Family Pets

I have been thinking a lot about family pets this week, especially ours. I have been wondering why I put myself through the agony of training those creatures when we get them only to go through agony when they get to the place where we need to say goodbye to them. It really doesn't make much sense to me. But I do it over and over again! We have had Marty, Brandy, Rugby and Rudy.

Our current dog, Rudy, has been a member of the family for over 8 years. He was over a year old when we got him. So that must make him what, 152 in dog years (there is some formula, but I don't have a clue what it is). Recently he has been having some problems and this past weekend they became so severe we expected to find it necessary to end his suffering. Now that is always tough for me to do, and no matter what people say about family pets, its dad's pet when its time to put them down.

So today I had to take our Rudy to the vet and I fully expected to find out he had cancer, or some other very serious condition, that would result in his life coming to an end. Not so! The doctor took an xray and showed me that our dog had dozens of kidney stones that were creating all kinds of difficulty for him, but were not terminal. And you know what comes next! With surgery he could be as good as new! Nine years old new, that is! Now I am about to be unemployed and the last thing I need is a big bill from the dog's doctor. When I asked about the cost, I got that horrible "how could you ask me that, does it even matter" look from the doctor, who then told me it could run from $1,200 to $1,500, depending on what he had to do. I told him I needed to talk with my wife about it and he allowed me to call her. She wasn't home. I tried her cellphone, and it wasn't on. What was I to do?

Well, I have kidney stones and they are painfull! And when I am passing one I often wish I was dead. But I don't want anyone to kill me just because I have the stones. I told the doctor to go ahead with the surgery.

Rudy had the surgery today and is spending tonight at the vets. Tomorrow we will go pick him up and bring him home. It's going to snow tomorrow and I don't know exactly when I will be able to pick him up. But as I was thinking about all the money this was going to cost us at a time when we don't have a lot of money, I remembered a verse from Proverbs. Proverbs 12:10 says,

"whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast," (ESV)

I wonder if paying that kind of money to take care of some kidney stones in my dog qualifys as having regard for my beast?

WARNING: Graphic pictures!

There, I bet I have your attention now! You are probably wondering what a nice guy like me would be doing posting a title like that. If you keep reading you will find out.

We got a call from our daughter-in-law this past Tuesday telling us our son had fallen at a job site and sustained a head injury and was experiencing some memory loss. She said he had been taken to an emergency clinic and they were sending him by ambulance to a hospital in Birmingham. She was waiting for a ride to meet him there. We asked her to call when she got there and let us know how he was doing. Several hours later she called and we got to talk with our son who was still waiting for the doctor to administer some stitches to his head and knee. He said he was sore but anticipating a full recovery. It's now two days later and we have some graphic before and after pictures for those who want to see what his head looked like.

If you don't want to know, don't look. I wonder how many of you will look?

This is what Josh looked like just before they began to work on his stitches. A brick step can do a real job on your forehead. Below is what he looked like after they stitched him up. He ended up with 35 stitches in his forehead and 5 in his knee. Today he was cleared to return to work as soon as he feels up to it. Perhaps with just a little more care being given to going up and down brick steps.

Transitions

"Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." Genesis 12:1 (ESV)


Someone asked me again yesterday, why didn't I wait until I had another job lined up before I resigned my current pastorate. Good question. It certainly would make sense in this economy. It would certainly be more comforting to my wife and son. It certainly would have allowed me to spend less time wondering where my next job and paycheck were going to come from.

What it would not have done is forced me into the presence of God much like Abram must have been forced into the presence of God when he took a step of faith to follow God's command in the verse above. Abram was forced to look to God for direction when he left his country, people and even his own family home, all to follow God to a place that only God knew. That is walking by faith, not by sight!

In the months since my resignation I have spent a lot of time talking with God about what He wants from me. I still have lots of questions about that. But I have found some answers as well. God has shown me very clearly that one thing He wants is my trust. He has spoken through the book Trusting God by Jerry Bridges. He has spoken through the men who have been studying that book together on Thursday evenings. He has spoken that message through the devotional book I use featuring the writings of AW Tozer (the gift of a good friend three years ago). I have heard God say that He wants me to trust Him to show me what is next even though I wanted to know long ago.

God has shown me that it is as important that I travel this road with Him as that I arrive at the destination. It's as though I want to jump on the highway and quickly travel to my destination but God is saying, take the back roads, so we can talk and I can show you some things. I think I have often missed things along the way, things that God wanted to show me and tell me about.

Much like Peter as he walked to Jesus on the water, there are waves around me that tempt me to take my eyes off of Jesus. My truck is in the shop. Our family pet of eight years is getting older. Our son was recently injured in a work fall. We are expecting a grandchild to be born next month in Thailand. All these issues and many more make me want to say to the LORD, I need to know now where you are taking me.

But then I remember that is not trust. God knows (and knew long ago) about my truck and dog and son and grandchild. But He wants me to trust Him. Trust Him for a job, trust Him for an income, trust Him for shelter, trust Him for transportation and trust Him for my daily bread. If I had not been willing to resign before I knew where I was going, then I would not have been learning these important lessons about the God who loves me enough to direct my steps. I am wondering what else I need to learn as I wait on Him.