Well, Autumn to the rescue. Apparently Leonard (Ok, I know he needs a new name--I don't even like typing his name--so let's call him Leo) was found in Leonard, Michigan, on Leonard Street, and this lady had taken him in a few weeks ago. Autumn Facebooked (is that even a slang term yet) a picture of him, and he was so adorable. I was told he was a one year old flat coated Retriever. Hmmm. Autumn, along with her fiancee, Taubin, was going to pick him up on Thursday evening. So, I made arrangements to go to Michigan on Friday afternoon/evening.
Autumn called me on Friday and said that Leo was beautiful, sweet, totally awesome, and ALL puppy. He wasn't trained nor housebroken, but he was highly intelligent. No problem. Now here's the kicker. When Autumn and Taubin picked him up, the so called 'financially strapped' woman was standing on the porch of a million dollar mansion, dressed in full length fur coat. Talk about not being who you said you were. Hmm. Well, that made absolutely she had said suspect at best. Leo was found in the barn, extremely thin and cold. His ribs were showing and he was so very happy for some human interaction. Apparently, Leo wasn't gaining any weight. Could that possibly be because the woman was only feeding him leftover pizza and pasta? Well, let me guess on that one. (Please note the sarcasm--because it is so intentional.)
Anyway, amidst their dismay, Leo happily bounded into their backseat and began to take Autumn's fur lined coat hood in his mouth. As soon as she told him, "No!," he immediately dropped it. If nothing else, he was truly obedient. Then, they went home. Autumn gave me the complete update upon my arrival. Although he wasn't housebroken, he was doing fabulously and got along really, really well with Autumn and Taubin's Newfoundland, Xander--all 120 pounds of Xander and all 80 pounds of Leo. He hadn't chewed anything he wasn't supposed to and was just all puppy.
Sure enough, as soon as Autumn opened the patio door, in bounded Leo. All gangly and goofy Leo. I immediately noticed his adorability (again, is that even a word?) and I also noticed that he definitely was not a Golden Retriever. Nope. He, in fact, was a complete Irish Setter. 
A beautiful, shiny coat, copper colored Irish Setter. Beautiful. Setters are hunting dogs, and that explained why Leo was so enamored with Autumn's fur line coat hood. Ha. He was just doing his job. Whenever he would hear a bird chirp, he would immediately freeze, as if a statue, and point his nose, tail and legs. Very cute. Definitely hunting material, but not Grayczyk household material.
I was thrilled that I was able to spend some time visiting with Autumn and meeting Leo. I also was able to stop and see my brother and nephew in Livonia, Michigan, on the way to Autumn's. That's all very good. However, this experience totally got me thinking about my original question: Have you ever met someone and after a while, you realize he's really not who you thought he was? Oh yeah! Most definitely. Two times in this case. I mean, come on lady, you can't afford to feed a dog, but you can afford to live in a mansion, house various horses and wear a full length fur. And then, Leo being an Irish Setter and not a Golden Retriever. Now, that's just funny. Then I wonder just how many other things are there that I think are one thing, when in reality, they are another.
One thing I do know for sure though, is that the Lord is most definitely Who I think He is. He is, He was, and He always will be. He's Abba Father. The Alpha and Omega. The Beginning and the End. The best friend of a lifetime. A Father to the Fatherless. Hope to the Hopeless. Perfect Health to the sick. Perfect Peace to the Worrisome. Perfect Love to the otherwise unlovable. Perfect Joy to the saddened. Perfect Kindness to those that are unkind. Perfect Grace to those that need it (don't we all?). All Merciful for those that need mercy (again, that's all of us!) Wow.
It saddens me when I think of all the people who truly don't know just Who this Jesus is. They think He is sitting on His Throne just waiting to pounce on them when they do something that they consider wrong. They think he will pummel them if they don't live up to His expectations. That He will stop loving them if they misbehave. These are all horribly incorrect views of Jesus. No. He is exactly the opposite of these characteristics. And the bottom line is: He not only loves each and every one of us, but He is crazy, madly in love with us. He would NEVER hurt us, ALWAYS has our backs, and LOVES us unconditionally. Always, always, always.
Here's praying that although we may run into the occasional deceitful person, and the occasional Golden Retriever that is actually an Irish Setter, that we realize just Who Jesus Really is. --a welcome participant in my life (and, hopefully, yours, too)--Who lives in my heart. I heart you all.
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