Who Loves You The Most, Your Dog Or Your Wife?

There is a story about a man who wasn't particularly fond of pets.  Perhaps he was just selfish!  Now he didn't mind a small bird too badly, but he was not a 'cat person' (too sneaky) or a 'dog person (too high maintenance).' However, his wife brought home a dog one day and said the "kids needed a pet."  It was a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and he named it 'Triever.'  Triever became a part of the family pretty quickly and followed the husband everywhere and especially liked to ride in his pick up truck. 

 

As happens on occasion, the wife became jealous of Triever and after a few months said the husband loved Triever more than he loved his wife.  He explained it was a different type of 'love' and that the dog 'loved' him in return.  Her eyebrows raised a little bit with that comment!  He said that Triever always followed him, licked his hand, and was anxious to be with him.  The wife said that she wouldn't lick his hands, but she was just as 'in love' with him as Triever.

The husband suggested they try an experiment to see just who loved him the most.  He said he had devised a sure fire way to test the love of both of them.  She was intrigued so she asked how they could settle this question once and for all time.  He said he would put both of them in the trunk of her car, close the lid for about 45 minutes.  The question would be answered when he opened the trunk and to see which one would jump out of the trunk and kiss him on the face and be happy to see him.  The doctor prescribed him some salve for the cut on his nose and recommended a cold steak for his eye.

My wife and I moved into our first apartment last year after having always lived in a free standing house ('standing' was the only thing free about it) for all of our adult life.  We have been married over 50 years – to each other.  The management told us that pets were allowed but it would cost us $750.00 per pet.  We had no pets and hadn’t had one in many years.

The last pet we had was a small curly little very hyper dog.  We were having some stress at work and everyone agreed that a pet, specifically a dog, would be good for stress.  I was one advertised in the paper and it said the current owner was going off to college and couldn’t take the dog.  If someone didn’t give it a home it would be given to the SPCA where it might be euthanized.  We called and met the guy in a shopping center parking lot, paid him $200.00 and took “Katie” home with us.  It was quickly apparent that ‘Katie’ would have nothing to do nor had any idea about when she gifted us with her first pile in the middle of the living room and she seemed proud.  Probably thought it was the least she could do for having rescued her.

I would take her out in the early morning and late night and she would not “hurry up.”  She would simply stand on her hind legs while leaning against the pull of the leash and stare at a fountain next door with running water.  The sound of the running water made me want to go, but not ‘Katie.’  When I took her to the park for a stroll, she would stand and lean against the pull of the leash and the two of us would stroll.  Both adults and children would point and laugh at the dog walking and the dog walker.

We didn’t have a fence around the yard so we put “Katie” on our deck with a baby gate to keep her hemmed in.  She ate through the floor of the deck.  She had eaten and scratched a big hole in the deck before we noticed it.  She hated being on the deck and we hated her crapping in the house.  Such a big hole by such a little dog!

Fast forward a couple of months and we discovered that “Katie” had been owned by another unsuspecting family who had given her up to the “college bound” boy because they couldn’t control her.  He saw an opportunity to make a couple hundred dollars and he cast his line.  We bit!  And we were hooked.  By now, we had several hundred dollars invested in my stress reliever and lots of gifts.

Katie's final gift was presented to me following our night time standing in the yard.  Katie and I went back inside and I was sitting at the kitchen table having some ice cream.  I began to get the aroma of another gift and when I looked down, there was a steaming pile of used dog food right between my feet.  Within a couple of days we found another home for Katie and we gave her her freedom with two dog houses, inside and outside, bowls, leash, collar, and a well used pooper scooper.  I began to feel better when the new owners were backing down my drive way with Katie standing on the front seat with her hind legs and her two front feet on the dash board.  We were both happy.

Too late I learned that there is a better way to have a pet and they are not all just 'plug n play,' there is a website, which can relieve many of the hard parts of owning a pet.  Click here and learn the right way to buy a pet, house a pet, train a pet, and love a pet.  After all, 'a dog is a man's best friend!'

Cause Joy!

Do We Hurt The Ones We Love? Do We Care About Others?

Those we love many times wound us the deepest. Something very important to us is taken, we believe, too lightly, misconstrued, or misunderstood.  On some issues we may never agree even with those that matter to us the most. Resolution seems out of reach. We need validation and convincing.  We are each one convinced we are correct and in keeping with God’s will.  How is that possible?

Why is it so hard for others to understand how we feel? Why can’t they see things our way? On our way to church on a recent Sunday morning we were discussing the pros and cons of why we were mired in such a conflict at church. Neither of us felt like going.  We are tired of the conflict.  We have taken our stand and we are convinced it is the correct one.  We were feeling depressed.

When we arrived at the Bible Study, the verse that was read was, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers, live together in unity.” 

“How good and pleasant it is
when brothers (and sisters{my add}) live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down upon the collar of his robes” (Psalm 133:1-2, NIV).

How do we reach that unity? Where is the balance between being convinced and able to accept our differences and respect each other’s point of view?

What about the hurt we're feeling Lord?  Will it ever go away?  Will I ever feel the same about those people or about any church?

God never demands that I urgently accept His point of view. Instead He whispers. Go beyond yourself, in fact—get over yourself. Take your ego off of the throne and worship ME.  Stop and consider the oil—precious anointing oil — freely poured over acrimonious words, over injured hearts.

Myrrh is found in anointing oil. It has many medicinal and healing uses. In ancient times it was used for cleaning wounds and sores. We have some gaping wounds today Lord. Because myrrh was used in the embalming or anointing of the dead, it represents mortality, suffering, and sorrow. God understands our sorrow. But He calls us to dwell in unity. He has provided the gentle oil of his presence that is freely poured out for us. We just need to be willing to get beyond ourselves and receive His gift to us.

Prayer:   Dear Father, when sorrow and sadness brought on by divisions arise, when we feel wounded Lord, when words cut deep, help us to just release them to you Lord. Let us receive your anointing oil, the oil of unity, the precious lubricant that you rub onto the wounds and hurts of our heart. Help us to extend the oil of unity to those I love. Amen and amen