I’ve decided I need to pay more attention to the everyday moments of my life. I’ve never been one to plan every detail of my days or my vacations. Nor have I been one to dwell on life’s events – good or bad. I benefit from this mentality because I get over negative things in life quickly. I don’t hold grudges, I don’t dwell on the past, and I don’t focus on what I could or should have done.
On the other hand, it also means, I don’t have the recall for those wonderful things God has done for me like many others do. I don’t want to say I take God for granted – although I think many of us here in the United States do because we are free to worship openly – at least for now. But I don’t consciously acknowledge his impact on my life as much as I should.
Situational awareness. It’s more important today than ever. Physically and spiritually. I’ve decided it’s time I started jotting down all the ways in which God is there for me as well as the messages and thoughts he puts into my head.
Today’s thoughts are inspired by the article “Umbrella Training: A Lesson From a Labrador,” by Beth Alisan in Volume 8, Issue 1 of the magazine Refresh Bible Study Magazine.
Each morning I wake up around 6:30 a.m. Some mornings, it’s my choice. Other mornings, it’s my kids waking up me up. I have three of them – an Aussie, a Rottweiler, and a Doberman Beagle mix. Dogs have an innate sense of feeding time and right on schedule, they let me know they are hungry.
We feed our dogs in their kennels in the sunroom. We call it the sunroom because whoever enclosed the former deck did so by putting 8 sliding glass doors around the room. Only one set actually works at the moment.
We don’t lock the kids in their kennels. It’s just where we put their food, so they are separated while eating. Brady – the dobie/beagle mix eats very quickly and then runs outside to check out the wildlife. Cooper eats fast but because he eats one kibble at a time, it takes him longer. Cooper is also the one that is easily distracted by neighbors out for a morning walk, the squirrels in the yard, or a dog barking down the street. Eventually he runs back to his food because he knows if he doesn’t, one of the other two will be having seconds.
Then there is Atarah – Attie for short. Our 115-pound lap dog. She eats her food methodically. Not to fast and not too slow. Sometimes, she just lays by her bowl and stares at it for a time before digging in.
Watching them got me thinking.
Brady reminded me of the year I decided I was going to do one of those Bible in a year plans. Because I had to be at work early in the morning, I choose evening times to do my “required” reading. I found myself rushing through it much like Brady rushing through his food. I didn’t take time to taste what I was reading. To feel the textures of God’s food for my soul. To realize the nourishment it could provide to me. Instead, it was a check box to being able to say, “I did it! I read through the entire bible.”
Cooper reminded me of the many times I tried to work my way through the bible one small piece at a time jumping from book to book with no clear goal in mind. I found I was easily distracted. When a figurative squirrel would run by, I would follow the squirrel with the idea that I would get back to my studying later. While Cooper always went back to his same bowl of food, I would usually end up starting somewhere else since I couldn’t remember where I’d left off or realized I hadn’t absorbed what I was studying.
Now, I try to be more like Attie. I’m not there yet, but I am working on it. I’ve never taken coaching from a dog before. I’m spending more time in the word and like Attie, there are days when I often still feel hungry when I’ve finished consuming my meal of God’s word for the day. As Attie contemplates her food on some days, I am trying to contemplate God’s word more often using my senses to dig deeper to understand. What does it smell like? How does it taste? Does it feel good on my tongue? Does it make me want more?
I realize for some this analogy may be a bit odd. It struck me that way at first. Yet, every morning now, I am reminded of the goodness of God. As the creator of all things, he can even use dogs to instruct us, to guide us, to remind us.
Just For Today, pay close attention to the happenings in your life and notice how every moment is a God moment.
Blessings,
– PSG –
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