Oct 262019
 
Buster thinks you’re never too big to be a lap dog

Living in a small house with two big dogs can be challenging.  At 123 and 152 pounds, Joy and Buster Brown (aka “Buzzard”) are not easily ignored.   You can’t lock them in a little dog carrier.  You can’t really hold them in your lap, even if they want you to. It’s difficult to put anything out of their reach.  And I’m still doubting the wisdom in teaching Joy to open the refrigerator.  Life with two big dogs is just crazy sometimes.  But the other day, I thought of something even crazier.  Why don’t people keep 150 pound cats in their house?  

Imagine what it would be like to live with two Mountain Lions in your house.  They are in the same weight class as our dogs.  They have teeth that could chew you to bits, and claws that could rip you to shreds.  They have more than enough strength and weight to pounce on you, knock you to the floor, and literally bite your neck off.  But strangely, none of this is the reason people don’t live with 150 pound cats. 

A Happy Buzzard

Buster Brown has teeth that could chew me to bits.  He has claws that could rip my flesh.  He can and has knocked me down on occasion when we run and play.  My arm fits inside his powerful jaw.  I know because I’ve had it there.  Just this morning, he had my wrist in his mouth.  One crunch and I would be without a hand.  Either Buster Brown or Joy could probably kill me if they wanted to.  Both together certainly could.  So why do people live with big dogs but not big cats?  It’s not the size, teeth, and claws that count.  It’s something else.  It really comes down to one thing.  Trust.

I don’t trust Buster with my dinner on the table.  I don’t trust Joy with the refrigerator open.  I don’t trust either of them with fried chicken scraps in the garbage.  But when we are playing and tussling around the house, when Joy grabs my arm in her big jaw to try to pull me outside to play, when I go to sleep at night and leave the bedroom door open for them to come in at any time, I’m trusting them with my life.

I know my dogs aren’t perfect.  But I also know they respect me as master.  They know I am lord of the house.  They trust me to lead the small pack that is our family.  In their own way, and in at least some sense of the word, they love me.  And I love them.  And because I can trust them to love and respect me, they enjoy the blessings of my love, and my house. 

Buster and Joy Sharing a Bed . . .But wait. Why does Buster have my shoe?

Oct 072017
 

Proverbs says to trust in the Lord and don’t rely on your own understanding. I think I often try to do the first part while ignoring the second part.  It’s more like “I’m trusting you Lord to help ME figure it out.” One big problem with that approach is that it leaves no room for God to do something bigger than I can understand.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5‭-‬6 NET
http://bible.com/107/pro.3.5-6.NET

 Posted by at 8:47 am  Tagged with:
Aug 192013
 

wordle122

I have dreamed of a time when my heart is nestled safely in Faith’s home.  Where there is not a degree of space for doubt to live nor opportunity for its conniving hand to come knocking.

In my vision, I would stay in this home for a lifetime, my feet graced by a floor becoming ever more solid with the passing years.  I would have no fear of the forces outside.  I could not be persuaded to leave no matter how massive the coming storm.

If, beyond the walls, a distracting cacophony should urge me to leave for a period, I would not be tempted to even glimpse through a peep-hole in the back door.  I would rest safely in Faith’s home until my time to go.  And as I move into a place where no walls are needed, those around me will give tribute to the Builder of the home, where I rested, for a lifetime.