In honor of all the crazy stray dogs we have runnin' around our Guatemala, or by our tents at random times of the day I had to share how it connects with my heart right now.
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My heart has a lot of emotions going on. It feels a bit like hitting ice cold Alaskan waters for a swim test at summer camp just 2 weeks after “break-up” i.e when the ice busts up on the lake. You jump in and you come out of the water trying to catch your breath…it’s that cold. I feel a bit disorientated…and not so much about being in a foreign country…but rather finding my place in a pack/team/Squad…a community of believers.
The stray dog…the loner in me enjoys gabs of time to myself, preparing quick meals for lil’ ole me instead of walking to a local tienda or market for food and preparing food for a whole Squad, managing or not managing my own food budget, drying my clothes in a dryer instead of hanging it on a clothes line with daily rain to interrupt it, sleeping in a dry fluffy bed instead of on a sleeping pad in a damp tent. This same dog fights my own pack/squad for shower time, bano “bathroom” time, the line for the water jug, the sink for rinsing my mess kit, room on the clothes line, a seat on the bus that fits my full rear-end.
The stray dog in me would prefer to lick my own wounds or not deal with the festering wounds in my heart…but I have a loving team that just won’t let me do that…and neither will my Alpha/Omega Dog…I mean God.
This dog would like to know when she became so lonerish…and is trying to understand what value or benefit she finds in it. Why do I live like a dog without a collar or dog tag? My heart has been inscribed with the name of the living Lord. Jesus paid the price for my stray dog soul…why do I continue to live as if my name isn’t written in the doggy book of life? I was headed to the eternal dog pound, headed for euthanization, destined to eat scraps the rest of my life….and Jesus said NO…that life isn’t yours. So with Christ living in me…how does this stray dog live differently?
Abundant Life…what does the abundant life really look like? Have I ever lived that out? Lots of thoughts, lots of questions, this is where I am today. Just a stray dog soul seeking her Alpha “Dog” Jesus.
