Reason #402
I think I have figured out the culprit of my allergy/sinus issues. I believe the 4.5 pounds of cutness I share a bed with is responsible for this mess. A furry critter usually covered with dirt and dead grass. I'll be glad when spring is finally here and things liven up. Maybe then I can quit blowing my nose.
Scout got a bath on Friday. Due to the massive amounts of dirt she carries around, baths have become a weekly event for her. I let her out on Sunday afternoon when I got home from church. I walked into my bathroom to change clothes. I turned around to find a little grass dog staring at me. She was squeaky clean and shiney minutes before. And let me just say, dead grass is near impossible to pull out of furr. It hangs on for dear life. I reached down to pick her up as to stop the dead grass track and she began to run. I quickly realized this was going to be a messy task, so I took her outside and set her on the patio table so she couldn't esacpe. I grabbed her brush, held her captive, and brushed her forever. She doesn't care for being brushed but she had no choice. She couldn't go anywhere, and I was determined to remove every last blade of dead grass from her furr. For what seemed like an eternity, I brushed and picked out the grass. Finally, she was grass-free and she was allowed back inside. Of course, I decided she was done being outside for the afternoon because one grass-removal process a day is more than enough for me.
It's interesting the things I learn from Scout. It's also interesting how much we have in common. Sometimes, I watch her roll around in the grass. She'll find a spot, sniff for a while, and then fall over. She rolls and squirms and pushes her little self in circles until she is completely covered in grass. I have no idea why she does this. I suppose she smells something delicious and she can't help but to try and make sure she gets the scent all over herself, too. What ever the reason, I don't understand. And, I don't really like it either. Because who gets stuck cleaning her off and cleaning up her mess? Me. She sure doesn't enjoy that, but she has no choice. If I don't clean her off, the grass is going to stay there for a long, long time, making sure to conveniently fall off all over my house only prolonging and spreading the mess.
I do this, too, and I don't mean roll around in the grass. But I'm guilty of the same behavior. He cleans me off, plucks away the sin and shame in my life, and for a few days I'm good. I look good, I feel good, I smell good, but then I come across something and it is so enticing. It looks good, too and I think, "Why not?!" So I help myself to whatever it is not even thinking about the results I'll be left with. And the next thing I know, I'm covered in it. I'm trekking it around everywhere I go because I can't get it off. I can't shake hard enough to remove it, and now it seems stuck. I feel as if I've totally messed up and ruined everything. I want so bad to take it back. I want to undo what I did. I can't, it's too late. And so the mess stays with me, haunting me, creating even more little messes and I'm filled with regret. If only I had thought twice. If only I had learned from the last time. If only...
But He notices. He picks me up and He begins to remove those things from me. I don't enjoy it. It's not my favorite way to spend time with Him. After all, does anyone enjoy the refining process? But it has to be done. I can't do it for myself, He is the only one who can. The only one who can make me clean and whole again. The only one who can get out the stains and clean up the mess. And He does. Willingly, He stoops down and He addresses it. He doesn't let me continue on making messes and carrying shame. Sometimes, He keeps me in a place until He can cleans me from it all, take away what doesn't need to be there, and then He lets me move on. And sometimes, He does shut the door. He knows I can't handle it. I'm too weak to not give in and so He removes me from the situation permanently. Other times, I still have access. But I've learned to become a quick learner. I've learned that it's better to do what's right, what I know to do, than to give in and have to come before Him covered in the stains of the world. Stains that are a process to remove. Stains that He probably doesn't enjoy removing either.
Yet He will. He has every time, too. Sometimes, He catches me before I can get away and other times, I come pleading. But either way, He will do it. And I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful that He doesn't want me to carry around those things but desires to remove them and restore me to a state of wholeness. I'm glad that He cares enough to pay attention to me, too. And even though it can be a hard process, I'm thankful that He will take the time to do it. No matter how long it takes or how often He must do it, He will. Because that's how much He loves us. Enough to roll up His sleeves, get dirty, and remove those things that are not of Him.
#402 - Because He desires to restore us to a state of wholeness.
"But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9
Scout got a bath on Friday. Due to the massive amounts of dirt she carries around, baths have become a weekly event for her. I let her out on Sunday afternoon when I got home from church. I walked into my bathroom to change clothes. I turned around to find a little grass dog staring at me. She was squeaky clean and shiney minutes before. And let me just say, dead grass is near impossible to pull out of furr. It hangs on for dear life. I reached down to pick her up as to stop the dead grass track and she began to run. I quickly realized this was going to be a messy task, so I took her outside and set her on the patio table so she couldn't esacpe. I grabbed her brush, held her captive, and brushed her forever. She doesn't care for being brushed but she had no choice. She couldn't go anywhere, and I was determined to remove every last blade of dead grass from her furr. For what seemed like an eternity, I brushed and picked out the grass. Finally, she was grass-free and she was allowed back inside. Of course, I decided she was done being outside for the afternoon because one grass-removal process a day is more than enough for me.
It's interesting the things I learn from Scout. It's also interesting how much we have in common. Sometimes, I watch her roll around in the grass. She'll find a spot, sniff for a while, and then fall over. She rolls and squirms and pushes her little self in circles until she is completely covered in grass. I have no idea why she does this. I suppose she smells something delicious and she can't help but to try and make sure she gets the scent all over herself, too. What ever the reason, I don't understand. And, I don't really like it either. Because who gets stuck cleaning her off and cleaning up her mess? Me. She sure doesn't enjoy that, but she has no choice. If I don't clean her off, the grass is going to stay there for a long, long time, making sure to conveniently fall off all over my house only prolonging and spreading the mess.
I do this, too, and I don't mean roll around in the grass. But I'm guilty of the same behavior. He cleans me off, plucks away the sin and shame in my life, and for a few days I'm good. I look good, I feel good, I smell good, but then I come across something and it is so enticing. It looks good, too and I think, "Why not?!" So I help myself to whatever it is not even thinking about the results I'll be left with. And the next thing I know, I'm covered in it. I'm trekking it around everywhere I go because I can't get it off. I can't shake hard enough to remove it, and now it seems stuck. I feel as if I've totally messed up and ruined everything. I want so bad to take it back. I want to undo what I did. I can't, it's too late. And so the mess stays with me, haunting me, creating even more little messes and I'm filled with regret. If only I had thought twice. If only I had learned from the last time. If only...
But He notices. He picks me up and He begins to remove those things from me. I don't enjoy it. It's not my favorite way to spend time with Him. After all, does anyone enjoy the refining process? But it has to be done. I can't do it for myself, He is the only one who can. The only one who can make me clean and whole again. The only one who can get out the stains and clean up the mess. And He does. Willingly, He stoops down and He addresses it. He doesn't let me continue on making messes and carrying shame. Sometimes, He keeps me in a place until He can cleans me from it all, take away what doesn't need to be there, and then He lets me move on. And sometimes, He does shut the door. He knows I can't handle it. I'm too weak to not give in and so He removes me from the situation permanently. Other times, I still have access. But I've learned to become a quick learner. I've learned that it's better to do what's right, what I know to do, than to give in and have to come before Him covered in the stains of the world. Stains that are a process to remove. Stains that He probably doesn't enjoy removing either.
Yet He will. He has every time, too. Sometimes, He catches me before I can get away and other times, I come pleading. But either way, He will do it. And I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful that He doesn't want me to carry around those things but desires to remove them and restore me to a state of wholeness. I'm glad that He cares enough to pay attention to me, too. And even though it can be a hard process, I'm thankful that He will take the time to do it. No matter how long it takes or how often He must do it, He will. Because that's how much He loves us. Enough to roll up His sleeves, get dirty, and remove those things that are not of Him.
#402 - Because He desires to restore us to a state of wholeness.
"But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9
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