Funny moments

I do not own any pets.  First of all I am not home much - in fact I'm on the road alot and I don't feel it is fair to own a pet when I'm not around to care for it.  Second, I am allergic to cats and so they are out of the question for me, much to my husband's dismay.  Third, the kind of dog I want really isn't a house dog or even an in town dog, so the only time I would own a dog would be if I were living in the country and that doesn't seem likely any time soon as a Pastor.  Fortunately where I live now I am surrounded by neighbors who own pets, well maybe it's fortunate - there are some nights when the dogs are barking and I'm trying to sleep that it might not be so fortunate.  Anyway - my closest neighbors have three dogs.  Two duschand's and one black lab.  The duschands are so funny - they act all big and tough, especially the male and yet if I approach them they start back peddling quickly.  Too funny to watch.  Then there is the lab, she is a little over a year old and has finally grown into her giant feet.  She is still all puppy though and has no concept of when to slow down or put on the brakes so she won't literally knock you over.  She is a very loving dog, but she is also somewhat of a criminal.  Let me explain:  her owners have showed up at my door on more than one occasion to ask me if whatever item they happen to be holding in their hands or arms belongs to me.  Their black lab loves to come over to the house and carry off all sorts of things.  She's managed to turn over the huge rock that had the spare house key duct taped to the bottom of it and chew off the duct tape and carry the key and key chain home to show her owners.  She carried off two clay snowman luminaries I had on the front porch.  She chewed 9 different holes in a 100 foot extension cord at Christmas time.  She's carried the grill brush off on more than one occasion.  I have found some of the larger landscaping rocks tumbled out into the middle of the yard.  She is just very curious and very strong.  I had to laugh as I watched her one day from the dining room window.  She came up on the back steps and put her head through the rails to once again reach for the grill brush that hangs from a shelf on the side of the grill.  As I mentioned she's snagged that item before.  As I watched her she got the grill brush in her mouth and tried to pull it through the porch railing.  This time however she didn't have the right angle and so the head and handle of the brush kept getting stuck on the rails.  She would set the brush down on the shelf of the grill, cock her head a little, pick it back up in her mouth and try again with no success.  She tried this 5 times that day.  Each time she'd tilt her head a little further one direction or another but she couldn't quite get that darned ole grill brush through the rails this time.  She finally gave up and as she went down the stairs to leave the back porch she was literally shaking her head side to side as we sometimes do in disbelief.  I had to laugh because I could just imagine her thinking to herself; well darn it, I've done that before, why didn't it work this time?  It will be interesting to see what else she decides to "steal" in the future.  Fortunately the neighbors are always willing to bring back whatever it is she takes.  As I considered how this all related to faith it made me realize how Satan works to steal from us.  He steals our joy, our time, our health, our energy.  Unlike the neighbors black lab though, he won't give up.  He will work at it until he has stolen everything he can to make us feel unworthy and unloved and of no value.  On the flip side of that I have to tell you that Jesus will restore all that the enemy tries to take away.  Just like my neighbors who always try to redeem the acts of their black lab, either by returning or replacing the items their dog steals; Jesus will redeem all the acts of our lives that have caused us to sin.  He will restore us to wholeness as his beloved children.  He replaced the need for punishment for our sins with his death upon the cross... he has overcome death and has defeated Satan.  When we call upon the name of Jesus and claim his love in our lives; when we grow in our faith by putting our trust in Jesus; we will leave the enemy walking away like the neighbor's black lab - shaking his head side to side wondering, why getting under our skin didn't work, it's worked in the past.  We can, through Jesus, defeat the enemy.  Thank you Jesus for your redeeming, restoring work in our lives.