Taylor Quinn Experience in a Natural Setting: Dog Story 12/3/10

I went on a Young Life leaders retreat for a weekend to Sandbridge VA beach in October. It was great to get away from school and go the beach with my friends and to get filled up spiritually from the trip. The first night was great and we got to dive deep into the Scripture.
I got up early the next morning to have a quiet time on the beach. I walked out into the bright sun, the ocean breeze, the cold sand, and the ocean before me. I sat down and reflected on my life and passion for YL. I had been frustrated lately because I had been having a hard time meet kids at Menchville High School.
As I sat and reflected I saw a man and two dogs walking in my direction near the water. One dog was white colored and the other was black and they both walked on the right and left of the man without leashes. It was awesome to see them walk together. Then the white colored dog, who was on the man’s right side, suddenly started to walk away from him. To my surprise I realized that he was walking towards me. I began to be filled with fear and anxiety because I did not know this dog or how it would act. But I did want to get up because it might see that as a threat. I looked to see if the man had realized that his dog was gone but he hadn’t realized.
As the dog got closer I could see it looking me straight in the eyes. Before I knew it the dog and I were face to nose and he looked me straight in the eye. I raised my hand to the nose before me and the dog smelled me and wagged his tail. I then saw that I had nothing to fear and began to pat his head. I stopped after a couple of seconds and the dog turned and walked off in the direction of his master who stopped and waited for him.
The experience made me reflect on my life and work with YL. I asked myself
“Why did that dog come to meet me?” I realized that if I were to go up to a kid I had never met before at Menchville that they would ask the same question. I meet kids because of Christ’s love in me. Every time a I meet a kid they are meeting Christ. The question that they ask themselves can lead to an investigation into Christ and his love. I realized that I must be like the dog. I must be willing to leave the comfort of my “master” and go off and have a meaningful meeting with others.