It was exactly a year ago that she came to live with us. She had floppy golden ears and beady black eyes, and her tail wagged so hard that it slapped both of her sides. She was just the perfect puppy for our home, and when this chunk of pure gold clambered onto my lap to lick every inch of my hand from wrist to nail, it was hard to imagine that she could ever do anything wrong.

In reality, however, nothing was safe from her. She was into the garbage, the dishwasher, the toilet; she chewed the rugs, the furniture, the electrical cords; she chased the birds, stole dirty socks, ate the plants; and countless times each day the air was filled with frantic cries of: "Hey! The puppy has my _______!"

It didn't take her long to discover the joys of being outside. This included such things as sniffing and playing in the snow instead of doing her business, and running off with the neighbor dog, forgetting that she had ever heard of the word "come". She learned to dig up rocks and roll in the mud, then jump up on my white pants with her filthy paws. The chasing, the chewing, the odor . . . Why, my sweet puppy acts just like a dog!"

The idea shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. After all, I had always had a dog. I should have known well enough what to expect! But it still took me some time reason that my pup acted like a dog because she WAS a dog!

As time has gone by, I have been able to mold and shape her out of some of her offensive "doggy" habits, but today, though she is much bigger and even a little wiser, she is still, and will always be, a dog. As I pick up the soggy remains of my son's math paper-again!-I realize that despite her dogginess, I really didn't want her to be anything else!

Isn't God the same? He says: "I have loved you with an everlasting love!" (Jer. 31:3). Why? Because He "created my inmost being" and "knit me together in my mother's womb." (Ps. 139:13) Perhaps He sometimes wishes we wouldn't act so "human", especially as he's clearing up the "messes" we make by following after the flesh, and He does gently mold and shape us out of some of the sin-related humanness. But He loves us just the way we are. Why? Because we are what He created us to be!

"I have loved you with an everlasting love!" (Jer. 31:3)