humbled

I know, I know. There were only a few rules I had to obey and I broke them. I apologize to all my loyal readers. Although I cannot promise perfection, I do promise that I will strive for more consistency. :)

Last weekend, I drove home saturday morning to spend time with my parents. As I get older, my appreciation for my parents grows deeper and deeper. My home has truly become a place of refreshment. In addition to this new appreciation I have learned a little bit more about how God likes to teach me things. Quite often, He tends to open my eyes to see little things that on the surface mean nothing, but hold a very deep lesson that I really need to learn. This weekend was no exception.

I was talking with my parents as they cleaned up the house for their church home team, which was meeting the next night at our house. My dad was vacuuming, which was quite weird since we have hardwood floors but I just chose to accept and move on. My dog was in the room and was obviously frightened by the very noisy machine that to her was trying to take over the house. Her fear was not really anything new. She was my mom's way of dealing with her new empty nester status and was treated very much like a child; therefore, her coping skills were never fully developed. The oddity was that instead of running and hiding under my parents bed or in her crate she tried to get as close to my dad as possible. This didn't really make sense because my dad was the one running the thing she viewed as frightening. But to her it was better to be closer to my dad, her master and near the origin of her fear then to be away from him and ignoring it all.

What a convicting observation...

In the mist of trials and tribulations, whether caused by my own sin or merely the circumstances around me, my normal reaction is to run. I seek out somewhere to hide or something to help me ignore that which is causing me discomfort. The lesson that my dog new better then I was that being with your master, who is in complete control of whatever is going on, is better even if it means you have to face what scares you most. For me that is difficult to swallow. Because truly seeking after Him in those times means possibly having to deal with things that I don't want to deal with or facing things that I would much rather ignore. It also means killing my pride and admitting that I need something-someone, bigger then my own strength and who is completely outside of my control.

²⁸"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." matthew 11

He offers rest. But we have to come to him first. And sometimes that's the hardest part.