Wish you could've heard him--quiet, pitiful little whimpers--so impatient to get out there to see and be seen. And oh, the joy, when I grabbed his leash and out we ventured into the pre-dawn darkness.
Now the first half of our walk was pretty uneventful from Bingley's vantage point. The hardest part was selecting just the right stick to carry. First he tried for a huge branch. "Nope," Mama scolded. "We're not hauling a tree trunk down Lassiter Mill Road."
Then it was too little. I think he figured no self-respecting dog would be seen carrying that little stump of a stick down a major thoroughfare.
Finally Bingley located the perfect one--hefty, impressive, but not neck-wrenching or gait-impeding.
With that arduous selection process completed, we were free to trot along and look for...
OTHER DOGS!
Because, I have learned, that is the whole purpose of walking for Mr. B. The purpose is certainly not, well...um...to take care of your morning constitutional. It's not to witness the beautiful dawn of a brand new day (a fresh start, once again--thank You, Father!). It's not to get enough exhausting exercise so he won't chew our house down to the nub. It's not to chase after birds or squirrels or rabbits--though they always prove pretty entertaining. It's not even--shock of shocks--to hunt and gather an ever-increasing collection of sticks for our yard.
No siree. THE purpose, the glorious and happy purpose of our walks is, apparently, to meet and greet another dog...or if we're really lucky, numerous dogs.
Now here's the thing. I don't really enjoy running into other dogs...basically because it's a huge pain in the neck...or should I say arm and shoulder. When Bingley spots another dog, it's "Katie bar the door" (to quote my Mom). Bingley's basically a very, very, very good little fellow most of the time...until he spots a fellow canine. And then he will pull my arm out of the socket, run me down the road or greenway like a crazy person, or generally do whatever it takes in order to get to that dog ASAP.
Meanwhile I'm yelling all the things the Beautiful Boyettes (my name for the fabulous, wonderful girls who are helping us train Bingley) have told me to tell him. "LEAVE IT!! LEAVE IT!! LEEEEEAAAAVVVVEEE IT!!!!" This works wonderfully when it comes to sticks or squirrels or almost anything you can think of except...you guessed it. Nope, I yell. Bingley listens...and completely ignores me because--
It's ANOTHER DOG!! JOY! HAPPINESS! RAPTURE! A DOG! A DOG! A DOG! Time to greet and sniff and bark and jump around with glee.
Meanwhile, I'm apologizing and saying things like, "I'm so sorry--but he's really friendly." Really? You think?
It happened just yesterday with the Brown's sweet old brown lab. And then again this morning with the Marlowe's wonderful black lab. And I might add, both of these dogs seemed happy enough to see Mr.B but they were far more dignified and restrained in their response. I'm chalking that up to Bingley's youth and inexperience.
But can I tell you what I thought? My dog has a better grip on what we've been placed on this earth to do than yours truly. Oh Father, please forgive me. Because, after all, we're here to love and glorify our glorious Lord...AND to love our fellow earth-dwellers that He died to save. We're not here to serve ourselves...but to serve others. We're not here to make much of ourselves...but to make much of our Savior and of others. We're not here to focus upon ourselves...but, you guessed it, to place our gaze firmly upon our Lord and upon others.
Maybe we need to stop worrying so much about how we feel and instead wonder about the feelings of others and how we might help them.
We need to slooooow down and notice the clerk at Target. We need to smile and offer a word of encouragement to that hard-working grocery store bagger. We need to ask that nice fellow at Starbacks how he's doing. Do we even know his name?
If Jesus loved them enough to die for them, how can we not care?
How can I not be willing to put aside my busy, selfish little agenda long enough to give them a Bingley greeting?
Or pick up the phone and call our children or our parents or our friends to encourage them and remind them how much we love them? If Bingley could talk, he'd had already racked up 10,000,000 minutes on his cell phone. How about us? Or are we too busy to call or text a word of love and encouragement.
And while we're on the subject, I've often heard that the word encourage means "to pour courage into." Oh man, who couldn't use a little courage being poured into their life? Yes sir--a little courage-infusion to get us through the hard, tight places in life sure sounds good to me. And I promise you, there's not a person on this planet who isn't fighting some kind of tough battle somewhere in their lives...and your courage-infusion might be just the thing they need today to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and start again.
Okay, I know, I know. I'm going on and on, but goodness gracious, how important this is and how easily we tend to lose sight of it! And you know why? Because we're so stinking preoccupied with ourselves and to-do lists and our challenges that we miss the people--the eternal souls made by their Creator and loved infinitely by Him--that God has placed in our paths and in our lives.
And He made it so clear. So, so clear: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35)
Any questions?
So today, God's given us all another chance. If we don't fold the five loads of laundry. If we don't get a home-cooked meal on the table. If we don't write our Bible study lecture. If we don't finish our errands. That's okay--as long as we LOVE. Love God...and love one another.
People, that's why we here. That's why He came--love. "We love, because He first loved us." (I John 4:19) Love that willingly relinquished the infinite joys of heaven to come to earth to love and love and love...and die on a cross so that those He loved could be with Him forever. It's all about love. Seriously.
Time to get loving, folks. Time to give 'em the Bingley blessing...
Oh boy...ANOTHER PERSON!!
To God be the glory.
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