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?”
