I Love My Dog

I always thought I’d be a dog-guy. I never really had a dog before. There were a couple of instances in my life where we flirted with dog-dom, but it never really happened. I knew that I’d like having a dog, but I thought it would be unfair to the dog to have us! We’ve had to make some adjustments to our family life, but it’s working.

Dasher is a Plott Hound, and we got him for the kids as a Christmas present last year from some friends who breed champion Plott Hounds. Lilly named him. His mom is a Grand Champion Coon Hound, both in show and in the field. He’s got a great heritage, and I need to get him out into the woods with some other good coon hounds so he can learn what he was born to be.

There’s a lesson in there, somewhere…

But what got me thinking about loving my dog this morning was the simple fact that he came over to hang out with me as I sat drinking my coffee and checking my 2 favorite blog sites. He can’t talk, but he lets me know where he wants to be scratched. When he puts his cold, wet nose on my hand, I know that he’s needing some lovin’. When I start scratching his ears, and I don’t hit the spot, he moves his head. It’s a pretty cool partnership, him patiently working to get his itch scratched.

One of my goals this year is to learn to slow down, to simplify. I want to be able to enjoy my family and spend more time in the woods with them, and my dog. I’m re-thinking my priorities, looking at the calendar/schedule to see if I’m doing the things that are most important, and trying to honor God with the ways I spend my days. I don’t want to simply be busy; I want to make my life count.

I’ve been hearing lots of messages lately about leading from a place of rest, wholeness, and focus. That sounds good, but it’s a lot of work to get to that place.