Lessons on Dogwalking

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

Misty (in the center of the picture) and Amy, our two journeygirls, have both recently returned home to the United States to begin the next phase of their journey with the Lord. Though Leah and I both miss them desperately, we are so thankful for the time we had with them and for the great blessing it was to know them. They taught us so much, and it will be awesome to see how our Father uses them both in fresh and new ways in their homeland.

Prayer Necessities:

1. Be in prayer for Nelly, the woman in the village of Ayuma who has now learned eight stories from the life of Christ. Please pray that the Scripture she has memorized would change her life and that she would have a burning desire to share it with others. Pray that, through her, God's Word would spread like wildfire through this region.

2. Please pray for Leah and me as we have recently been disappointed by a lack of interest in our missionary training that was to be held from late November to mid-January. As we no longer have team members to lead, we will be spending more time in the villages doing this work directly. Pray for us during this time of transition that we would be encouraged and unafraid in the face of so much change in our ministry and such disappointment after so much hard work. Pray that we would "not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Gal. 6:9).

3. Pray for Misty and Amy as they transition back to life in their home culture, a task that is often more difficult than adjusting to a new culture. Pray that they would refuse to return to the people they were before but that they would ever draw closer to their Lord and become more like Christ.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:

As some of you perhaps already know, Leah and I recently got a puppy. And, despite the fact that some might consider me biased, I know it's true that our dog is the cutest dog EVER. If you don't believe me, just judge for yourself:
However, despite the exponentially high cuteness factor, Riley has her problems. She's energetic and rambunctious (like most puppies) and, at times, that wears on the patience of a 40-year-old human. So, in an effort to curb some of that endless energy, I began taking her along on my daily walks... only to discover that was even more frustrating! The problem was that she wouldn't listen to me or obey anything I said.

Those of you who have had puppies and trained them understand what I'm talking about. I'm sure it's a little like having children. The cuteness only goes so far before you're ready to stuff them in a closet and forget about them forever. :)

So, after a little advice from my boss, I decided that I needed to train Riley, as much for her benefit as for my sanity. The fact of the matter is that dogs, also like children, need boundaries in order to feel safe. I'm a dog person, and I do love Riley, weird though that may sound to those of you who aren't pet people. I want what's best for her, even if that means I have to be the disciplinarian.

So there we were, on a bright, sunny morning, Riley looking quite dapper with her bright red leash and me looking relatively chipper for 6:30 am. And, by "relatively chipper," I mean my eyes were open. Well, mostly. :) We set out, and we had walked all of five steps before I realized this was going to be the longest walk of my life.

When you first start training a dog to walk with you, you are supposed to hold the leash tight and close to you. The minute the dog starts to lead you, you are supposed to snap it to pull them back toward you while making a sound to let them know that is not proper behavior. If they lag behind, you are supposed to continue ahead, even if that means dragging them for a step or two. They should eventually learn that they are to stay with you.

Well, Riley was pulling so hard against the leash that I had to switch hands after about two minutes. Five minutes into the walk, the leash was beginning to wear blisters into my hands. At the seven minute mark, two dogs passed by on the opposite side of the street, looking strangely at us both as I dragged her through dirt and rocks up the hill. I lost my voice telling her to "come" while she alternated between giving me blank stares and looking intently at the other dogs. Ten minutes into the walk, I opened the door to my yard, took the leash off of her, and deposited her in the front yard while I went to finish the rest.... alone.

OK, so all of that was an exaggeration, but those of you who have ever trained a dog can certainly feel my pain. No matter how smart the animal is, obedience training will make you believe they have the IQ of an amoeba. And almost all of that has happened to us (not my losing my voice, though I'm not ruling that out for the future), but not all on the same day.

But, through Riley, I've learned a lot about myself and the relationship my Master has with me. You see, I'm rambunctious and disobedient, too, and He has to rein me in a lot as we're walking. After I got Riley, I began to wonder about the size of the blisters I've worn into those nail-scarred hands and the fact that He's probably developed calluses at this point.

There have been a few things that have really hit home with me. Riley is at her worst when distractions come along. If she sees another dog or a person, she just wants to play with them. When that happens, it doesn't matter how many times I command her, she will not obey me. It's as if she can't hear me. She's no longer listening to her master's voice because her attention is focused elsewhere. The only way I can regain her attention is to get down in her face, block her view of the distraction, and grab her chin so that she is focused only on me.

And how many times has my Lord had to do that to me?

Just the other day, Riley and I were walking together with no problems. She was doing so well that I had even taken off her leash because she had learned to stay right beside me without it. Everything was great until a bigger dog surprised her from behind. I continued walking without paying any attention to this dog, hoping she would trust me and my lack of fear and would follow her training and stay with me. She was terrified, though, so everything she had learned went right out the window. She immediately turned and ran and, no matter how much I called her, she just kept going. I went after her and, when I got home, there she sat in front of the door, tail tucked between her legs.

It made me think about how many times I've allowed fear to send me in the opposite direction from where the Lord was telling me to go and how many times it made me disregard His call. Then, when it was all said and done, there was nothing to really be afraid of at all because my Master had been in control the whole time. If only I had remained beside Him and trusted that He would not lead me where He could not protect me, I wouldn't have to return to Him with my tail between my legs.

I can summarize what it's like to walk with Him like this: There are times when I get ahead of Him, and I hear His voice and feel the tug that admonishes me to stop and wait. There are times when I lag behind, and I hear Him calling me to come forward and join Him. And, if I don't, He just drags me along until I catch up. But, if I'm right there beside Him, I often don't hear His voice or feel His presence at all. Maybe I should learn to be OK with that... because it means I'm in step with Him.

Oh, the things you can learn from walking a dog. Maybe you non-pet-people should take note.