Over this last weekend (9/11-9/14) I’ve had the pleasure of house sitting for my Pastor and his wife, caring for their dog Sprite. You know when you think of watching a dog, you figure, make sure it goes out to the bathroom, that it has food and water, and that you make sure you pay some attention to it so that it doesn’t feel neglected while its owners are gone and in this case make sure he got his meds (without them Sprite has seizures). So that was my mindset walking into this weekend, just make sure the dog doesn’t die, that and to enjoy a house with AC, and a big screen TV to watch Netflix on when I got home from work. I never expected God to use this weekend as a reminder to me about His love for us through this four legged creature named Sprite.
Above: Sprite (9/12/15)
Lessons learned from Sprite:
- God always has time for us….no matter how hard I try or we try, we can’t always be there 100% for a dog, or for another human being. When it comes right down to it God is the only one who can be there for us 100% of the time. (For example, the dog apparently needed to pee in the middle of the night and I can only assume tried to wake me up….I woke up at 2am and promptly stepped in a pile of urine).
- We should be able to rely on God just like a dog relies on us. The Bible says he will provide for us. Just like we provide the dog (Sprite) his water, pills (the poor dog gets seizures without them), and food, and the ability to go outside (i.e. opening the backdoor), God provides for us. He provides the air we breathe, the ability to be alive, etc…
- God knows what’s best for us. Sometimes we want stuff when we want it just because it’s what we want. I think dogs are like that too…they walk in the back door and they want a treat just because they came in. Or the start asking for their dinner a good two hours before they’re supposed to eat. As humans, the ones that are supposedly in charge, we have to make sure that they get what they need. That they don’t get too many treats in a day so they won’t get sick, that they go out to the bathroom and that they actually go pee or poop (and for Sprite sometimes that meant walking out with him letting him think I was going out, and then quickly shutting the door behind him so he would stay out for a few to go). But just like we sometimes tell the dog no he can’t have an extra treat, or that he needs to wait a little longer before you feed him. God knows what’s best for us. Often we ask for something that we think we need or want, but God knows that it’s not really in our best interest to have it or get it or do whatever it is that we think we should be getting or doing. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5,6 ESV)
Spending the weekend with Sprite ultimately reminded me that just like a dog trusts his owner or caregiver to take care of him and provide for him, we must also trust in God to provide and care for us. Humans, unlike God however, often fall short of providing all the necessities of life, like forgetting to wake up in time to let the dog out to pee outside before he peed on the kitchen floor. God will always provide for us, he may not always say yes to what we think we want or need, but he’ll give us an answer. He may not always provide in the way that we think that he should, be he will provide for us.
Anyways these are just a few of the thoughts and ramblings I’ve had going through my head these last few days since house sitting for Sprite.
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UPDATE:
1st) Thank-You all who have donated so far. I am currently at 31% funded.
2nd) my next major deadline is December 28th at which time I will need $10,000 in my AIM mission account. That’s only $4870 more than what I have now.
3) I am still $11, 432 away from being fully funded. With God all things are possible, and I think it would be totally awesome if I could be fully funded before I launch with my squad in January. Don’t forget that donating through this blog is tax deductible.
4) Training Camp- Training Camp is October 15th-25th in Atlanta, Georgia. I currently have my ticket to get there, but have not bought my ticket home yet.
5) Launch Update- We were informed this last month that we will be launching either January 6th or 7th.
5) Gear: I have all my major gear (Backpack, tent, sleeping bag, etc…), I am slowly working on getting everything else together (shoes, electronics—SD card for my camera, external hard drive, etc…)…Shots: I’ve got all my major shots done.
6) Prayer Requests:
- That I continue to get the hours I need at work in order to make my current financial needs as well as be able to save and have money put aside for emergencies and spending money next year.
- My squad: that our hearts are opened to the new experiences and new possibilities of what God has planned for our lives next year.
- The places we will travel: Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Philippians, Thailand, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina. That the people we will be reaching out to and speaking to and showing Christ to will have the hearts softened and begin to be open so that they might grow and be open to what we have to show and tell them.
