10.14.2007

Dog Bites and Blood


That got your attention, didn't it. So, I am a wanna-be-blogger. I have tons of thoughts, I've just not made it a priority to put them down in this blog. So, at the urging of a crazy man (that'd be you Mr. Lamb!) I shall try and light a fire under my own butt!

So, here we go again.....

Last Sunday night, my wife and I decided to take a stroll through a neighboring field that is near where we live. So, we got the dogs (our two, one of which is blind, and the two who call the ranch we live on home) and headed to the field. As we were walking through it Linda made the remark, "You don't think anyone would put any traps out here do you? To which I replied, "Don't be silly! Of course not." So we continued on our stroll through this rolling pasture and were almost near the end of our journey when the action starts! One of our dogs who had been venturing ahead begins yelping with that crazy yelp like a dog does when it has been hit by a car. I run over full expecting to see a snake retreating into the woods, but I notice that my dog, Tabor, is not moving from the spot even though he is trying too desperately. And I very quickly realized why....HIS FREAKIN' LEG IS CAUGHT IN...you guessed it......A TRAP!!! What the CRAP?!?!?

So I rush over to free him and get the second shock of the night. As I am trying to free him, his response is to start gnawing at my hand! In very short order, I have him freed and that's when I start noticing the blood. My blood! Yeah, where he gnawed on me as I was freeing him from the trap he was in! Come to find out, Tabor didn't have one single scratch on him! No broken bone! No broken skin! NOTHING!!!! So all of the blood that was on my hands and forearms, shorts, shirt, Tabor's nose and his leg, was from me.

After getting home and cleaning up everything, I had about 7 or 8 good bite wounds. No biggie, but God showed and reminded me of some interesting stuff through the experience, especially when it comes to striving to follow the example Christ set for me and us as Christ-followers.

First, sometimes when we try to help someone, even though they desperately need our help, they might not react the way we expect them too. Help them anyway.

Second, when we were screwed in our own lives and trapped, Jesus came to get us out. And guess who got bloodied then? Yep, it wasn't us. But Jesus did it anyway.

Third, when Linda and I turned around to make our way home, she noticed something different about Tabor. Instead of running ahead of us and doing his own thing, he stayed close.....real close...and behind me....like 4 feet behind me. He knew. He knew I'd saved him from what ever it was. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he couldn't get out of it on his own and with his own power. And he knew that even though he wasn't sure how, he was sure of who! And he wanted to stay close to that who. In the same way, I may not be sure of what all Jesus has saved me from, but I know there was no way I could have done it on my own. And now, I strive to walk as close to Him as possible.

Anyway, enough about that....I want to leave you with two cool thoughts off of two cool websites.....

First, http://www.uncensoredgrace.com/
(from the site) Uncensored grace is what you get from a loving God when all the religious types have gone home, and every last hope for your own effort has blown up in your face.

That's just sweet!!!

Second, http://www.revolutionatlanta.com/
(from the site) As Christians, we are sorry for being self-righteous, judgmental bastards.

OUCH! That stung a little!

This is from Revolution Church in the ATL. It was started by my boy Jay Bakker (who got me fired from my first church! :) ) They are rockin' and transforming the least, the last, and the lost of Atlanta.

Finally, I leave you with this website. It is the site of mine and Linda's new frickin' suh-weet church.... www.therevolution.tv !!! If you live in Canton and don't have a church you call home, I dare you to check it out. NOTE: If you do have a church you call home and are plugged into, do us all a favor and stay there! But if you don't....come on, baby!!!

It's late, I must sleep....

semper reformanda ragamuffin

sinbad


No comments: