Farewell Big Brown Dog

Last week we said goodbye to this big brown dog. We'd been putting this off for two years but when he could barely get up in the mornings and he lost his sight it was time to say goodbye. His last morning he ran straight into the house with a loud thud. He still ran at a good pace and didn't know when something got in his way. He got into the van and watched out the back window and went down the hallway with the vet wagging his tail, enjoying the trip and being with people.

I wrote this a couple of years ago:

"Ten years ago this old dog came to us by a family who lived in the city. At the time our children were going off to college and the house was just too quiet. At first he was a little more noise than we wanted. He never has learned to stay in a crate or outside when we are around. He barks incessantly to be with us. And that's why he's so hard to let go. He's always been around begging for food, nosing his way into our rituals. We've stepped on him in the dark where he lays in the middle of the floor. He gives us a sense of protection even though he could be bribed with a little food.

I can't imagine not having his big tail thumping on the floor or not hearing his steady breathing during the night. His friendship, his steady breathing, his thumping tail is a calming influence that I don't want to be without. He's learned our habits and our words. He's more than a dog, he's a Good Dog and faithful friend."

Well, now it's been a week and there's no tail thumping in the morning when we get out of bed. There's no dog trotting around the house when we come home. He's been replaced by a little dog who stays in a crate and can't thump her tail because someone cut it off.

But here's the question, why did God create these faithful friends? I have no idea, but they sure are fun to have around and can be a distraction from living life with people, the ones who truly bear God's image.

So they are just dogs, coming and going, but not really that important.

S-I-N

I believe that God has his hand on our oldest grandson. He loves the Bible and listens to the Bible on CD everyday. With his excellent memory he remembers Bible story details that I will never be able to keep in my aging brain. It's a challenge to keep up with him. The other day I asked him why he was afraid of the dark and he spelled it out: "s-i-n." He knows that Satan dwells in darkness and he's aware that he sins. When I told him that he has the purest heart that I know he disagreed with me and confessed his sin like lying to his mom and dad. His parents' goal right now is to help him balance his fear of sin with the truth that he is safe in God.

On the other hand, most of us are too complacent in our sin, including myself. I think one of the reasons God put us with other people is to help us see the sinfulness in our hearts: the selfishness for our own way, anger when things go wrong, the desire to lie in order for others to approve of us, even the shame of being a Christian in a non-Christian setting.

John Piper's sermon this week says that, "We Are Stiff-Necked, Rebellious, and Unthankful. We should learn from this how stiff-necked and rebellious and unthankful we are. That’s why 1 Samuel 12 begins the way it does reminding the people how God saved them from Egypt and then gave them the promised land and then rescued them from evil kings. And each time they forget God and go after other things. That is not just the story of Israel. It’s the story of humanity. It’s the story of my life and your life. Even as Christians, we are not steadfast in our affections for God. We have thankful days and unthankful days. And even our thankful days are not as thankful as they should be. Just think of how joyful and thankful you would be if your heart responded to God himself and his ten thousand gifts with the admiration and gratitude that he is worthy of. So God gives us pictures of ourselves in stories like this. He allows his people to drift into this kind of ungrateful and idolatrous seasons so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world held accountable before God (Romans 3:19). "

As always, Piper cuts to the quick.

1st Car

Twenty years ago this little guy was playing and writing all kinds of creative things around our house. Now he is turning thirty and still creating and playing(only it's more than a plastic car). As his grandma says, "God love 'im" . We love you, son, even if your antics do put us on edge at times. Actually where you live puts us on edge, but God has made you who you are and we put you in his care every day knowing that he is working in your life for your good. Happy Birthday!!

Flashlightball

Flashlight ball is a game that uses 10 players, 10 flashlights, a basket hoop, a "stuffs" basketball and 2 refs.