The blessing of a dog

 

The dog hunt

I bought a dog last week.  I’ve never owned a dog before.  I’ve never even wanted to own a dog before, but God has blessed me with one.  About a year ago I realized the joy that a dog would bring to my daughter Kendra.  She is a pure-bred animal lover, who, of course loves dogs above all the rest.  How could I deny my daughter the joy of having her own dog?

The process of finding a dog took a few turns, such as looking into a puppy rescue place, putting a hold on a dog at a county shelter, (we eventually lost out on that one) and making a phone call to Nebraska to inquire about some puppies there.  Finally we decided that a Golden Retriever puppy was the choice for us.  I felt the need to have a dog that I would be able to enjoy, or at least tolerate.  I felt this breed was the best for me.

On the phone with my wife last week I said “I found a dog, I think”.  He was in a pet center 40 miles away, but I didn’t have time to go visit him that day.  Time was short and I had to make a decision whether or not to put a hold on him by putting half the $$ down.  I couldn’t actually get up there to see him for 2 days.  I would be taking a chance on losing him if I didn’t put the money down.  The kicker in the whole thing was that the deposit was non-refundable, so even if it ended up that he wasn’t going to be a good fit for us as a family, I would be out almost $300.  My wife said “you make the decision, but whatever dog we get we have to make a commitment to anyway.”  I think I wanted her to let me off the hook or make the decision for me, but she didn’t.  I am glad she didn’t.

Wrestling with God

I turned to God for help.

Now you have to understand that when it comes to big decisions (Or even small ones for that matter) my natural inclination is to analyze, list out the pro’s and con’s, and do what seems “wise”.  I would not be described as a person who flys off in reckless abandoned very often.  I tend to do the prudent thing.

I took a walk and spent some time talking with God.  The first thing he said to me was “don’t you have any faith in me?”  Stepping out and trusting God in the cracks and crevices of my life is a constant stretching point for me.  I guess I wasn’t too surprised by this message, but it was still an important reminder to me to stop trying to control the situation and edge God out of the equation.

The other thing God brought to mind was the statement my wife made to me, “We have to commit to whatever dog we get and we can do that here”.  God was showing me that the decision to adopt this puppy wasn’t to be based so much on the make up of the dog (afterall, any puppy will require work and effort) but rather on my ability to commit to loving, training, and pouring myself into the dog.  Was I ready to have a dog?  God was saying, your attitude and make up is what will make the difference, not the dog’s. 

The Blessing

My wife and I went to meet the puppy last Friday afternoon.  It was an incredible few minutes.  He was excited to see us, and he warmed up to us quickly.  He wasn’t obnoxious or yipey at all, like I had concerns about him being.  He was beautiful and well-tempered just as I had hoped.  But it wasn’t his disposition that surprised me the most.  It was my disposition that took me off guard.  I found myself, hugging, petting, and even kissing this dog on the head, as I looked into his beautiful brown eyes.  For someone who has never wanted a dog, and even been scared of dogs in the past, God had softened me to the point of being ready to pour my own heart into this beautiful Golden Puppy. 

God honored the commitment I made to give myself to a puppy and have a little faith in him that he would lead me to the right dog.

I played with my dog this morning and took him for a short walk.  In a little while I have to take him to the vet to get him checked out. 

The blessings, I think, are just beginning.

Dave for Wellspring copyright  © 2007   

Be Still – May 19, 2007 Hike

 

It was a beautiful day for the first hike of the season.   Fourteen of us hiked up the first incline in silence as we pondered the riches of Psalm 46:10  “Be still and know that I am God”.  We had left behind our concerns and worries in the form of a pile of rocks at the trailhead and looked to the rest of the day for listening and waiting upon God.

Ps 131:1-2  My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty;  I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.  But I have stilled and quieted my soul:  like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. 

 

Part of being still is learning to wait for God and His timing.  It is in many ways a quieting of spirit so that we can hear God’s still, small voice.   It is difficult to make the time in our busy lives, but we must.

Ps. 38:15  I wait for you, O LORD;  You will answer, O Lord my God.

Ps. 40:1  I waited patiently for the Lord;  He turned to me and heard my cry.

We must wait with expectancy and hope, nurturing the desire for God above all other desires.  Through our hike as we began to share together there was a sense of the beauty of the place we were in…the budding leaves on the aspen trees, two deer hidden in the woods, the snow on the peaks and the trail, the warmth of the sun, the majesty of the peaks around us and then later the power of the thunder that echoed between the peaks into the valley we walked in.

 Ps. 130:5-6  I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the moring.

Micah 7:7 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation.  My God will hear me.

 

We were blessed by each of those who joined us on the hike and God blessed the day as we took the time to turn to Him.   The pile of rocks was there at the trailhead as we arrived.  All committed to leave those worries and strivings there for God’s care. 

 

This is the kind of stillness we must practice each day.

Those of you on the hike, feel free to share your impressions of the day.

Scott for Wellspring

copyright 2007

What Did He Come For?

 

Did He come to share His life with a few disciples, do some teaching, feed a few followers, promise eternal life and then go back to the Father?  Or was there something more?  Many of us know Jesus is the savior and through believing in Him we can have eternal life.  But what is that “something more” that we should be looking for or experiencing in life right now?

 

There is one small little sentence from Galations that reveals this something more.  Paul the apostle wrote “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”  Gal. 5:1

 

Christ came to set us free…from the requirement to fulfill the law, from sin, from despair, from imprisonment, from fear, from working our way to heaven.  We want to be free from all these things, but we have a tendency to continue to add laws to our lives that must be fulfilled to fully please God and live in grace.  In many ways even we who are His, still live in bondage.  Paul was speaking of the push in the Galation church to become circumcised in order to be more complete, authentic and righteous Christians.  This angered Paul greatly.  Those who started by the Spirit and by grace now wanted to be perfected by the works of the law.

 

It seems to be an obvious error on their part (it helps to have Paul tell us that!) but yet I look carefully at my life and see myself carrying the weight of trying to please God with my deeds.  I want to witness, I want to always tell the truth, to always love, to speak a word of grace to those who need it.  I want to do many great and wonderful things for God.  These are all good, but when I make them a law to please God and gain salvation or right standing, I believe I am in error.  I have gone on to be perfected in the works of law.  Organized religion has done the same with their own added weights…no cards, no alcohol, requirements on foods, no smoking, no instruments, no rock and roll, spiritual laws, do it this way and not that way, this doctrine and not that doctrine, our church is truly the church with correct doctrine, etc.  Why has the church through history placed many burdens that can never fully bring righteousness?  

Perhaps we think it will be easier and we can assure ourselves of salvation and pleasing God if we can come up with a simple list of dos and don’ts to live by.   But when we do this I think we totally miss the relationship with our Father.  I believe God was calling us to be His beloved and to be free from bondage as He restored us through Christ.  I am grateful for that mercy because I know in my own strength I am not capable of gaining His favor (even if my list of dos and don’t is pretty simple).  I am not able to fulfill the righteous commands of His laws…or my laws.  Try as I might, I will fail.  But thanks be to God, He has brought us freedom. 

Today live free from bondage.  Rest in his work and not yours.  Rest in the fact that you are His beloved inspite of your flaws. 

Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…

 

Scott for Wellspring copyright 2007