whines even more, but with more glee and less self-pity this time. Dog #1 wakes up from his nap, realizes that food is on the way, and bounds from his crate with enthusiasm.
I head to the garage with the clear plastic cup to fetch the dog food. Dog #2 follows me just so far, just to the edge of the kitchen, right before the dining room, because he knows his boundaries. But I know that Dog #1 will not follow me even that far. He is busy selecting a stuffed and tattered toy from his collection, as this is his daily response to the good news of "dinner is coming."
I return from the garage with the cup filled with tiny dog-sized morsels and am greeted by Dog #2 who has been waiting impatiently for me at the very edge of the kitchen. He dances right where I need to step and I must dodge him left and right until I reach the dog bowls. Meanwhile, Dog #1 is playfully tossing his chosen toy into the air and catching it, over and over and over.
I pour the food into the bowl, and immediately Dog #2 dances up to the food station. He doesn't eat or drink, but he looks and smells and dances some more. And Dog #1 tosses the tattered lion or turtle or rope toy into the air again, catches it and runs into his crate to chew on it with joyful anticipation.
Every day this is the scene that plays out in my house when I feed my hungry dogs.
They celebrate the good news that they are being fed.
They don't eat right away. They're not really starving. But something good is happening...perhaps the best thing that will happen to them all day...and they are joyful. Dog #1 plays with a toy and Dog #2 dances a jig.
Come to think of it, I dance a little jig when I hear good news, too. In fact, I've become a bit of a good news junkie. I love to get good news.
Yesterday Abby texted me that she had been selected to be the assistant stage manager for the show of her choice in the theater program. *Dance a little jig!
That same day I went to the mailbox and found a check in it. *Dance a little jig!
Friday a book publisher emailed me to say that "You have a fresh author voice and write on an important topic. I've sent your book to another editor for further review. We'll be in touch!" *Dance a mighty big jig!
Saturday morning I woke up and my husband told me he was taking me out to breakfast. *Dance a little jig!
Tuesday I learned that a good friend of mine had safely birthed her third child, a precious little girl. *Dance a sweet jig!
And last week Abby announced to us that she had been cast in an upcoming production of The Man Who Came to Dinner. *Dance and dance and dance!
*No jigs were actually danced, mind you. And no toys were thrown into the air and caught between my teeth. But I celebrated alright.
Good news gives me an adrenaline rush, puts a smile on my face, lightens my step, puts a song on my lips and generally makes me feel good.
But, let's face it, good news can do even more than perk us up. It can relieve us of mounting stress, put to ease our weightiest worries, propel us to take the next seemingly impossible step, give us the courage to go for it, put to rest those nagging concerns, restore our waning joy and save our very souls.
Whoa! Save our souls? You betcha.
All this good news and celebration reminds me that there are many people in our world who have yet to hear the really Good News of Jesus Christ. That's what the gospel literally is, you know, the good news.
Do you remember the first time you heard, really heard, the good news that you could be guilt free of all your sins and enjoy a liberating and intimate relationship with your God because your sins had been wiped away? Do you remember what it felt like to know that God had separated from you (as far as the east is from the west) that really big whopper of a sin you had committed? The one you thought you or your marriage or your reputation or your family would never recover from? Do you remember how it felt to know that there is a God who has been pursuing you out of love? Not out of chastisement or anger, like you first thought? But out of glorious, costly, sacrificial, determined love? And do you remember how you felt when you realized that, because of Jesus Christ, even all the time you'd wasted and the mistakes you'd made could be redeemed and all things could be new?
Oh. My. Word.
Dance! Dance! Dance!
If you haven't heard the good news of Jesus Christ and His liberating love, I invite you to email me at kay{at}kayharms{dot}com and simply let me know that you could use a little good news right about now. I'd be glad to share with you via email.
But friend, if you've heard the good news of Jesus, and He continues to delight you with His grace and love and joy each day, dance a little jig. And then share the good news with someone else. You might be surprised to find that you have the good news they've been waiting all their life to hear.
