The house is quiet except for an unidentified dog keeping up a steady noise somewhere below the house. Ruger is sleeping in and it surprises me that he puts up with this. He is still in a depressed state that Coco is not coming up to wake him every morning, as she had for over a week while she stayed with us. He will carry on this way for perhaps another week. We have actually been praying and keeping our eye out on the paper, looking for another dog to take in. Don't tell Ruger, it will be a surprise. Syd called about a young bassett hound, 12 weeks old, but the owner needed too much money for her. Neighbors ended up getting her and brought her into the office where I work on Saturdays. She's so small and her legs so short that she trips on her beautiful, silky ears when she walks! Ruger would have loved her, and though he's in "the depths of despair" right now, the Lord will likely bring a free dog along one of these days.
It is comforting to know that we can bring requests, large or small, to the Lord and He does not upbraid us. A life-lesson that God has been teaching me for many years now is, "trust in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." When we were first married, Syd and I made the decison that the first and foremost desire of our heart is to be in His will always. I was married at age 18. The best advice someone gave me was that I would save myself much heartache if I left all my expectations with the Lord and did not dream up scenarios and try to make them happen. How true! God will never disappoint us if all of our expectations are from Him. I have a special unspoken request right now that I am waiting on the Lord for. Whatever His answer is will be right and it is exciting to know that He is fulfilling His purposes in whatever way the answer comes.
The dog outside has moved on and it's easier to concentrate on writing now. I just finished studying out of I Corinthians chapter 13. There is so much there, lessons on what true love is. I got through "suffereth long, kind, envieth not", and certainly did not exhaust their meanings. Only the Lord could produce that measure of love in a person. There is so much left to do in this study but I can only take so much in at a time. I don't know if you run into this, but sometimes I start to see a critical spirit trying to creep in and really take over my life. Bitterness reaches its fingers subtly down into my soul and tries to take a firm root. There is no place for it there and it has to be recognized, and torn out early, before it springs up and troubles me and anyone else around me. Thus, the study from I Cor. 13. What could counter bitterness better than love?
It is almost time to get the dog to "shake a leg" (like Mom always used to say, to wake us up) as we will head off to work soon. Long sleeves may even be in order, which suits me fine. I have no idea what will come my way today, but whatever it is, it is from the Lord and He already knows all about it.
I hope your day is filled with adventure and something unexpected too!
