A Divine Handshake… With Dog Paws
There are moments when God’s humor slips quietly into our lives, catching us off guard and making us laugh right in the middle of our worries. This morning’s dream was one of those moments—a tender reminder that even in pain, the Father’s presence can be both comforting and delightfully unexpected. What began as a prayer about trust turned into a handshake from heaven, sealed not with divine thunder but with the soft touch of a little dog’s paws.
I had a very funny dream last night—one of those half‑asleep, half‑awake moments. I was talking with Father God, something I’ve been doing a lot lately because of what’s going on with my back.
As I’ve mentioned before, I have arthritis all down my spine. I also have spinal stenosis, where the spinal canal narrows and pinches the spinal cord around the L4–L5 area. From the MRI, it even looks like one of those vertebrae has deteriorated. On top of that, I deal with sciatica pain.
I keep telling Father that I will trust Him with whatever happens, but I still find myself imagining surgery and a long, painful recovery. I think I take after my mother—she always expected the worst. I do believe Jesus could heal me instantly, just as He did when He walked the earth, but that hasn’t happened. I think about the Apostle Paul and the “thorn” God didn’t remove, and I wonder if maybe God isn’t choosing to take this away from me either. My mind keeps drifting toward the worst‑case scenario.
Back to the dream. I think I was telling Father that I would trust Him—almost like I was trying to talk myself into believing it. And I sensed Him saying that something better than I expect is going to happen. Then, almost playfully, He said something like, “Here in Texas, we shake on it.”
At that exact moment, I felt something in my left hand—like a tiny hand reaching into mine. It startled me awake. I started feeling it with my right hand, thinking for a second that it might be my wife’s hand. But no—it was the front two paws of one of our daughter’s little dogs who sleeps with us. I just burst out laughing, inside me, that is. What are the odds that she would put her paws in my hand at the exact moment God said, “We shake on it”?
A quick note about the handshake: I’ve been reading James Michener’s Texas, and I had just read about the old days when deals were sealed with a handshake—no paperwork, no signatures. A person’s word was enough. Maybe that’s why the image showed up in my dream.
In another post, I shared a dream I had about God’s new kingdom. It felt like arriving at a gala—groups of people everywhere, laughing and talking. Oddly enough, Satan was there too, laughing and telling funny stories. I don’t know how I knew it was him, but I did. He didn’t look anything like the horned figure we imagine.
Lately I feel like I’ve been getting glimpses of something wonderful—something I hope truly is from God. I see a Father who enjoys His children, who even plays little pranks to make us laugh. He’s done that with me before, and it always catches me off guard. But it makes me laugh, and I can almost feel Him laughing with me.
Most of the time we come to Him with our problems, and we forget to praise Him simply for who He is. I’m talking to myself here too.
