Listening to Scout

Before winter break ended, we went and saw an imax movie called Superhero Dogs. It was wonderful. Stories of rescue dogs including one therapy dog who works with a veteran who suffers from PTSD. In the movie, they shared that this dog will just plant himself and refuse to move when he senses something that is a trigger for his human and will just stay there until the trigger passes. It was really amazing. As I watched that I thought of the many times when walking with Scout that she stops - she doesn’t plant herself like the dog in the movie, but Scout has to stop to sniff what sometimes feels like EVERYTHING. Every tree we pass, every branch, every pole, etc. But something stirred with me on this - what if I used each of those times each day to stop, to breathe deep, to pray, to listen, to rest - even if it is just a few extra seconds. Not only am I letting Scout do something that she loves but also it is giving me space to take in the nature and creation around me and the stirrings of what is within me. I’ve been doing this for about the last week and it has really been a blessing - I’m working on letting go of feeling like I need to get to a certain mile amount or step count but instead having a deeper experience of renewal and restoration. So, what are ways that this could happen for you?