Gentle Lady Sheeba of Moneta

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5 NIV).

The year our eldest turned three years old we decided the boy needed a dog. We had read that golden retrievers were good with kids, so we checked the classifieds and found that a breeder in Roanoke, Virginia was selling puppies.

The mother dog had ten puppies and we bought a little female and took her home.

“What shall we name her?” My wife asked.

My son, Stephen had several ideas, most of them involving Smurf or Masters of the Universe names. But after a family discussion we settled on the name, “Sheeba.”

When filling out the AKC registration papers, we noticed that Sheeba had quite a lineage, all of them with royal names. Since we were living in Moneta, Virginia at the time, we named her “Lady Sheeba of Moneta.”

Sheeba was a cute puppy, but she had some aggravating habits as she grew. She loved to chew on shoes. When we moved into the city with her, she would escape from our backyard and cruise the neighborhood in search of shoes. We often found random sneakers, house shoes and other footwear in our backyard after one of Sheeba’s tours.

I told her, “Sheeba, if you’re going to keep stealing shoes, at least steal a matching pair, so we can get some use out of them.”

She just sat and stared at me as if she understood, offering her paw for a handshake. Apparently, she had no concept of the real use of shoes. She thought shoes were for chewing, not wearing. Sure, Sheeba was a shoe thief. But she followed a kind of ethic, never leaving her victim’s completely shoeless.

As much as Sheeba loved to chew on things, she would never chew on us. She was the most gentle dog I’ve ever known. She had a huge, deep growl and bark, but no bite.

When my daughter Erin came along, Sheeba welcomed her into the family. When Erin started walking, she would lean against Sheeba for support. With her little dimpled, chubby hands she would push and prod Sheeba’s face and head. Sheeba would look at me with a kind of exasperated look, but never respond to Erin’s pokes with anything but gentle tolerance.

Erin loved to pull Sheeba’s tail which was something even she couldn’t tolerate for long. But rather than snapping at Erin’s hand, Sheeba would take her own tail into her mouth and gently pull it from Erin’s grasp. Once free, she would bolt away for a brief respite from our toddler’s attentions.

In our culture today, we don’t place a high value on gentleness. We see at as weakness. But gentleness is not weakness. It is strength under control. It’s not that Sheeba didn’t have teeth to bite, she just chose to use them on old shoes instead of us.

The gentleness of God is often displayed in His creation. Sometimes in a golden retriever. Sometimes in His people when we are yielded to His Spirit.