Molly is a smart puppy, I know that. She knows she's disobeying. She know she wasn't supposed to chew on the cherry tree that she chewed through and killed. You can see it in her eyes. I had to chop it down. It was easier than getting upset about it day after day until it literally would have fallen over. Dogs only have their own desires to satiate. I think I would describe Molly as a little bit of a strong willed dog--in that she wants to please some--it will keep her in check in the house--but outside she will not listen and listens instead to whatever she wants to do. It reminds me of why God gives us boundaries. Inside, I can manage Molly and I like to be around her. Outside, I don't and the girls think it's funny when she runs around but not when she nips at them. Outside is where she nips the girls during playtime. Outside, she digs holes, tears up the grass, and poops wherever she wants--so the girls can't play outside without shoes anymore. Since we've housetrained her, there's no poop inside. Thank goodness.
I am thankful for the boundaries God gives us--I can see that they make our lives easier--and for our best. We may want to go crazy and do whatever we want, but in the end, discipline makes for a happier and more rested heart, I think.
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I was reading a devotional this morning about weeds and it compared sin to weeds. When weeds are small, they're easy to root out, but when they get big, they're much harder to get rid of. I agree with the devotional that sin can be like that in our lives. And the funny thing is about weeds--is sometimes they can look almost pretty on the outside--isn't sin sometimes that way, too? It doesn't always look so bad--it depends on what it is. I have been weedeating the yard this week, little by little. We hadn't done it yet this summer, so there's lots to do and I'm new to it. I came across this monster weed. I saw it before I started weedeating and it was actually part of my motivation for wanting to get it done. Last night as I was going to sleep, I came across a big weed in my life. I think it's time to do some weeding!
2 comments:
My dogs chewed through a pear tree that we had just planted this year. It was small- about 3 or 4 feet tall when they ate it down to about 1 ft. We watered it just like the others, and would you believe that tree has had the most growth this year. It's not as tall as the other trees, but it has more shoots and more leaves than the rest! Maybe your tree can survive too :)
Ian and I were talking about weeds this week as well. We have to mow the equivalent of about 5 big city yards- we need to mow each one every week during the summer, and we got behind because of rain and remodeling (STILL). Ian has spent the last several days mowing for 2 or three hours after work, and he says he feels like he's neglecting the kids but he has to mow because he was embarrassed by our weedy, overgrown lawn. I told him the consequences of letting five children go unattended or undisciplined for two or three weeks are much more severe than a weedy lawn- and we had a long talk about the weeds of sin. It's really nice that God can give us such a practical analogy to relate to. One day I'm going to sell our mowers (we have four- two riding and two push! :) and buy a big lawn tractor with a huge mowing deck for Ian. The cost will soooo be worth it in time savings! Of course, by the time I can afford it, I'll probably not have anymore baby babies, and I'll be able to ride one myself or put the boys on one, or both and we could knock out all the lawns in one day!
I can't imagine mowing all of that! A friend of mine here told me that for a time they only had a push mower and it took her 10 hours to mow the hole thing because their riding mower had died. And she's on a hill that would not be fun to mow! Thanks for the encouragement. =)
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