♪ Dogs on the Right and Dogs on the Left ♫

I was just taking my dog out for a morning walk around the complex when we came around a corner and found ourselves walking through a gauntlet of barking dogs!  We couldn’t actually see any of them, but the sounds were coming from the backyards of the neighborhood just outside the gated side entrance to our right and then as if in reply, from the dogs somewhere behind the drawn blinds in the apartments to our left.  And in the middle of it all was the jingle of Fiver’s various tags around his neck!  After a few more steps I found myself humorously singing a spontaneous tune about “♪ Dogs barking on the left, dogs barking on the right and Fiver jingling in the middle! ♫

What can I say?  I guess I had prayed myself into a good mood this morning!  I woke up, once again, feeling rather bland and empty, which has kind of been the norm since my perky companion exited the earthly scene over a year ago.  But a cup of coffee and a peaceful session with my Bible, notebook and computer Bible Study program* on the balcony seemed to set things aright once more.  I can’t even begin to describe how refreshing it felt out there this morning.  It was a little after eight, the thermometer was probably pushing into the high seventies and there was a nice breeze blowing over us.  I don’t know why, but it was really special there today!

I’ve had a lot of ups and downs since I moved out here in the middle of June.  To be perfectly honest… more downs than ups… but the ups are getting more frequent!  Praise the Lord!  Fiver and I jumped into the car late yesterday afternoon as I just felt like I needed to get out.  So, we headed over to the new house.  The close date got pushed out another 30 days.  Due to the seller’s Reverse Mortgage, HUD got involved and while our original contract is still valid, there are some other parts of the process that have changed.  All the final signed paperwork from all parties was submitted last week, so now we are just waiting for HUD to finish up!

I hadn’t been by there for a couple of weeks and I needed to give my vision a shot in the arm!  I don’t need to be out of the apartment until the middle of December which means that there is no rush to get into the house.  I just want to start all the little “giving it my touch” projects that I have in mind before we actually move in.  My plan to be in the new house before Thanksgiving still stands.

Driving to northeast Broken Arrow, where the house is, was a good plan.  It boosted my resolve for I firmly believe that this place is to be our new home.  Following the quick drive by (I noticed that the lawn needs to be mowed… so I called my realtor this morning…) we headed to the Braums restaurant/ice-cream shop near the apartment to pick up some dinner.  And you know?  A weird thing happened when I got home and opened the bag.  Besides the burger and fries there was a hot fudge Sunday in there!  Boy was that ever good.  On my LCHF diet (where I allow myself a spurge on the weekends) I don’t get a lot of these types of deserts.  I can’t remember the last time I ordered… I mean found… one of these!

Ephesians 1:12 tells us that through Christ, God planned all the plans that He has for us, “so that we who had already focused our hope (or expectation) on Christ would praise him and give him glory.” (God’s Word ©)  As I continue to delve deeper and deeper into Piper’s and my past history, I am seeing that we actually followed a central plan throughout our lives.  Simply put, we lived a life of expectancy.  We tended to always be expectant of God’s best for our lives.  That expectancy was based on a few foundational pieces that we sought to continually develop throughout our lives… and especially during those difficult last eight years of Piper’s earthly presence. 

Some of those foundational pieces were our childlike faith in God and His Word, intimately knowing the love of God for us and when push-came-to-shove to believe His Word more than that of man’s… no matter how intellectual man’s argument was… and to be brutally honest… or how stupid they tried to make us feel!  People would sometimes look at us like we had a screw loose when we believed God and took action that was simply based on what His Word said. 

Their reaction often times confused me and I would counter their response with the Word where Jesus Himself told us in Mark 10:15 “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." (EMTV) According to Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the word “receive” not only signifies the initial reception of God’s salvation but also the way we live it.  Nine times out of ten their come back began with the words… “Yeah, but…” 

To me (and this is my personal opinion here) that reply suggests that there is some doubt and unbelief in their response, most likely due to some personal experience.  We always thought it best to learn from personal experiences that may have not gone as smoothly as we had hoped they would.  We would make whatever personal adjustments we felt were necessary and then continue to follow what we always considered to be the Word of truth.

So… there I was… singing to the dogs as we strolled through the middle of the parking area in our apartment complex this morning!  What do you think about that? 

I am thankful for His goodness, His peace, His joy and the ability to be silly in the midst of the many unplanned changes in my life!  How would or do you handle it?

Have a great week, and as you do, sing with me… ♪ “There may be dogs on the right and dogs on the left but I’m expecting God’s best to give me some rest!” ♫

*e-Sword  (https://e-sword.net/)