About five weeks ago we welcomed a 5 month old, 60 pound, Bernese Mountain Dog puppy into our family. She has been a fun, fuzzy addition to our family. She has a great personality and the way she tilts her head sideways when we talk to her is absolutely adorable! We all really like her a lot. Along with all the cuteness of a new puppy though comes the hours of work; house training, obedience training, teaching "the rules of the house" and our routines, teaching how to ride in the car, walk nicely on a leash and plenty more. She's been doing quite well adjusting to her new home, new routines, new rules, new family, and new language (Her last family only spoke Polish!)
Having been home for a little over a month, Tilly is now a 70+ lb. ball of energy. We are still working to finish the perimeter fence on our property, so in addition to spending time running around with the neighbors two boxers on their fenced acreage, it is very important our big pup get at least one long walk every day. She is plenty big enough to pull me all over the place if I let her, but since that is not very enjoyable and b/c I am recovering from a torn meniscus in my knee, I have to be very careful not to let her. Our Tilly girl has been doing pretty well with walking. She, for the most part, has learned to stick right to my side and doesn't pull too much, letting me walk slightly in front of her. She obediently sits at intersections or anytime she is on leash and we stop walking for any reason. She starts walking when I start walking and stops and sits when I stop. However, she only sometimes will look up at me during our walk. I don't yet consistently have her full attention. Somedays I do, and wow is there a difference! When her attention is focused on me, we will have a nice, fast-paced walk together that will help her relieve a good bit of her extra puppy energy and she is a much happier pup. When I have her full attention, her gaze continuously looking up at me to see that I am there, asking what it is that I want her to do, when we pass things that scare her, or other dogs that she'd want to play with, we walk so smoothly past all the distractions. She isn't afraid and we both feel good after our walk. When I don't have her full attention, our walk is restless, the pace uneven, as effort and time are spent realigning her to my side, as she continuously attempts to bounce around, trying to pull me here and there and everywhere as she swings her huge, beautiful, snowy white snout around wide-eyed trying to see everything out there, there is to see. Her gaze is darting back and forth from this to that while we walk. Our walk is miserable. She gets scared super easily, whether it be a garage door opening, a skate boarder wheeling beside us in the bike lane, or other animals that she wants to meet. Our walk is not smooth, but rather, we bounce back and forth, left to right, frontward and backward as she seeks out the next new excitement or tries to hide from the thing that scared her. Sadly, on those walks, though she's physically exhausted from pulling, she doesn't release any pent-up energy, because instead she's built up excitement energy instead.
She is doing much better now than when we first got her, but we still have a way to go yet. For now, our walks are still full of me reminding my furry friend, "Look here Tilly" or "You'll enjoy your walk more if you just look up at me". When she gets scared by something, I beckon to her "Look up at me, I'll show you everything will be OK if you just look at me."
I love how God uses our mudane life activities to lovingly nudge us with His truth. For weeks now, as I've work to keep my ornery pup's gaze, and as I hear my voice calling out reminders to the dog, I've also heard a much sweeter voice, calling to me.
"That's right Kassy, look up at Me."
"Don't let the distractions of the world rob you of this time with Me. Look up at me."
"Forget everything around you. You don't have to be scared, I'll get you through. You just need to focus on Me."
" You don't need to chase after all the seemingly "fun" or "good" things you see. I'm good and only when you look to Me will you truly be satisfied."
"Don't worry about what everyone else is doing or what they think of you, just look to Me, when you do, you'll remember you've been fearfully and wonderfully made. I have a beautiful plan for your life. Don't miss out on all I have planned b/c you're looking at the distractions instead of up at Me"
Oh my sweet, sweet, loving Lord. Thank You!
Life can be scary and busy and confusing!
The truth is, without Him, I'm terrified to walk through life. I'm scared and confused. Many times I don't even know which way to begin.
Every morning as I hook our Tilly pup to her leash and begin leading her down the road, I'm reminded of this truth. It's like getting a hug from Him, every morning as He reminds me, "I know there is a lot going on, but just focus on Me." Such a difference that one simple thing does! Our walk can be either a quality time for both of us, or it can be absolute chaos!
When I'm am focused on my Master, I enjoy peace. Oh the distractions are still there, so are the things that scare me, but I can calming walk past them or walk through them b/c my eyes on my Master.
When I have our eyes focused on Him, I trust Him to lead me through anything and everything. I don't tug and pull to get away to try to experience those things around me that look "fun" or "good", but that He knows aren't the things that are "best" for me. I don't waste our energy desiring things I'm not meant to have or stressing over fears I don't need to be afraid of. He's got this!
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| Praise the Lord! He's leading us and we can trust Him to lead us the whole way on this walk, called LIFE, until He finally leads us home! |
