Walking the Dog By Jessica Daly
Walking the Dog
By Jessica Daly
My Daly Outreach Ministries
We really never know where or when we may have a personal encounter with God, but when we do it is always something worth sharing. Isaiah 52:7 came to life for me not long ago as God sent a messenger that indeed did bring good news, peace, and words that proclaimed good things to come.
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Lynchburg, Virginia. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature was in the low 70s as my husband and I sat on a bench next to the pond in our neighborhood. We talked while watching our daughter sing to the ducks and their new babies which had hatched that very weekend. Brian and I both had his doctor’s appointment, which was to be the very next morning weighing on our minds. The appointment was scheduled to discuss the replacement of his ICD or pacemaker device. We were both a little nervous about this appointment and the thoughts of yet another surgery. God knew we both needed to hear from Him in a very personal way.
While talking we watched a lady approaching walking her dog. We had seen her before but never talked or introduced ourselves to her. She, too, stopped to look at the newly hatched ducklings. She looked at us and began to comment on the ducklings, which led into a conversation. She shared how she had moved three years ago to Lynchburg in order for her children to attend the school that our daughter also attends and then go on to Liberty University. She then inquired as to what brought us to the area. I shared that I worked for Liberty knowing what the next question would be. Brian smiled when asked what he did for a living and began to explain how he was diagnosed with heart failure 8 years ago and could not work outside of the home. He also shared how God had healed him and kept him when 6 years ago he was given 6 months to live.
This woman, Annie, looked at us three now sitting together as a family on the bench, and asked if she could pray for Brian and our family right then and there. Brian replied back, “Yes, mam. I never refuse prayer!” Annie walked over placed her hands on Brian’s shoulder and began to pray. I could sense the Holy Spirit encompassing our group of four. Annie prayed about things that she could not have known about us. She prayed these words without knowing about the appointment that awaited us the following morning, “God go before the scalpel and the doctors in order to give Brian a miraculous healing in his heart and body!” Needless to say, we know that Annie was used by God in order to reassure us and give us His comfort and peace like none other.
As she left she shared with us that God had placed our neighborhood on her heart. She told us that our apartment complex was full of hurting people who needed the Lord and to know that others cared. She inspired us to do more. What a bold and life changing thing Annie did for our family that day beside the pond. Are we that bold for Christ that we would pray for a stranger? Annie reminded me what obedience to the Holy Spirit’s prompting really means and looks like. Sure, we may look “crazy” to some but we may never know what a simple prayer, a note, a text, or an email for someone could mean in their life. I challenge you to be like Annie who was obedient to God while walking her dog.
Publisher Note: Jessica Daly is a native of Wayne County and currently resides in the Lynchburg, Va. She is a graduate of Eastern Wayne High School and East Carolina University where she has earned a BS in elementary education as well as her Master’s Degree in Library Science. Jessica is married to Brian Daly, a native of Wayne County for 14 years and they share a daughter, Taylor who is 11 years old. Jessica began My Daly Outreach Ministries, a ministry dedicated to caregivers, in January 2011. The ministry consists of an online website, www.mydalyoutreach.com, a published book entitled “Brian’s Update” and inspirational speaking across the country bringing awareness to forgotten caregivers. Jessica is now a Research Librarian at Liberty University.
