Recently I was watching a football game with my husband when a play ended with the tackled receiver cradling a football lying under what appeared to be a carefully stacked tower of both teammates and the opposition.   Better known as “the dog pile.”  A little something I’m familiar with being in the dog business.  It starts early, just hours after birth.  A huddle so to speak of fur balls trying to gather warmth from one another. 

As I sit here typing with freezing toes and fingers, I can appreciate the middle guy.  Not carrying the weight of the tower of warmth, not feeling the freezing wind as the beacon in the sky.  Right in the middle, holding my own.  Now that’s a good place to be in life. . .isn’t it? 

What about the last guy standing?  The one who walks over to the pile; takes a few steps back; gets a running start; and then hurls himself up on top of the world.  Not a care in the world but himself.  Now that sounds pretty nice.  A little lonely and cold though.

Let’s talk about the guy at the bottom of the pile.  It reminds me of the challenges from time to time in our lives.  You’re running towards a goal; you think you have it all.  Life is good.  But then you get tackled.  And the world is piling up on top of you.  Well, when the weight of the world is on your shoulders.  Just think, you are the guy holding up the pile, not the one being pushed in the ground.  Sooner or later, the stack will clear, and you will be up and running a new play.  Maybe a new game, on a new team, or even with a new coach.  Just never stop running, never stop playing.
Enjoy the game. . .enjoy the pile. . .enjoy the warmth, embrace “the dog pile.”