Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
Here's another Duke story for you. Remember how I mentioned we were working with Duke on his fetching? Whether on land or water now, Duke runs and is taking off eagerly to get his frisbee, ball, or stick BEFORE it’s even thrown. What if we were like that? What if we jumped out in faith with endurance and courage knowing that sometimes we don't 100% see where God is sending us? What if we trusted God no matter what, even when we are unsure of the whole story of where His next road curve in the journey He has paved for us will lead us? Duke trusts us and knows his toy will be thrown for him to go fetch. As believers, we know that God has a plan and that we can trust Him to continue to lead the way. His plan is way better than what we could make up ourselves. Do you trust that truth fully?
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:6
Most of us have heard the verse "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 Many of you have met our sociable, out going, loving child, Duke. While visiting Carter's parents in Charlotte this past August, this verse came to mind...Not only with how Bob and Mary raised Carter but also how we continue to work with our "baby boy." I know many of you are thinking, "He's just a dog." Yes, you are right. However, we have to take time to work with him and train him so he is a good dog and fun for us (and anyone for that matter) to be around. This can be challenging because he is still full with puppy energy. (We can't believe he turned one already at the beginning of May.) We still practice his "sit," "stay," and "down" commands that he learned in his obedience class a while back. We have taught him how to shake, give kisses, and ride on a boat and wave runner as well. The boat ones took a little longer than some of the other things cause he isn't exposed the those as often. But he happily jumped on and was ready to go. (He wondered why he couldn’t just jump off and swim when he wanted.)
This Charlotte trip, Duke loved fetching the ball or a stick we'd throw into the lake. He would have fetched it all day had we let him. "Fetching," "bringing back," and "drop it" are still in the “working on” phase. But boy has he come a long way!!!!! Has improved drastically. Again, we have to train him and work with him. We enjoy training him. We know it will continue to make a difference...a big difference!
The more I think about it, “Aren’t we all still in training daily to be more and more Christ-like?”
