One Man's Testimony

I woke up this morning feeling pretty tired, but nothing was hurting so I counted it all joy.  In that moment, I decided that today is going to be a good day, even though what I really wanted to do was to go back to sleep.

As I walked Tildy, I was looking for something beautiful to snap a picture of so that I would have something to share on Instagram.  It's funny how since I started being really active with this notion of thankfulness, I now look for little things to give thanks for and to share with others.  It's kinda cool.  Anyway, my neighbor's sunflowers were particularly pretty this morning, but Matilda was off to the races, so I didn't get a chance to snap a picture.

On our way back to the house, a familiar green truck flagged me down.  It belongs to one of my neighbors up the street, but I had never met him.  He pulled over, rolled down the window, and his yellow Lab/Retriever mix tried to say hello before the man could utter a word.  Matilda went crazy.  I had to pick her up to keep her quiet and calm.

The man's name was Roberto.  He was wearing a sunshine yellow humane society shirt and a smile as broad as his nutmeg colored face.  He told me that he sees me walking my dog all of the time and he had some questions.  The dog in the car is the first dog he's ever had and he had questions about the cost of shots and how often he should put out food.  The mixture of his smile and sincere excitement was contagious.  He told me that his life was a mess and then God sent this dog just for him and now he doesn't feel so alone.  He was definitive in his belief in God and told me that he believes the Father and the Son have conversations with each other.  He said that his belief came later in life but that it has had a strong impact on him.  He told me how he was reading the scripture and how he now believes that we were made in His image.  He struggled for his next words because his English wasn't the best, but he managed to connect his prior statement about image to his next thought; "If I show hate towards someone, I look like a demon and that scares me.  So I try to show love so I look like Him."

Right before he left, he told me I should drop by sometime for coffee.  He told me bye with another bright smile and waved as he drove away.

My encounter with Roberto made me so happy I could have skipped the rest of the way home.  I am so thankful that I met him.  He filled my morning with sunshine and happiness and he made it a morning that I won't soon forget.