Staring at ceramic geese

My Danny Boy Dawg is a hunter at heart, but now that he's somewhere between 10 and 12 years old, with arthritis in his back and hind legs, he can't hunt like he used to. Ever since we got him from NBRAN (a Brittany rescue organization) 2 years ago, he spends his doggy days with his nose to the ground leisurely exploring his back yard or lying in a patch of warm sunlight on his soft blankets, chasing birds and other small, furry critters in his dreams.

Every once in a while, he shows his true hunting nature though. Several weeks ago when a baby bird fell from its nest during a bad storm, Danny had his nose to the front door all day long, wanting to go out and get the bird sitting on a fallen tree branch .

There's another nest of baby birds in a bush just off the front deck that he loves to watch as well - he could sit there for hours just staring at them, every muscle in his body tense and ready should they dare to leave the nest. And all the local chippies know they better hide when Danny's outside.

But my favorite Danny Dawg hunting incident happened last week when we were on vacation at our friend's cabin. We took Danny for a walk around the campground. Suddenly his body tensed and he inched as close as he could to two white ceramic geese, each about a foot tall, in a permanent camper's yard. For several minutes, he stood perfectly still, eyes focused on the pair, willing them to move so he could chase them.


Even though he's older now and apparently can't see very well, when he encounters a bird or small animal, his hunting training and instincts kick in. He focuses on that which he's been trained to do.

What a great reminder for us as Christians! "Teach me your way, Lord, so that I can walk in your truth. Make my heart focused only on honoring your name." Psalm 86:11 CEB

Amen!

Wake-up call...

Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Revelation 3:20 (NLT)

Dogs can truly be "man's best friends" - BUT one of the cons of dog ownership is that they sometimes have to get up early in the morning to go out - when I'm not fully awake yet. But being a good doggy mama, I drag myself out of bed and take them outside.

I'm not sure how it happened, but the back door was locked when I closed it behind me at 6 AM the other morning. There I was in my jammies, no cell phone and no keys, standing on our back-door deck with two wide-awake pooches. My husband snoozed away, unaware in the bedroom at the other end of the house so he couldn't hear my frantic knocking on the back door.


I sat on the deck chair and reviewed my options.
- I could sit out there until he got up in about 2 hours...at least it was warm since it was the middle of July. But that wouldn't work since both the bathroom and my morning coffee were inside the house.
- I could break the glass window pane to open the back door... - not a good plan at all!
- I could go around to his bedroom window and thrown some pebbles at it to try to get his attention... - no, with my luck that morning I'd end up breaking the window... again, not a good idea.

I finally decided to try knocking on the front door - after all it was closer to the bedroom and he might just hear it. On my way around the house, I realized the dining room window was open with a fan inserted in it. So I squeezed through the ornamental bushes to get right up to the window and yelled inside the house - much to the amusement of the customers at the gas station across the street.......

Thankfully the early AM show was short-lived for the gas patrons. My sleepy-eyed husband heard me and dragged himself out of bed to rescue me, I don't remember if I cooked him a good breakfast that morning, but I know he deserved one!

While this is a humorous illustration, the reality is that Jesus wants to be a part of our lives. We've locked him outside of our hearts and lives, content to live without his help. Yet he stands there patiently knocking until we let him in to share our everyday lives. He's powerful enough to break down the door of our will, but he won't. He patiently waits for us to "wake up" to our need for his love and let him in.

Father, thank you for coming in to my heart: for loving me unconditionally, for sharing my everyday experiences and for always being there for me. Amen.