Lessons I Learned From My Dog

    The thing that Charlie also does during this time is try and figure out a way around the path we are going.  He tries to turn a different way thinking it will make it faster.  When in reality is forces us off the path that would get us there in the right amount of time.  His focus isn’t on me…its on everything else.  

     

    Today I have been reflecting a lot on where the Lord has brought me.  How he has been so patient with me and so loving in the midst of mistake after mistake.  I have hurt so many people.  I have caused damage that I can’t begin to repair.  From my family to relationships that I’ve allowed boundaries to get blurred.  Instead of listening to my master and trusting his timing and his plan I have pulled ahead and hurt myself and others.  It is a humbling thing to look back on your life and see the carnage of the mistakes you have made.  

   

    Here is the thing though….There is still a dog park for Charlie to go to if he allows me to guide him there.  Likewise, there is still the desires of my heart and ultimately the desires of Gods heart for me….if I just let him lead.  He knows the path that is best.  He knows the pace that is healthy.  He knows what is truly good for me.  

    

    So, that is where I am today.  To those in my life who might be reading this that I have hurt so deeply, I am deeply sorry.  I pray for your forgiveness and for peace.  I pray for healing.  I am thankful for a Master; for a God who picks up the pieces and mends broken things.  I am thankful for a God who restores and lifts up.  A God who calls us up to something more than we think we deserve.  I am thankful for a God who rips the lid off of the caskets we put ourselves in thinking that we are dead to hopes and dreams that we have.  

    

    My favorite part of taking Charlie to the dog park is letting him off his leash at the end and seeing him run free. Playing with all his other dog friends. Enjoying the thing he was so desperately wanting.  I think that is the same way the Lord feels when he releases us from the chains of sin and lets us free.  Lets us run into the promises he has for our lives and the GOOD that he had planned all along.