{"id":16717,"date":"2026-03-10T13:17:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T13:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/life-lessons-from-gracie-the-dog\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:02:10","slug":"life-lessons-from-gracie-the-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/daily-devotions\/loved-ones-devotions\/life-lessons-from-gracie-the-dog\/","title":{"rendered":"Life Lessons from Gracie the Dog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. \u20141 John 4:7 (NLT)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes on my morning walk with my two-year-old golden retriever, Gracie, we encounter the unmistakable Billy. Billy has a disability. I\u2019ve never asked him about it, but having grown up with a brother who had Down syndrome, I\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019s what Billy has. But Gracie is especially eager and happy to greet Billy when she sees him coming down the street in his slightly awkward gait with arms outstretched and a smile almost as wide.<\/p>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ada4f91 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"ada4f91\" data-element_type=\"container\" id=\"home-banner-stn\">\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-72e6e8eb elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"72e6e8eb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Community Newsletter<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-261bcec elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"261bcec\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Get More Inspiration Delivered to Your Inbox<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9787b46 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget-mobile__width-inherit elementor-widget elementor-widget-wp-widget-ninja_forms_widget\" data-id=\"9787b46\" data-element_type=\"widget\" id=\"front-banner-signup\" data-widget_type=\"wp-widget-ninja_forms_widget.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<noscript class=\"ninja-forms-noscript-message\"><br \/>\n\tNotice: JavaScript is required for this content.<\/noscript><\/p>\n<style>\n<p>        \/* FORM STYLES *\/<\/p>\n<p>        #nf-form-5-cont {\n                                    background-color:#ffffff;\n                                                    border-radius:35px;\n-webkit-border-radius:35px;                    }\n    <\/style>\n<style>\n<p>        \/* FIELDS STYLES *\/<\/p>\n<p>        .nf-form-content .nf-field-container #nf-field-27-wrap {\n               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\/>\n                <script id=\"nf-tmpl-cell\" type=\"text\/template\">\n            <nf-fields><\/nf-fields>\n        <\/script><\/p>\n<p>        <script id=\"nf-tmpl-row\" type=\"text\/template\">\n            <nf-cells><\/nf-cells>\n        <\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cGoogoo!\u201d At first Billy had trouble remembering Gracie\u2019s name, but once I told him we nicknamed her Googoo, he never forgot. Gracie pulls me off my feet if she sees Billy first. She dives on the ground and rolls on her back, shamelessly exposing her belly, which Billy obligingly scratches. \u201cAre you having a good walk? Today is going to be a good day because you are a good dog!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While we\u2019re in the midst of the moment and the middle of the side- walk, a jet stream of pedestrians rushes past us. Most are very under- standing. Some scowl, but many more smile. It is quite a sight, the two of them. Sometimes I wonder<em>, Did I fail to notice Billy all that time before we got Googoo? How often did I pass him walking to the subway in the morning? How many times did I fail just to give him a smile?<\/em> As I said, he is unmistakable. It seems like I couldn\u2019t have missed him. But my sensitive, loving dog didn\u2019t pass him by. She took to Billy right off, the first time she saw that smile and those open arms. Gracie looks up at me from Billy\u2019s feet, with that wonderful, sloppy smile she has and seems to say, \u201cThis is how you love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Dear Lord, my eyes are often closed even when they are wide open. Help me see like Googoo does, with love and acceptance, especially for those most in need of it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Digging Deeper: 1 Corinthians 8:3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. \u20141 John 4:7 (NLT) Sometimes on my morning walk with my two-year-old golden retriever, Gracie, we encounter the unmistakable Billy. Billy has a disability. I\u2019ve never asked him about it, but having grown up with a brother who had Down syndrome, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":27051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[295],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[481],"class_list":["post-16717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-loved-ones-devotions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Life Lessons from Gracie the Dog - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life Lessons from Gracie the Dog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. \u20141 John 4:7 (NLT) Sometimes on my morning walk with my two-year-old golden retriever, Gracie, we encounter the unmistakable Billy. 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