Out of the Dog House

The other day I was in our oldest daughter's bedroom talking with her and I looked out the window to look at our son's dog Kane. I started laughing at what I saw. Right now it is very cold where I live and so we do what we can to stay warm. Kane spends his nights at the foot of our son's bed, but he enjoys being outside during the day.

Aaron got Kane this summer when he was a 2 month old puppy, so until he was big enough, he stayed in the house with us. This fall we decided it was time to make the transition with the agreement that he could still spend his nights at Aaron's feet.

Our neighbor Ben gave Aaron a dog house that he had built and being the handyman that he is, spared no detail. It's a replicate of our neighbor's beautiful home down to the same shingled roof. It's very roomy so Kane will be able to live in it as an adult dog when he tips the scale at 140 like our vet predicts. The house is even insulated so he'll probably stay warmer during the day than at night in our drafty home.

Well, when I looked out of the window, there was Kane in the 20 degree weather all curled up outside of his warm, custom built dog house. He had dragged the old comforter that Aaron had put in there out onto the snow covered patio and was laying on it. Here was this dog huddled up on this cold comforter trying to stay warm only a foot away from protection and warmth. The thing that kept coming back to me throughout my day is how often I exhibit Kane's behavior.

How often in my life have I gone through a spiritual dry spell...feeling distant from God, not in the Word, not wanting to go to church, not praying, just wanting to do it my way for awhile. I know there are many times that instead of dwelling in the warmth of God's presence I've chosen to drag myself out away from His Holiness and sit in the cold with no protection. For some reason those times don't make it into my memory scrapbook. I'd rather forget them, learn from them, but I don't want to revisit them.

Psalm 27:4

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

Lord, please pull me by my tail when I start dragging that comforter out of your house! You know my heart's desire is to be by You, so please help me to stay steadfast and focused on only YOU. I don't want to be like the puppy on the cold comforter!

~Many Blessings~

Lelia