Lessons learned and unlearned

Dog’s can learn and unlearn tricks pretty quick. When we first got Brody he actually came when you told him to come. Well, that has changed. He now kinda just looks around and goes back to gnawing holes in his squeaker toys or playing (dominatingly) tug-a-war with my brother-in-laws dog up visiting for a couple of days. So we will have to do some obedience training with him for he quickly unlearned what he had previously learned. However he has been afraid to go up the stairs. He would go only as far as he could without taking his hind legs off the ground floor. That has changed now. After crying for 5 minutes because everyone was upstairs in school, he braved the stairs and made it gingerly up. Now, up and down the stairs he goes without any problem. Tomorrow we will see if he will learn to handle being left alone while the kids are in school and no partner to wrestle with.

New Addition

Well today we had an addition to our family a puppy, half boxer, half lab and fully energetic. This guy had a rough start, his first owner didn’t want him or his 8 other newborn siblings so to get rid of them took them out in the back yard dug a hole and tossed them into the hole and covered them up alive. When neighbors heard the commotion, they went to rescue them and pulled them all out, and Brody is the only one that survived. He was fostered by a friend that loves dogs dearly and had tears in her eyes when he was loaded into the car. Two totally different people; one with selfish malice one with unbridled compassion. Now he is in his final home and being loved on by an entire family. The best part; the thump, thump, thump of that large tail as he is being scratched behind the ears.

At the Cross

This morning I was praying for a friend of mine that six months ago would have never thought he would be where he is now. He is now leading a group of people in their spiritual journey, leading them in community building relationships that as another friend of mine preached, is “centered on the person and the cause of Christ”. As I was talking to Christ about this new leader and how he now sees the destitute, the sheep without a shepherd, telling Him about how my friend wants to connect with all people where he even spent the night outside – and not camping – so he would know what a homeless person went through when it was freezing outside, I began to ask Christ to protect him, help him understand that when He moves him to the very core of his being, convicts his heart with His word, forces him to his knees in repentance, and he lives a life abounding with joy in obedience, that when he shares his conviction with the group he is leading, the vast majority of them unfortunately will not be moved and be blind to the joys that he is experiencing. I continued in asking Christ to lead my friend in patience and that when the people he is leading become dry and hardened, to have him remember to take them back to the cross and have them remember from where they have fallen for the cross isn’t a ticket to be gained, but a consequence given. I asked Christ to let him know that some are there only because they want to get into heaven. As I continued I began singing the hymn “At The Cross” and the verse and refrain hit me hard;

“Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing Pity! Grace unknown
And love beyond degree!

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!

I pondered on the words, imagery, and emotions of the song wrapped in personal application of when I have crumbled at the foot of the cross and my attention went to my relief and joy of when, “the burden of my heart rolled away” and that it was the Holy Spirit that opened my eyes. So I asked Christ to make sure that my friend understands that no matter how much conviction he experiences that leads to his repentance and being reconciled with Christ, not everybody will be convicted as he is convicted because not everyone has the same commitment to obedience that he has, nor hearts that listen to His prompting as his.

If so, I will go

How much do I have the feet of Christ? A friend wrote a blog the other day about situational awareness. His point was about having the eyes of Christ. I realized something today, that the eyes of Christ are the beginning. If I see the multitude as Christ sees them, destitute, like sheep without a shepherd, do I have the feet of Christ to go? Go and sit with the person that nobody cares about, that has always been ridiculed, made fun for no good reason, Go and encourage those that are down, Go and forgive the guy that tosses his empty beer can in my yard, Go and deny myself for the betterment of others? Am I willing to go the way Christ went, giving up glory to die so that someone else may live? You see it no longer becomes a question of having the knowledge; it becomes a question of willingness. Are my desires His desires? If so, I will go.

All That Glitters Isn't Gold

Tonight I was talking with my daughters about the clothes they have and how cute they are. When I think back about all the clothes they have, more often than not I don’t remember ever buying them because they get most of them as hand me downs from other friends. Well my youngest daughter Gabby made a comment that her older sister Robin gets all the cloths and she doesn’t get anything. The reason is Robin is older and bigger and the people that give us clothing have girls that are older and bigger than Robin so it has everything to do with their sizes. What broke my heart was the conclusion that Gabby came up with as to the reason she doesn’t get any clothes. “It’s because nobody likes me.” How often has our thought pattern been the same, because we weren’t asked to go somewhere with a group or we didn’t get a Christmas card from the people we sent cards to nobody likes us? So in our privacy fenced in lives, how are we supposed to fulfill the social nature within each of us? How would our lives be different if we truly believed and accepted that Christ’s love is sufficient for us? How much more grateful would we be for that love, how much more devoted would we be to loving Him with all of heart, mind, soul, and strength? What would happen if we lived that devoted life that didn’t need to be put behind a privacy fence, a life where there is no difference between the life we project for everyone to see and the one we live behind closed doors fully devoted to Him? I pray that I demonstrate His unconditional love to the extent that Robin and Gabby see that He is all they need.