Last Chance for the Lake and Graduation Day

(From the Paw of Me)

Greetings all! Wow! I have just been so busy with all my social outings and educational advancement I have barely had time for keeping all of you updated on the happenings going on with me. I am sure that the suspense has been killing you. So, this blog should put your minds at ease.

First: Day at the Lake!

The owners took me to Hickory to see my brother, Wuillis, and go swimming at his grandfather's lake. We ran up and down these long pieces of wood nailed together called a 'dock'. Then the owners threw some tennis balls and toys in the water and we competed to see who could jump the farthest. (I won that contest- see above photo). Wuillis won the endurance competition- swimming out to the middle of the lake numerous times over to retrieve the water toy. My stamina started to give out after about two solid hours of swimming. Oh sweet lake- I will miss you...until springtime...


Next: Graduation Day!



After many grueling weeks of hard work, intense concentration, and consumption of many treats I have graduated from obedience school. My head master, Ellen, at the Bed and Biscuit said that I made much improvement over the course of her tutelage. I can now walk with out my mother pulling on my leash. I can get numerous treats for sitting in one spot for an extended period of time. I get peanut butter and chicken just for lying down in my crate and going to sleep. And, because of my ADHD (Attention Doggie Hyperactivity Disorder) I got to switch to all turkey food! (Can anyone say Tryptophan?) Even more sleeping- Yes! I love obedience school.

And Lastly...I have just been informed by my owners that I have been 'Honest Scrapped' by someone called Sassy Pants. Stay tuned to find out 10 honest things about me. :) So Long for Now!

I Love Soccer Season

(From the Paw of Me)

Today was the first home game of the season. As you can tell by the photos included it is hardwork being the offical team mascot and good luck charm for the Montreat College men's soccer team. I arrived just before the game started in time for the players to give me a rub for good luck. Then I was off to tour the sidelines and motivate all the fans to cheer harder. Next I traveled in the golf cart with my dad to get water for the teams during halftime. Then I had to do some more socializing and motivational speaking. Unfortunately, after all this, we lost 2-1. But you can bet I will be out there next game ready to do it all again!

It's Been A Long Time

(From the mind of he)

Times have been busy. Much has been happening. Many things learned.

I've learned that if you complain or add fuel to other complaints then all that happens is the knocking down of another person. Jesus says "Blessed are the peacemakers". This is what I desire to be. A peacemaker. Someone who can put out fires, not makes them burn brighter and hurt more people. Sin makes us want to hold on to the Adam aspect of our lives. It makes us defensive when someone tries to speak into our lives in an attempt to help us. We must give God all we are. He will break through our walls and make things the way He desires. He can free us from ourselves. This is what I need to happen. I need to live in the freedom that only Christ offers.

I woke up one night a while ago an wrote this. It was fitting then and continues to be fitting now. This was written on 1/4/08:
One Road

As I walk this road

It seems to be known

Stuggles from the past

Struggles that seem to last

Hope is always there for me

Freedom is all around

Trusting that my Savior

Can save me once more

Love is the Answer

Love is the only Key

The World still continues

To fall away from me

This Road leads one place

Once place I want to be

The world leads many

Many places unseen

Sin should have no power

It's wiped away from me

Trust is the Savior

Follow The One Road

I have no poetry training so I know I probably didn't follow the proper format. Freedom is there. Freedom is true. Freedom is beautiful.

What A Summer!

(From The Paw Of Me)

Wow! The 'owners' have really been keeping me busy this summer. I have been in 10 different states in less than a month! I have meet all kinds of new people. My favorite kinds of new people are 'kids'! These smaller versions of people are great! They have as much energy as me and they let me get away with way more than the 'owners' do. They do wonderful things like leave treat bags lying around for the taking and holding pancakes and other food items right at my level.

I just got back from a great place called 'Minnesota'. Did you know there are actually 10,000 lakes there? That's right...I said 10,000!!!! I got to swim in about 5. We stayed in a place where you could see the water just outside the window! There were lots of other creatures there that I had never seen before. I really wanted to get a closer look at the animals called 'ducks' but for some reason the owners kept pulling me away.

It's been fun being a world class traveler but I am glad to be back home. I was starting to miss my own comfy bed and my nice little yard. I have enclosed some photos of my trip and my new friends. I hope you enjoy them!

A Weekend to Grill

(From the mind of he)

We just had a weekend full of grilling. We had the FCA leadership team over for a cookout on Thursday. We had the moms and my dad over on Friday and Saturday. Friday night we cooked chicken and had our first fire in our new fire pit. We managed not to catch any of the pines on fire. Saturday Mickey and Brenda came and we grilled hot dogs for lunch and steaks and veggies for dinner. Needless to say the grill is getting a workout. I love the season when you can grill and hang out outside. Family, friends and good food. We even had some intense outdoor dart games. Good times.

A New Post

(From the mind of he)

For all two of you who read this, I posted something new but started it on April 9 and didn't finish it until today, so it was posted under The Beginning.

Thanks

The Beginning

(From the mind of he, written for some reason in 1st and 3rd person )

Bare with me on this one. This is coming from a week without the wife. So in other words, sleep deprivation and many sugar highs and lows.

It all began one year ago today. It was a beautiful spring morning when little Zaba came into the world. He didn't quite know what was going on, but would soon learn what this world had to offer. He had freedom, he had a farm. He ran after four wheelers, ran with the horses, and played with his mother and siblings for hours on end. Three months go by and these strange people pull up in a green vehicle. He runs to them and greets them enthusiastically, not knowing what would soon follow. Little Zaba is taken from the farm life and introduced to the spoiled life. The life of weak-willed owners.
The Present- My friend Scott came over last night and we had a celebration of his birthday, which entailed giving him some steak. The steak disappeared in five seconds. We celebrated yesterday because I thought yesterday was the 17th. Again this goes back to a week without the wife. Anyway, it has been great times since we got our puppy. Life-changing and I have enjoyed every moment. And just think, in another year and a half he will calm down some. Maybe.

A Journey

(From the mind of he)

So I've been on this journey for the past 6 weeks or so. The journey I'm on involves this book by Paul Tripp called A Quest for More. It has been very eye opening and has allowed me to get a better understanding of the character of Christ. The book talks about the two kingdoms. The big kingdom, which is God's, and our own little kingdom.
The little kingdom is compared to a cubicle we build around ourselves. In my cubicle I have everything arranged how I like it. My timing, my purposes, my way. What God is trying to do is to punch a hole through my cubicle so I can see that there is this world out there which is in need. And once I see the need He wants to pull me through the hole and destroy my cubicle. Paul Tripp used this story as an example. He said when he was in seminary he and several of his classmates would ride to school together and discuss deep theological truths and solve all the worlds problems. Then one day he looked out the window and noticed the run down buildings, the homeless people, the lost. He was very focused on knowledge but forgot to apply that knowledge in love. I do that often. I concern myself often with how wise I can become through scripture, but forget that the point of knowledge and wisdom is to build others up. I'm too busy at times building my own spiritual resume and forget that I must decrease and Christ must increase. Luke 7 says this about the Pharisees, "...they rejected God's purpose for themselves." They had become so knowledgeable and wise that they felt they didn't need God to show them the path. They had discovered the path that fit them best.
Jesus on the other hand always lived for the big kingdom, God's Kingdom. His focus was never Himself. He never focused on the temporal or what He could see or touch. He focused on souls. I feel the reason He could do this was because His life was always looking outward. (Now don't get me wrong, Jesus spent many hours alone with God in prayer, which gave Him the strength to do this. But even prayer is reliance on God instead of ourselves). He looked around at others, he listened and invested His time in building relationships. Not so He could have friends or feel important (Although fellowship is very important). But He did this so He would know what the source of peoples struggles were. He cared and He loved while He walked this Earth, and He still does.
Now it's my turn to care and to love. To keep my head up and always be looking for the opportunity to impact the big kingdom. Self must die. Live for others. Live for God's purpose and His purpose alone.

On a side note. I have no idea when to use semi-colons.

Love vs Legalism

(From the mind of he)

I've learned that it is really easy to judge and really difficult to love. To live by grace and truth and not under the law. It says in John that Moses brought the law but Jesus showed how to live by grace and truth. So you have the law and you have grace. It is easy to let personal convictions stand in the way of loving others, or rather see faults in people instead of seeing how good they really are at loving someone that you may find it hard to love.
I know in my personal life that grace and my own judgement of others gets intermingled way too much. God is the only judge, I must show grace to all because it was shown so abundantly to me. So the question becomes, how important are personal convictions? Is it Bible based or just a human concept? If I stick by my convictions but don't love someone because of those convictions, I feel I am definitely missing the point. I also feel that you don't have to sacrifice the way God wants you to live to love people. I believe Jesus is the key. He did this perfectly. He didn't do away with the law but fulfilled it. He loved people perfectly. He loved them in a true way. He was there for them but challenged them. He broke free from the pharisees perceptions of right and wrong and just showed truth. This must be what I do. I must live in truth, not my interpretation of truth, but the Truth.
I must love and show grace. I must always listen to the Holy Spirit who screams at me often. I must stop thinking that I have it figured out and kneel down and listen to the one who does.

Faith

(From the mind of he)

Well, this ones not really from my mind, but I did read this and wanted to share it with you.

This story is about a minister in Iran.

A minister and his wife were driving through northern Iran. They came to a small village where he decided to buy water. As he stops his car he notices a man leaning against the wall of the shop with a beard and a machine gun. The wife sees the man's gun and face, takes a Bible in Farsi, and puts it in her husband's pocket. She says, "Give that man a Bible." Her husband looks at the beard, looks at the gun, and says, "No." She says, 'No, no, no. Seriously. Give it to him. Really. Please. Give it to him. Give him the Bible." So he says, "I'll pray about it." He goes into the shop, comes out with bottles of water, and they drive away. The wife looks at her husband. "You didn't give him the Bible, did you?" He said, "No, I prayed about it. It wasn't the right thing to do." She said, "You should have given him one." He disagrees and they go back and forth. So the wife bows her head and prays out loud fervently that her husband might listen to God. At that point, they have a friendly discussion that married couples have from time to time that ends with words, "Fine! If you want me to die, I will."

The husband turns the car around and goes back into the village. He gets out of the car, walks up to the man, and places a Bible in his hands. The man opens it and starts to cry. He said, "I don't live here. I live three days' walk from here. But three days ago an angel came and appeared to me and told me to walk to this village and wait until someone had given me the Book of Life. Thank you for giving me this book."

This comes from Ravi Zacharias' news letter. He also added this about the gospel. "We need to know that the gospel is simple enough to reach a little child and sophisticated enough to reach the finest minds..."

I Am Second

Hey Everyone,
Check out this website www.iamsecond.com
Brian Welch from the band KORN (remember them?) gives an amazing testimonial about how he came to Christ. Also some other 'famous' people and just 'regular' people with the same kinds of daily struggles and issues that we all face. It's a really powerful site- check it out!

What We Were Made For

(From the mind of he)


The wife and I went to visit the family in Chapel Hill this weekend. My nephew was in a way off Broadway musical entitled The Remarkable Ark.

We were headed west on I40 and at exit 113 something crazy happened. I noticed a silver car coming from behind me at an extreme rate of speed. Had to be at least a hundred. Well the driver decided to take the off ramp without slowing, and I thought to myself 'how are they going to slow in time'. Then about that time we heard a very loud screech and when we looked over the car was flipping into the trees that lined the off ramp. We called the police, pulled off the road, and went up the on ramp to determine if the person was OK. Well, miraculously enough , the lady was completely uninjured. I talked to some others who had stopped and some said she was suicidal, others said she was running from the police, while another said her tire had been flat for a couple of miles and she was still driving 90. Someone approached the car and the lady in the car told them to leave her alone. All and all it was a very strange situation.

The amazing thing to me in this situation, other than her being uninjured, was the amount of people who stopped to see if she was OK. This leads me to the title of this blog. We were made to love God and love people. We were made to worship God. What I saw out there amongst the crowd was love. There had to be about 20 to 30 people who stopped what they were doing to care for another human being. Unfortunately it seems to take extreme circumstances to bring people together for the common good. When I think about this from a Gospel perspective it makes me realize that everyone who doesn't know Christ is in a serious situation. I need to stop what I am doing and present love and truth to them. Someone did that for me when I was living in a serious situation. Their care changed my life forever and enabled me to stop running and searching. I pray in this situation that the lady who received a second chance will stop running and surrender to a loving Savior.

And on a side note, my nephew was an excellent lemur and sang beautifully.

Given to Fly

(From the mind of he)

Since February is almost up I must give this months dose of "My Interpretation of Pearl Jam Lyrics". I know you are all excited. Today's lyrics comes from a song called Given to Fly. It goes like this...

He floated back down cause he wanted to share

His key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere

But first he was stripped and then he was stabbed

By faceless men, well, #@#$%^&

He still stands

And he still gives his love, he just gives it away

The love he receives is the love that is saved

And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky

A human being that was given to fly

I feel these lyrics tell a very good story of what Christ did while He walked the Earth, and what He is still doing in many lives today.

One of the best stained glass windows we saw while we were in France last summer was of Jesus standing with His arms open, as if to receive the world, while people were standing below Him with broken chains falling off their wrists. Christ came to set the captives free. He was stripped, stabbed, and hung on a tree, which was all part of Him accomplishing His purpose. The world hated Him, but He still stands. The world still hates Him, but He still stands. He is the only one who has the key to unlock any chain that may bind us. He gives His love and when we love Him in return, He frees us.

(Given to Fly can be found on Pearl Jam's 5th album, which is entitled Yield)

Spoiled Doggie

(From the Heart of She)

It is starting to slowly dawn on me how spoiled our dog truly is! So much so that I really don't want to admit in writing the evidence to that fact. I have included a picture of Zaba that captures the essence of his 'spoiledness' - his expression basically says "I soooo have it made and there is nothing you or anyone else can do about it!"

on another note- I am getting spring fever big time. I am soooo over this winter. I also am really missing my family and the friends that we don't get to see often (which is basically all of you reading this!) It just seems that life is going by so fast that there is never time to stop and visit. But we are making time this summer. Zaba, Mark and I are coming to a town near you! We plan to visit A LOT of people this summer that we haven't had the chance to see in a while. (With a side trip to Minnesota!) Don't ask how we chose that destination- but there is a reason behind it. We are staying at the Gunflint Lodge on the Minnesota/Canadian border - check it out at http://www.gunflint.com/slideshow.html I am hoping to see some northern lights! (one of my life goals!) Mark's parents are also taking their children and grandchildren to Disney world and one of our good friends is getting married. Needless to say it will be a jam packed summer. Can you tell I am just a little excited (and ready for a break!)

Lastly, Mark and I begin our classes for foster parent certification next week. This is just a beginning step so, of course, we will have lots to consider and pray about along the way. We aren't going to be rushing into anything. But we have felt for a long time that this is a desire God has laid on our hearts, so we are really excited about taking the first step! Please pray for God's guidance for us as we begin this journey.

We love and miss all of you. Thank you for staying tuned to our site and reading about all of Zaba's crazy antics!

Soap

(From the mind of he)

Soap, not to be confused with soup, is Zaba's new passion. He for some reason beyond my comprehension wants the bar soap that is in my bathroom. When I took it away he proceeded to lick where the soap used to be. Strange puppy. He also really likes Dana's ear plugs, eye solution and toothpaste.
This really goes along with my continual growth in God through the dog. Meaning the things God continues to teach me through caring for a puppy. I continue to see the things that God's taking away from me because they aren't very good in His eyes (Genesis 1:31).

Surrender

(From the mind of he)

I'm involved with a Bible study with some of the guys from the college. This Monday we watched a message from a guy who pastors a church in Brooklyn. His message was about God's house being a house of prayer. He opened with the story of Jesus clearing the temple of the money changers and saying, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have made it a robbers' den."(Mark 11:17) A House of Prayer. My life must be a house of prayer.
As the message went on the pastor said something that stuck out to me. He said if you can beat Satan in prayer then you can beat him in any other aspect of your life. I pondered this and came up with the following:

1. The last thing Satan wants anyone to do is to talk to God. I learned that talking to God is not relying on yourself. Humility will grow and pride will die with a conversation at the throne of grace.

2. Everything must begin with prayer. The Bible is truth, but if I don't seek the Holy Spirit's guidance then all I'm doing is trying to figure out what God is trying to say. If I talk to God first then guidance and strength will flow from His Word.

3. I've tried many times in life to figure things out and I always end up in the same situation, which is walking around in circles. All things are impossible without God. (for a reference on this refer back to my Lost Sheep blog about the Zaba making a break for it)

4. God has everything I could ever need. All the answers await me and are found in His presence.

I've had a continual struggle with prayer. Sometimes my tent of meeting is strong, and at other times the conversation is short or nonexistent. I know for prayer to take hold and transform I must surrender all. I must give Him my life daily, pick up my cross, and follow Him. I know He will always keep me on that narrow path. A path that I will only be able to see with prayer.

Withdrawals

(From the mind of he)

Our puppy is going through dog withdrawals. Ever since the incident of his escape he has not been around any other dogs. I have a fear of him taking off again, so I have been overly cautious with him.When I drive with him and he sees another dog on the side of the road he perks up and turns completely around in his seat to watch the dog until it disappears from sight. This morning I was hiking a trail and before I got out of the truck I had leaned over to tie my boots and a dog walked by. Zaba wanted to play with this dog so badly that he jumped on my shoulders and sat there barking at the dog through the window.
His desire for dog companionship is astounding. I feel he loves us and doesn't want to be separated from us, but that in no way compares to his desire for play with other dogs. He sees his brother every once in awhile, but it is not enough to satisfy him.
When I think about this in the spiritual, I think about myself and where my desire is. I ask myself if my desire is like his when it comes to God. Do I freak out when I have the opportunity to spend time with Him? Do I put my desire for Him before all else? Sadly the answers to these questions are normally no.
The solution: Get dog time for Zaba. Get reconnected with God. Set up specific times for Zaba to play with another dog. Have specific times for God, before I do anything else in the day. Many lessons are continued to be learned from our crazy puppy. Thanks for listening. Sorry some of the sentences don't have spaces, the computer is behaving strangely.

My First Snow!

(From the Paw of Me)

Last night I got to experience my first snow. It's this wonderful cold white stuff that you can eat and roll around in. It was great! Mommy got to stay home from work today, so she is happy too. I have included some photos of me in the snow. Enjoy!

The Lost Sheep

(From the mind of he)

Luke 15:4- What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

I was walking Zaba down at the Black Mountain campus today. Our usual routine is that I throw the lacrosse ball and he chases it and brings it back. It is a great location because usually the place is absent of people or other dogs. Today however was very different.

I threw the ball and Zaba was on the way to retrieve it when another dog came out of no where. Zaba's ultimate weakness is other dogs. He wants to play with them and all other thoughts are gone from his mind when another dog is present. Zaba was chasing the ball and then spotted the dog. He proceeded to ignore the ball and go after the dog. Well, the other dog ran and Zaba pursued. He would not listen to my voice. I ran after them but their speed is obviously way too much for me. They stopped for a minute about 50 yards away and when I neared they ran into the woods. When I rounded the corner of the trail they took into the woods they were gone. I called for him but once again he didn't come. I started running and calling for Zaba but all to no avail. He was no where to be seen.


I continued to search the area but once again he was gone. This whole time I was crying out to God. I was in an impossible situation. There was 80 acres of land to search not counting if they ran to the road which led into the town. The whole time all I could think about was how I let him down. He is my responsibility and he was missing. He's also my buddy and the thought of not finding him made me very sad and emotional. I'm not one that cries often, but tears found there way to my face very easy in this situation. So the whole time I'm praying and crying and running and just trying my best to trust in God and trust in His hope.


After walking around for about 40 minutes I decided to get in my truck and drive around and look for him. I was driving toward the town in an attempt to loop around and continue my search when I saw a lady walking down the street. I pulled over and asked her if she had seen a yellow lab, and miraculously she had. She said she believed the lady who owned the black dog had Zaba at her house. So I turned back and drove to where she instructed and there was Zaba standing outside of the fence waiting for his new friend to come back. When I pulled up and got out of the truck I called him and he came. He seemed genuinely excited to be found. I got him back in the truck and went home. I praised God for yet another act of grace and mercy.


In this situation I was able to learn many things about God and catch some glimpses of the way He views the world. (1)God wants His children back, He calls to them and many do not hear His voice. For Zaba the temptation of the other dog outweighed my voice, the voice that cares for him and loves him. (2) As I would not give up on looking for Zaba, God never gives up on us. If anything it is us that gives up on Him. (3) I also learned that this was the first time in my life where I cried out to God. I prayed before about some serious issues, but I always tried to keep my own calm while praying. I learned that God wants me to be real, be true and heartfelt. I need to cry out in prayer for the broken lives, the hurting marriages, the many that do not know His hope and salvation. I need to care so much that I will not give up trying to reach those in need. This situation of losing Zaba for 45 minutes was horrible, but God was with me through out the whole thing. He helped me let go of myself and trust in Him. The Bible says that He will never leave you or forsake you. I felt that presence of His today in a situation that I had absolutely no control over.

Luke 15:5-6- When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'

When the Wife's Away

(From the mind of he)

My wonderful and beautiful wife went to see her friend Sunday night and stayed until Monday evening. This seems to never work out well for me. I tend to go on somewhat of a sugar binge. It was no different this time.

Zaba and I had some great bonding time, but sleep and overall health tend to suffer somewhat when the wife's away. One of the main things that happened while she was gone was the pizza incident. I decided to eat some food that was warm, instead of just candy, so I made a pizza. I had a hard time getting the pizza out of the oven and slightly burned two of my fingers. Nothing serious but it didn't feel good. Then to distract the dog while I ate I prepared a peanut butter treat for him. So I was carrying a tray with the pizza, a peanut butter treat, and a towel for Zaba down the hallway. It was at this moment that the dog saw a opportunity and lunged for the peanut butter. The tray teetered and a piece of pizza flew off on to the wall and proceeded to slide down the said wall, sauce side facing the wall. I also was going to enjoy some ranch dressing with my pizza and that hit the wall as well. Fortunately the Zaba was there to help me clean up. I think I did a decent job of cleaning because the only way the wife knew where the event occured was when she saw the dog licking rest of the ranch out of the floor board heater.

She is back now but I had another incident this morning. I believe I may be going through withdrawals and I have the shakes. I was eating cereal this morning and once again the Zaba lunged. I didn't drop the bowl but it did tip slightly and I spilled some milk and cereal on myself and the rug. Once again the Zaba was there to help clean.

Keeping the Focus

(From the mind of he)

Uncertainty in life seems to come from no where at times. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something unexpected occurs. I believe uncertainty is what faith is all about. If your faith is there no matter the situation, big or small, the focus will remain unchanged. Your purpose and direction will remain narrow. Your faith will only grow the more you trust in someone other than yourself. Faith is the key to peace. Being someone who brings peace can change lives.

My New Bed

(From the Paw of Me)

Hey everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long since I have left my print on this blog site. I have been very busy vacationing, entertaining, and perfecting my new strategies of obtaining human food.

Today was very exciting- my new bed came in the mail. After destroying one and protesting about another, I finally got the one I wanted: an oversized L.L. Bean super comfy dog bed-it's everything I dreamed it would be and more! I have included a few photos of me opening my prized possession and enjoying it to the fullest.
Now let me give you a few quick tips on obtaining human food before I go. First: pretend to chew on your 'owners' shoes. When they get up to put the shoes away, jump up on the counter and steal the toast! It's a perfect diversion and they never realize they have left the food unguarded until they get to the closet -by then it's too late. The second technique is a similar tactic but requires a faster follow through than the first. Pretend that you need to go to the bathroom by scratching on the sliding glass door. When the 'owner' gets up to let you out, do a quick 180 and lunge for the plate. Be warned that this calls for a quick burst of speed.
I hope these tips will help. Please enjoy the photos of my new bed-and remember: you can have all the finer things of life if you will just get yourself some 'owners'!

I'm Open

(From the mind of he)

This one is gonna be random.

I felt it was time for your monthly dose of Pearl Jam. These lyrics come from a song called "I'm Open". Here goes.

A man lies in his bed in a room with no door

he waits for a presence, something, anything to enter

after spending half his life searching, he still felt as blank

as the ceiling at which he's staring

he's alive, but feels absolutely nothing

so, is he?

When he was six he believed that the moon overhead followed him

by nine he had deciphered the illusion, trading magic for fact

no tradebacks...

so this is what it's like to be an adult

if he only knew now what he knew then...

Now I'm going to treat you with my interpretation of these lyrics. I believe everyone is searching for something. I also know that only one thing can stop the searching. That being Jesus Christ. I've spent many years searching. The more I tried to fill my life the emptier I felt. You start reaching for anything that can fill the void. The problem this creates is the more you fill your life up, the harder it is to hear God. He's always present. The problem is the only way we will be able to hear Him is to quiet our lives and listen. When our lives are full, they become very noisy (as mine is at times). I need to remember that for me the searching is over and my life should only become full through Christ.

I feel the next part has to do with faith. Children have this amazing faith. It's pure. As I grow in God, my faith increases, but it also has to battle against the world and all the temptation that is out there. I have to take back everything I learn to the Bible to understand what is true and what is not. I, unfortunately, am not as consistent as I need to be in this discipline. Children will believe whatever they are told up to a certain age. This can be good or bad. If children grow up in a solid home then they will most likely have self-confidence, and a positive outlook on life. The opposite of this is also true, unfortunately more times then not. The point is this. God wants us to have that kind of faith. The kind of faith that trusts Him and relies only on Him. The kind of faith that Jesus demonstrated while He walked the earth. The problem is the world's idea of right and wrong is not God's. So as we grow and when children get to a certain age the world becomes loud. It makes it hard to hear what is true and what is not. Trading faith, a pure faith for our interpretation of faith. I know for a fact there is too much of myself and not nearly enough of Christ in my personal faith. So the final lyric says, "if he only knew now what he knew then". I feel I must relearn what the faith of a child is, and somehow copy that child's faith in my own life. I know this can only be accomplished by looking only to Christ and never to myself.

Lyrics from Pearl Jam's 4th album No Code

Craziness

(Heart of She)
Does anyone else feel like life is just one big rush of craziness right now? I often find myself wondering, "Do other people have time to call their friends on the phone, visit family, go to the grocery, go to the doctor, buy a birthday present, put away their Christmas decorations?" -Because I don't! And I don't even have children. I have one dog and granted he is a bundle of energy, but how do you do it all? Or am I the not the only one that feels this way? What is the secret?-Sacraficing sleep maybe, lots of coffee. I don't know. I guess the key is just living one day at a time and asking God to use me each day, to make each day count, and to not worry about tomorrow. (and if I haven't said it before- you moms out there amaze me!)

Blunt Trauma

(From the mind of me)



I was walking Zaba yesterday on a trail, all by our lonesomes. Zaba was leashless and running free and he started to get a little bit too far away from me. I called him back and he proceeded to charge me. He now weighs 60 pounds and is very fast- so him jumping into me at full speed was not a happy thought. When he neared I picked my knee up to discourage the jump. This only partially worked. He did a half jump, while at the same time turning his head. This caused the side of his face to hit my knee. He was moving pretty fast and that stopped him completely. He was apparently not hurt and continued to run down the trail.

When we got home I noticed that his right eye looked kind of funny and his third eyelid was coming up from the bottom of his eye. It returned to normal somewhat quickly so I thought nothing of it. Sometime later, after I returned from Asheville, Zaba's eye was looking bad again. I became worried and took him to the vet. At this point I hadn't connected the knee to the face with the eye problem. The vet talked me through possible causes of his pupil being constricted and the third eyelid rising up. He then said the most common cause is blunt trauma, which helped me remember that I did in fact knee my dog in the face (although it was partially his fault). To make this already long story come to an end soon, the vet gave me eye drops with some antibiotics in them. We only used them once and his eye has returned to normal.

The amazing thing I learned from this is that I was very concerned about him. I had been frustrated with him earlier that day, but all that was gone as soon as I saw his eye. I can only assume this is what it would be like to have a child. I'm sure they can be extremely trying at times, but when something important happens you put aside your own self to do everything you can to help them. God continues to teach me many amazing things through the Zaba.

Marley and Me

(From the Heart of She)

We went to see Marley and Me last night...I cried. They did a good job with the movie... Zaba and Marley do have many similarities...the end really gets you (especially if you have your own personal Marley at home.) I hope all of you had a wonderful Chirstmas break. We had a great time in Ohio visiting family. It was a very special and relaxing break. Zaba also had a wonderful time at the Bed and Biscuit. He had lots of play time and he even got a compliment from the people that work there...they said he was well behaved! Our little boy is growing up! I wish all of you a very happy new year. Right now I am trying to focus on the verse Jeremiah 29:11 " I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper and not for harm, plans to give you hope and a future." I am just trying to focus on each day. Remembering that God has plans for me (and you)...if we just follow him one day at a time He will continue to guide us down that path He has planned for us. And I am asking God to help me trust His perfect plan and timing. I pray for all of God's blessings for you and your family this new year!