Some History-My Very First Posts

from July 27, 2012 – first real post

Lessons Learned

I’ve been keeping a journal, sort of, for years. And since I’m learning how to “do” a blog, I think that I’ll be easy on myself and start with this. It’s been sitting around for a while!

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Learned it from my dog

I was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast one morning recently, with Bandit, our little Jack Russell Terrier, staring up at me watching every bite that went to my mouth. We’ve had him a couple of years now, and he has definitely taught us a few things. How to share the double recliner, share meals, share the front seat of the car, share your breakfast, you get the idea. And as we sat there, eating breakfast (he gets a bite every now and then) it dawned on me that there was something more I could learn from him. I could learn about the way my relationship with God should be. No, really!

It came to me that the relationship my dog has with me is very similar to the one I SHOULD have with God. Let me try to explain.

Waiting

To start with, there is the waiting at meal time. That little dog comes in the kitchen at the first rattle of a pan, eager to see what we will be eating. Now, of course there is a bowl of dog chow right there for him all the time, but he knows there is something better coming, he just has to wait. And that waiting is the hardest thing he has to do! He is so eager, so filled with anticipation. He sniffs and stands on his hind legs to try to see better (he’s pretty short), and wags that tail non-stop, hoping I’ll let him do a “taste-test”.

Now, I’m starting to see it this way. Shouldn’t I wait in anticipation like that to be fed by God? I know there is something better to come, I know I have to wait. But I get impatient, I get tired of waiting, I get bored. In the kitchen , I keep creating a meal, whether Bandit is watching or not, but I enjoy his company. The heavenly Father keeps on working in my life whether I am waiting, bored, or tired. Even if I wander out of the room, He keeps working, and the good things that he is preparing will be ready for me, whenever I return.

After the meal is prepared and we sit down to eat, Bandit is right there. He goes back and forth between us, or sits by one of us, waiting for the good food to come down to him. That bowl of dog chow is still there, and he will eat it eventually. But he knows that if he pays close attention to us, we will reward him with something delicious. He’s especially fond of carrots, and spaghetti noodles. Oh, and beef stew, his absolute favorite!

Mark 7:24-30 ( KJV ) 24And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.  25For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:  26The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.  27But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.  28And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.  29And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.  30And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

Again, he waits, he’s eager, he knows good things will come. I want to be that way with God. I want to be eager, anticipating goodness in my relationship with Him. I have things nearby that could satisfy me in some way, but I know that what is coming down from the “table above” is going to be SO much better. Blessings and knowledge, and love and my favorite, grace.

Well, there you have it.  I hope that you will enjoy this as well as, just maybe, take something away from it.  Let me know!

from July 26, 2012

Hello!

My first post!  I am really starting this blog…to learn how to do it!  You can read blogs and about them, but until you try to do it yourself you don’t learn much!  So here I go, old dog learning a new trick…hopefully.