"Fiver"

Happy first day of summer everyone!  We have had some amazing weather here lately and I am excited to see what wonderful adventures lay ahead during one of my favorite seasons of the year.  We had a few triple digit days last week and this week forecasts a mid-nineties average.  But I have decided to not let the temperature or weather patterns bother me this year.  I made a commitment in front of God and my wife a short time back, to never complain about the weather this summer but instead to simply enjoy it… be it hot and muggy like a few days past or quite comfortable as it is right now.

And you know… not too long after I made my declaration, we started having problems with our air conditioner!  We have the second tech in as many weeks coming out tomorrow (thank the Lord for the Home Warranty policy that came with the house!)  But we have held our course and the temperatures actually went down as if to accommodate the A/C’s inability to get down to and hold the set temperatures on the thermostat!  In fact, our recent weather has reminded me of our old northern California weather where we hardly ever needed air conditioning!

This summer will be a good one for us as we have welcomed the newest member of our household into our loving arms.  On Saturday evening a 8-10 month old Blue Merle Australian Shepherd mix moved in!.  “Fiver”* is a young Aussie with a mix of Great Pyrenees.  He has many of the same features of our last Aussie whom we unexpectedly lost a couple of months ago, but definitely differs in other areas due to the Pyrenees influence.  While he is currently about the same size (although I’m sure he’ll get bigger as he grows into his body!) Fiver is longer, has larger hind legs with an overall thinner build.  

Personality wise they are very similar though.  Fiver is a mellow dog and is very affectionate, but is NOT an escape artist as Mandie was in her younger days.  Fiver seems content to stay within eyesight of us and return to the house as soon as we go inside.  We’ve only had him for a couple of days and he is already following me around the house like he is attached to my side.  The other great thing is that he seems to have taken a real liking to my wife.  He is not fearful of her chair and likes to lie down near her during the day.  Last night he slept in our bedroom for the first time… and guess where he slept?  You got it… Next to and partially under Piper’s bed!

So… our summer is going to be fun with our new companion!  Fiver is also going to help me keep my weight down and most likely lose a few pounds as he loves to chase a ball and we have been running around the backyard together playing games.  One quick summer hint though:  Make sure your shorts fit well before running around with the dog!  Mine were sliding down every time we went out back!  I guess that’s a good thing though!  Today I’ll wear a pair with a smaller waist size!

For a while there I was beginning to have doubts that any of this was going to happen.  I had applied for adoption with the Carolina Hearts Aussie Rescue a few weeks after Mandie passed, and according to their online information, the process was only supposed to take a few weeks.  I came to find out later that there were a lot of unusual things going on within the organization like the wedding of a key staff member, a major move to a new location, a large influx of applications and the normal time it takes to coordinate a mostly volunteer organization.

But at the time I didn’t know all that and I began to seek the Lord to find out if we needed to take a different route in acquiring a new dog.  And while I can’t say that I got a definite yes or no, I did have a peace in seeing this through.  Piper and I had prayed about the plan, had some scripture that we were standing on and decided to keep on keeping on even though nothing seemed to be happening.

During the later weeks leading up to this weekend, the Lord put Proverbs 3:5-6 on my heart, so I began to dissect the verse using different translations and Hebrew/English dictionaries.  Today I looked at this verse from the point of view of the Good News Bible.  It reads: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Never rely on what you think you know.  Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way.”  The way they state to “Never rely on what you think you know…” arrested my attention very quickly!  When I put that together about what I had previously learned with the Hebrew definition of the word “remember” or “acknowledge” in the King James, I had an epiphany! 

The word “acknowledge” comes from the Hebrew word “yada” and is translated into Greek as “ginosko” which is an intimate knowing of something or someone, as a married couple knows each other intimately in the act of intercourse.  So, I put that info together and read the verse as: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Never rely on what you think you know, but respond instead, with an intimate knowledge of what you DO know according to the Word of God, and he will show you the right way.”

Looking back I can see how I was reacting to things I really didn’t know!  Kind of like folks who have responded to our situation based on false pretenses.  When all the information came out, the extended period of time made sense!  And… it gave God time to get the right dog for us.  We had our hearts set on a couple of other dogs that were adopted before our paperwork and follow-up was complete.  Fiver wasn’t even on the website or available earlier in the process!

The Lord was also preparing us, as I thought we needed an older dog, but it now seems that the younger dog is a much better fit for us.  We really needed the input of young life, enthusiasm and the ensuing laughter and joy in our home environment!

So, my lesson was to NOT rely, depend on or take any encouragement (or discouragement) from my own (in this case incorrect) understanding, but to go with what I know in the Word… mainly, to trust wholeheartedly in and thereby find and keep my peace in Him!

Have you ever experienced anything like this… or am I alone in my stupidity!  Hopefully this will minister to someone’s situation today!  Have a great week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “What or Who am I expecting to trust in today?

*His name comes from a character in the English children’s classic “Watership Down”   by Richard Adams.