Saturdays With Stella
From the moment I met her...
...until today...
...life with Stella has been a journey of love, discovery, and tongue-wagging joy!
"Settled" is not a natural state for Stella. In fact, it's not a natural state for me, either, to have that settled spirit, open and receptive to God's voice, vulnerable and unguarded, full of trust, secured in my relationship with Him.
I spent a lot of years thinking I was sitting under my Master's teaching. I had my nub on the pew and my mind just about anywhere else. I'd flip through my Bible, my eyes zipping from one underlined passage to another, never reading in between. So much truth for me to learn, but I haven't always been willing to sit-really sit-and listen.
In Intermediate Obedience, we learned that the cornerstone to almost every desired behavior is making eye contact with the dog.
Stella's very soul seems to spill out through her eyes. They're large and brown, and they just drink you in.
God, too, has devised a fool-proof plan for obedience, and it starts with the same step as Stella's.
Watch me!
There was a time when I was head-down, ears-flat, running as fast and as far as I could, right into some vast spiritual desert, as stiff-necked and stubborn as anybody determined to run away from God. But just as God spoke to His wayward people thousands of years ago, He spoke to me: "The Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn His face from you if you return to Him."
God keeps me waiting all the time.
Sometimes I need to be groomed-cleansed through repentance and study before taking on a new challenge.
It's frustrating, because I can see what's on the other side of the door.
But He doesn't let me go through.
Because only He knows what's lurking around the corners of life.
I don't even know the corners are coming.
And what have I learned? Just this. That I love my dog with a big, mushy, consuming love that she's done nothing to deserve. I loved her before she took those first steps to obey me, and I'll love her despite her (all too occasional) faltering. Magnify that love by, well, infinity, and that doesn't come close to how much my Savior loves me.
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