Go with Your Strengths

Guess who is possibly the worst guard dog in the world?

Yeah, she looks tough, but don't be fooled.  Lately she's welcomed strangers and gone nuts over the cats' antics in the middle of the night. 

Trying to focus on the positive, she's a GREAT hunter.  Too bad I don't need a hunter...

It's important to know your weaknesses as much as your strengths.  While the Lord created us all differently, people often try to conform us to THEIR view of how we should be.  It's good to work on certain weaknesses (like maybe our self-control, ahem), but if we are introverts, we shouldn't try to be extroverts and vice versa.

Today give someone a break.  In fact, give yourself a break too.  Appreciate who you are through God, greatly loved and intricately created.

There's Always Hope

1. This Hope (hi Hope)!  Isn't she adorable?  She's even cuter than her picture.

Hope had never been in a kennel and also never walks on a leash.  Needless to say, she was in for a rude awakening and spent the first couple of days in stunned silence.  However, every day she came out of her shell more and more. Soon, she was sashaying in and outside the kennel with the other dogs, finding the environment strangely interesting, and dare I say, possibly enjoyable.

While we often find ourselves in extreme difficulty, there is always hope.  Even the bleakest and darkest of times, when our souls feel like they will die, we can turn to the one source that never fatigues and never wears out.  Turn to the Lord for true solace, true companionship, and true Light.

Play Ball!

When it's Summer and you live in the Midwest, you have to do your very best to make the most of nice weather.  I found this baseball along the side of the road.  Cody found it here in the house and really had a great time carrying it around.

Saturday I went to a local baseball game and it was fabulously fun.

Summer is a fleeting time, one God gave to us.  "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."  Make the most of it!

Put on a Happy Face

It's Friday!

"The joy of the Lord is my strength."

Comfort the Grieving

Recently, Jimmy lost his friend Gus.  It's left him a bit sad.

So sad that he hasn't been eating well, worrying the owner.  Among other adjustments (hooray for canned pumpkin), Jimmy came to the kennel for some playtime stimulation.

Enter Drake:

Jimmy and Drake have been playing and playing.  They both will be tired and happy dogs.

While simply wearing ourselves isn't the cure all for grief, there is something to be said for it.  The process of grieving is a very daily task.  Mostly, just get through one day.  Then, the next day, get through that one.  However, a friend makes a big difference, being there when it's tough, whether quietly by one's side or having fun.

The Lord is near those who are in pain.  Today, turn to that presence, soaking in the healing and comfort only He can fully provide.

A Place to Rest

Isn't it interesting to see the peculiar places that our pets find to take a nap?

Frank, at twenty pounds, found this upside down end table perfect to nestle.

Sometimes we find ourselves in difficult times and uncomfortable places.  However, there is a solace, a hiding place, that comforts and fortifies.

It's easy to grow weary with different circumstances in our lives.  If today, this MONDAY that feels like a Monday in every negative way, run to the Lord.  Ask for that comfort that exists nowhere else - not in food, personal relationships, or any addiction.  Only God can lead us along still waters.  Find your rest there.

Know Your Father

The majority of owners of dogs and cats have no idea who the pets' father is.  Often it is a great mystery.  Not to cast aspersions on any dog or cat's parentage...

Father's Day is this weekend and it can be a time of great celebration for some, and great pain for others. 

Whether we admit it or not, we long for a father.  Abandonment by a father wounds us in ways we often don't realize until we find that love fulfilled.

Today I heard a dad say, "I can't be a perfect father, but my imperfections point to the Lord, who is perfect and fulfilling in every way I can not be."

Whether you are thanking God for your earthly father or feeling difficult emotions, the truth is that father points to God our Father, who is perfect, who is NEAR, and who loves YOU tremendously in the ways of truth and grace.  This is the Father to know, love, and adore.