When I asked Christ to
be my Savior 40 years ago, God gave me this verse as my Life Verse. It has served me well over the years and
continues to do so. God used it again
this month to remind me that He is in control of my life, even when I feel so
out of control.
Unfortunately, we had
a traumatic experience at our house several weeks ago involving my daughter’s
beautiful Labrador Retriever, that left us devastated. Mater was a very vivacious, loyal and loving
dog. He was my 7 year old Grandson’s
best friend. He was a light in our household. Long story short…..Mater is gone.
In an instant, our
lives had changed. We didn’t want it to
happen, we didn’t like that it happened, we didn’t understand why it
happened. But, it happened.
Our house became much
quieter. Our grass became much
healthier. We all grieved. After a few weeks, I became used to the new
“norm”. After all, a quiet house and
nice grass isn’t so bad. And, after one
has time to grieve, one starts to heal.
But, my daughter and
grandson weren’t healing as well as I was.
Tears flowed randomly; hearts ached and rough housing/cuddle time was
missed. Mater was still a big part of
the conversation in our household but I began to notice that the conversation
was changing. It became, “I want a
puppy.” “What would you think if we got
a puppy?” “Look at this puppy I found on
the internet.”
At first, my husband
and I resisted…..after all, we were getting used to the quiet. We were getting used to not having a 90 pound
dog lying on our couch when we wanted to sit down. We were getting used to life without Mater.
And so, my response to
“What would you think if we got a puppy?” was “No!” “No more dogs…..it’s too hard to lose
them.” We raised three Leader Dog
puppies for the Blind and gave them back to the Leader Dog School when they
turned 1; we lost one dog to a heart attack and had to put another dog and cat
down because of old age. “No, it’s too
hard to lose them!”
I was emphatic; I
couldn’t go through it again! But, God
soon convicted me that this situation was not about me and that I was to give
my daughter a different response. So, a
few days after saying, “No!”, I told my daughter I would pray about her
request.
I’m sure you can guess
what God told me as I began to pray about this puppy situation. Yep, He told me that there would be a new
puppy coming into our lives and that I was to “Trust Him with all my heart and
to not rely on my own understanding; in all my ways I was to acknowledge Him
and He would direct my path.”
Of course, Rick was
involved in this decision but, after God did a work in me, Rick was easy since
the kids (and the grandkids) have him wrapped around their little fingers and
can pretty much have their way with him.
LOL! We didn’t know how this was
going to come out, but Rick and I together agreed that our daughter should
begin the search for a new puppy.
The search began and
ended with Sarah, a friend of mine in AZ who breeds dogs. My son and daughter-in-law purchased their
precious toy Aussie from her. And so, when
my son and daughter-in-law arrived in Fort Wayne from Arizona for a visit, they
had a sweet 4 lb. Shaussie (half Shih Tzu and half Toy Aussie) with them. Her name is Jasmine and she is a light in our
household. So sweet and cuddly, she is the perfect dog
for our family. She will never replace
Mater in our hearts, but she has found her own place there and we love her!
Jasmine;
Jazzy; Jazzercize; Arizona Button; Chewbacca
When things are
happening in your life that you don’t understand…..trust the Lord with all your heart.
Trust that He has your life under control, even when you don’t. When things are happening in your life that
you don’t understand…..do not rely on
your own understanding. Don’t try to
understand what is happening from your own perspective, trust God’s perspective
even when you don’t understand it. When things are happening in your life that
you don’t understand…..in all your ways
acknowledge Him and allow Him to direct your path. Always, always, always acknowledge God in
your life by giving Him Thanks and Praise for everything and then you can rest
in the assurance that He will direct your path in the direction that is best
for you. Your outcome may not be a new
puppy; but you can know for certain that your outcome is in the hands of our
Savior and He will be in the midst of your circumstances.
Encouraging you Today
to Trust the Lord with all your
heart!
