Puppy Love....
SHINE Reading Plan: Go here.
Subscribe to SHINE emails: Go here.
"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, "'From the lips of children and infants you, LORD, have called forth your praise'?" Matthew 21:16
We just got a new puppy. 8 weeks old. Brand spanking new.
It is a lot like having a toddler. Especially while house training. Whew. I'm tired.
But, our little puppy has already taught me a few things. Imagine that.
I watch Bo [our puppy] chase his tail, chase butterflies, worms, squirrels. He is so joyful and full of spunk.
He sees the world with different eyes. Eyes that are filled with wonder and amazement.
He is so innocent.
Innocent to cars, mean people, mean dogs, mean cats, any kind of danger....just so innocent.
I love watching him explore this big, beautiful world. It makes me smile. Yet, it makes me sad at the same time.
When did I lose that joy?
When did I lose that sense of amazement of the things that God daily surrounds me with? Like, the tall trees, the blooming hydrangeas, the red birds that constantly flit and play in my yard.
Why don't I notice those things anymore?
Instead, many days I see busy. I see stress. I see rushing. I see a short tempered mother. I see a guilt filled mother after my short temper explodes.
What happened to my innocence? What happened to my seeing the best in all things?
I remember life as a little girl as being magical. Everything was amazing and new!
I day dreamed about my future husband, children, playing house...
Where are those dreams when you are full grown with growing children, growing bills, and growing worries?
The news makes me anxious. And hopeless at times.
Yet, when I look at our little puppy, I am filled with remembering hope. The deep, satisfying, soul filling kind of hope that gets lost in the hustle and bustle of life.
Bo sees what God sees.
Amazingly, God has used this little bundle of fur to remind me to have the faith of a child...in all things.
And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3
That's what so often is missing in my life.
When we have been hurt, rejected, neglected, disappointed, let down...
We close off parts of our soul that feel the pain of those memories.
We may even feel let down by God...I get this. I too have struggled with the pain of unanswered prayer.
But, when we do focus on the losses and the let downs, we lose that child like faith. We lose Hope and Expectation that God will make all things good.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28
Have you been in a similar place? Void of hope?
There is a remedy.
Gratitude.
Humility.
Forgiveness.
Praise.
But, here is the thing...
We have to do these things every day. Clothe ourselves with these things.
It will not just happen.
We must wake up every morning and decide to choose...
To see.
To see the good.
To see the lovely.
To see the hope over the despair.
To forgive.
To praise.
It really is a choice.
What will you choose today?
“At present we are on the outside… the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the pleasures we see. But all the pages of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Someday, God willing, we shall get “in”… We will put on glory… that greater glory of which Nature is only the first sketch.
thank you Bo,
jill
Subscribe to SHINE emails: Go here.
"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, "'From the lips of children and infants you, LORD, have called forth your praise'?" Matthew 21:16
We just got a new puppy. 8 weeks old. Brand spanking new.
It is a lot like having a toddler. Especially while house training. Whew. I'm tired.
But, our little puppy has already taught me a few things. Imagine that.
I watch Bo [our puppy] chase his tail, chase butterflies, worms, squirrels. He is so joyful and full of spunk.
He sees the world with different eyes. Eyes that are filled with wonder and amazement.
He is so innocent.
Innocent to cars, mean people, mean dogs, mean cats, any kind of danger....just so innocent.
I love watching him explore this big, beautiful world. It makes me smile. Yet, it makes me sad at the same time.
When did I lose that joy?
When did I lose that sense of amazement of the things that God daily surrounds me with? Like, the tall trees, the blooming hydrangeas, the red birds that constantly flit and play in my yard.
Why don't I notice those things anymore?
Instead, many days I see busy. I see stress. I see rushing. I see a short tempered mother. I see a guilt filled mother after my short temper explodes.
What happened to my innocence? What happened to my seeing the best in all things?
I remember life as a little girl as being magical. Everything was amazing and new!
I day dreamed about my future husband, children, playing house...
Where are those dreams when you are full grown with growing children, growing bills, and growing worries?
The news makes me anxious. And hopeless at times.
Yet, when I look at our little puppy, I am filled with remembering hope. The deep, satisfying, soul filling kind of hope that gets lost in the hustle and bustle of life.
Bo sees what God sees.
Amazingly, God has used this little bundle of fur to remind me to have the faith of a child...in all things.
And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3
That's what so often is missing in my life.
When we have been hurt, rejected, neglected, disappointed, let down...
We close off parts of our soul that feel the pain of those memories.
We may even feel let down by God...I get this. I too have struggled with the pain of unanswered prayer.
But, when we do focus on the losses and the let downs, we lose that child like faith. We lose Hope and Expectation that God will make all things good.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28
Have you been in a similar place? Void of hope?
There is a remedy.
Gratitude.
Humility.
Forgiveness.
Praise.
But, here is the thing...
We have to do these things every day. Clothe ourselves with these things.
It will not just happen.
We must wake up every morning and decide to choose...
To see.
To see the good.
To see the lovely.
To see the hope over the despair.
To forgive.
To praise.
It really is a choice.
What will you choose today?
“At present we are on the outside… the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the pleasures we see. But all the pages of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Someday, God willing, we shall get “in”… We will put on glory… that greater glory of which Nature is only the first sketch.
We do not want to merely “see” beauty–though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words–to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it."-C.S. Lewis
thank you Bo,
jill
