When You're Ready

When You're Ready

It was 2019, during the polar vortex—when the cold wasn’t just cold. It pressed in from every side, deep and unrelenting, like the world itself had paused to catch its breath.

And in the stillness of that bitter week, I couldn’t stop thinking about a dog I’d seen online.

His name was Bear.

The moment I saw his face, something in me just knew. I can't explain it—not logically. It wasn’t a want. It was a knowing. Like a thread had been tied between us before we’d ever met.

My wife, Melanie, wasn’t convinced. She didn’t think she was a fan of big dogs. But Bear stayed on my heart like a song you can't shake. So I told her, “I need to go see him.”

Bear was living in a barn at the time. His young owner had passed away unexpectedly, and he’d been left behind in the confusion, in the silence, in the cold. That image stuck with me—this dog who once belonged, now alone in a place that wasn’t meant to be a home.

When we arrived, the air bit at our skin. The world felt frozen solid.

And then… Bear saw us.

He walked up to the fence and gently rose on his hind legs, placing both front paws on me—right where I stood. No bark. No demand. Just presence. Just trust.

Like he was saying, “You came.”

I took a picture of that moment. I still have it. I always will.

Because Bear has never done that again—not with me, not with anyone.

That moment wasn’t just special—it was sacred.

It was as if he knew something I didn’t yet. As if he’d been waiting for me to show up.

And maybe, just maybe… without realizing it, I’d been waiting for him too.

---

Life has a way of holding things back from us—not to punish, but to prepare.

Opportunities. Answers. Healing. Even love.

It waits until we’ve softened. Until our hands are open. Until our hearts are quiet enough to notice what’s been reaching for us all along.

You can’t force those moments. You can’t plan them. But if you’re in a season of stillness, or grief, or wondering if anything good is ever going to come again… hold on.

Because the right thing?

It might already be looking for you.

It’s just waiting for you to be ready.

PS: Melanie fell for Bear too—not all at once, but the kind of love that grows deep and sure. Now he’s our calm companion, our gentle giant. A little older now. A little slower. Still watching. Still steady. Still ours.