自從我小時候開始，我就一直想要一隻狗。我看著其他孩子和他們的狗一起玩耍，我也一直想要一隻狗成為我的最好朋友。一隻小狗，我可以全心全意地愛，牠也會無條件地回愛我。不幸的是，我的父母認為我還沒有準備好承擔責任，所以直到幾年前我才被允許養狗。
我們並沒有去買小狗，而是去了狗收容所尋找可領養的狗狗。就在那裡，我遇到了庫珀(Cooper)。當我們領養牠時，牠大約4歲，我們見面時，牠幾乎沒有看我或我帶來的食物。牠只是瞥了一下我們的方向，然後繞著我們帶的籠子去四處嗅。庫珀似乎不太喜歡我們，但我不介意。牠又大又白，毛茸茸的，就是我在夢裡夢到的那隻狗。
他們告訴我們，牠有多種健康問題，後腿不好可能需要手術，耳朵感染需要治療，還有模糊的眼睛可能是牠即將失明的徵兆。然而，儘管有這麼多問題，我還是懇求爸爸讓我們領養牠，我很想當天就把牠帶回家。出乎意料的是，我的父母討論了一陣子，最終同意簽署文件，把牠帶回家。我興奮極了，無法相信我童年時的夢想真的實現了。
庫珀剛到家的第一個星期，我緊緊地黏着牠。然而，我很快就學會了，養狗並不都像我想像的那樣。牠的毛髮隨處掉，掉得到處都是，進入了我的所有衣服、床上，以及你可能想像得到的每個地方。有時，我甚至會在我的食物中找到牠的毛髮。由於腿部受傷，牠不能像其他狗那樣奔跑和玩耍。手術失敗後，情況變得更糟。庫珀幾乎站不住，更不用說玩接球了。
我很快感到非常失望，因為養牠並不都像我想像的那樣。當我放學回家時，牠並不會興奮地叫，牠也不知道如何翻身或玩接球。我經常和媽媽談論，我覺得牠似乎不愛我，我很失望。媽媽向我保證，牠確實以牠自己的方式愛我，只是不知道如何表達。我媽媽常常和我談論，我們選擇了庫珀，牠是多麼幸運，由於牠的種種醫療狀況和問題，很可能沒有別的家庭會選擇領養牠。
當我想想這些時，我意識到庫珀和我們家的關係，跟上帝與我們的關係非常相似。我們收留牠，保護牠，就像上帝收留我們，看顧我們一樣。有時候，我們忘記去感激上帝，感激祂為我們所做的一切，或者我們不知道如何感激。但無論如何，祂都會盡力照顧我們所需的一切，不計代價，就像我們為庫珀所做的一切，因為我們愛牠，把牠當作家庭的一部分。正如我們收養(Adopt)了庫珀，上帝也收養了我們，將我們收為祂的家人。
即使庫珀不是我小時候一直想要的那隻狗，牠可能不像其他狗那樣行動和玩耍，這並不意味着我們會愛牠更少，就像上帝對我們，即使我們犯錯誤或有缺陷，祂也不會少愛我們一點。祂無條件的愛是一個提醒，我們應該以同樣的恩典和善意對待身邊的人們。
英文原文
Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted a dog. I watched other kids play around with their dogs and I always wanted one to be my best friend. A puppy I could love with my whole heart and would always love me back unconditionally too. Unfortunately, my parents thought I wasn’t ready for the responsibility, and thus I wasn’t allowed to get a dog until a few years ago.
Instead of getting a puppy, we went to the dog shelter to look for adoptable dogs. It was there that I met Cooper. He was around 4 when we first adopted him, and barely gave me or my treats a glance when taken out to meet us. He just glanced at our direction and went around sniffing the pen we were in. Cooper didn’t seem to like us very much, but I didn’t mind. He was big, white and fluffy, the dog I had imagined in my dreams.
They told us that he had multiple health problems: he had bad hind legs that would require surgery, ear infections that would need treatment, as well as foggy eyes that could be a sign he was going blind. However, despite all the complications, I begged my dad to let us adopt him, and I was determined to take him home with us that very day. Surprisingly, my parents talked for a while and ended up agreeing to sign the papers and bring him home. I was thrilled and couldn’t believe my childhood dream was actually happening.
I stuck to Cooper like glue for the first week he was home with us. However, I quickly learned that having a dog wasn’t all like what I had imagined. He shed his fur everywhere, and it got into all my clothes, my bed, and everywhere you could possibly imagine. Sometimes I would even find strands of his hair in my food. He couldn’t run and play like the other dogs because of his leg injury, and after a botched surgery, it got even worse. Cooper could barely stand, let alone play fetch. Quickly I became very disappointed, because having him wasn’t all what I imagined a dog would be like. He didn’t bark enthusiastically when I came home from school, and he didn’t know how to turn over or play fetch.
I would talk to my mom about how disappointed I was that he seemed like he didn’t love me. She assured me that he did, in his own way, and just didn’t know how to express it. My mom would often talk about how lucky Cooper was that we chose him, and how unlikely it was that another family would’ve chosen to adopt him because of all of his medical conditions and problems.
When I thought about it, I realized that Cooper’s relationship with our family is very similar to God’s relationship to us. We took him in and sheltered him the same way that God has taken us in and watched over us. Sometimes we forget to acknowledge God and what he does for us, or we don’t know how. Regardless, he does his best and takes care of everything we might need, no matter the cost, just like we pay for everything that Cooper needs, because we love him and treat him as part of the family.
Just like we took Cooper under our wing, God has taken us under his and adopted us as part of his family. Even if Cooper wasn’t the dog I always wanted as a kid, and he may not exactly act and play like other dogs, it does not mean we love him any less, just like God doesn’t love us any less even if we do make mistakes or are flawed. His unconditional love is a reminder that we should treat people around us with the same grace and kindness that he has.
從收養庫珀想到的|Helen Meng