Reason #961
I didn't want Scout to eat people food. For the first year of her life, almost, she had no idea that anything other than dog food was edible. I did this for multiple reasons. For one, I didn't want her to turn into one of those annoying dogs who begs at the sight of food. Plus, I didn't think it was healthy for her to eat people food. After all, look at where people food has taken the majority of the population. Anyway, I would make her sit with me at night during dinner when she was a puppy so that she didn't wander off and potty in the house. Of course, this wasn't a problem because she had no idea she could eat my food. In fact, she didn't even know what I was doing. She'd just lay in my lap and patiently wait for me to finish. But one day, someone gave her a bite of people food, and now that is all she wants.
Aaron and I were too tired to fix dinner for ourselves tonight, so he went to pick up food from one of our favorite restaurants. He brought me home a brownie for dessert, and I decided to save it for later in the evening. We finished our dinner, and I got up to do a few chores around the house. I left the brownie, wrapped in plastic wrap, sitting on my night stand. I also left Scout sitting on the bed, which is level with the night stand. She has slowly become more confident since we got our new bed and has made a few attempts to cross over to the night stand. Clearly, she is my girl, as she found great courage to walk across the night stand, knock the brownie in the floor, and eat her little heart out. I don't blame her. Brownies are simply irresistible. But Aaron walked in and caught her in the act before she could finish off the entire thing. Not to worry, she ate most of it, and when thinking of her size in relation to the amount of the brownie she ate, it would probably be equivalent to me eating an entire pan of brownies... or two.
Well, as all good pet owners know, chocolate can be toxic to dogs. Aaron called the 24 hour Emergency Vet to explain the situation and see what steps we might need to take to keep Scout from getting sick. The vet doubted she would get sick, although we were fearing for her life, and he just advised us to watch her closely. He said, "If it's going to have a negative effect on her, you should notice it within 10 or so minutes." I kept an eye on her, tried to remain calm, and assured myself she'd be fine. If the vet didn't panic, I didn't need to panic. I did, however, make a mental note to never leave food sitting within reach of Scout while she is unattended. Clearly, the temptation is too much for her to withstand.
I definitely think Scout is not alone in the boat of being easily tempted. Who isn't prone to indulge and feed their selfish desires when no one is looking? We know we aren't supposed to do it, but it looks so good. It's calling our name, and we can't help but give in. We've been waiting for that opportunity. Admiring it from a far for so long, and we've been denied it. But the chance has come for us to take what we want, and we're going to do it. No matter how sick it might make us, regardless of the fact that it could do some serious damage to our lives or even end up costing us our life, we go for it. Because in that moment, that is all we can think about. In that moment, we've lost all ability to think about our future and the consequences of our decisions. And often times we find out that we made a really bad, impulsive, irreversible decisions after it's too late.
Thankfully, the Lord is a healer. Thankfully, He forgives our sins and can work through our poor choices to bring about good. He is merciful to come to our aid when we get ourselves in a bind, and He is faithful to watch over us as we work on getting out of that bind. In His goodness, He doesn't pour out the full wrath on us that we deserve or say, "Serves you right. I told you not to do that and you did. You knew better, so you just have fun suffering those consequences on your own." Sure, there are consequences that are less than fun, but He watches over us, just like we've been watching over Scout all night, to make sure we survive them. He doesn't abandon us in our time of need, even when we've brought it on ourselves, because His grace runs deep. And so I thank the Lord for His compassion towards us. I thank Him for continuing to love us and care for us even when we do things we know we shouldn't. And I thank Him that He is always there. There to rescue us, there to forgive us, and there to watch over us as we recover from the fall.
#961 - Because He rescues us, forgive us, and watches over us as we recover from the fall.
"Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love." - Psalm 6:4
Aaron and I were too tired to fix dinner for ourselves tonight, so he went to pick up food from one of our favorite restaurants. He brought me home a brownie for dessert, and I decided to save it for later in the evening. We finished our dinner, and I got up to do a few chores around the house. I left the brownie, wrapped in plastic wrap, sitting on my night stand. I also left Scout sitting on the bed, which is level with the night stand. She has slowly become more confident since we got our new bed and has made a few attempts to cross over to the night stand. Clearly, she is my girl, as she found great courage to walk across the night stand, knock the brownie in the floor, and eat her little heart out. I don't blame her. Brownies are simply irresistible. But Aaron walked in and caught her in the act before she could finish off the entire thing. Not to worry, she ate most of it, and when thinking of her size in relation to the amount of the brownie she ate, it would probably be equivalent to me eating an entire pan of brownies... or two.
Well, as all good pet owners know, chocolate can be toxic to dogs. Aaron called the 24 hour Emergency Vet to explain the situation and see what steps we might need to take to keep Scout from getting sick. The vet doubted she would get sick, although we were fearing for her life, and he just advised us to watch her closely. He said, "If it's going to have a negative effect on her, you should notice it within 10 or so minutes." I kept an eye on her, tried to remain calm, and assured myself she'd be fine. If the vet didn't panic, I didn't need to panic. I did, however, make a mental note to never leave food sitting within reach of Scout while she is unattended. Clearly, the temptation is too much for her to withstand.
I definitely think Scout is not alone in the boat of being easily tempted. Who isn't prone to indulge and feed their selfish desires when no one is looking? We know we aren't supposed to do it, but it looks so good. It's calling our name, and we can't help but give in. We've been waiting for that opportunity. Admiring it from a far for so long, and we've been denied it. But the chance has come for us to take what we want, and we're going to do it. No matter how sick it might make us, regardless of the fact that it could do some serious damage to our lives or even end up costing us our life, we go for it. Because in that moment, that is all we can think about. In that moment, we've lost all ability to think about our future and the consequences of our decisions. And often times we find out that we made a really bad, impulsive, irreversible decisions after it's too late.
Thankfully, the Lord is a healer. Thankfully, He forgives our sins and can work through our poor choices to bring about good. He is merciful to come to our aid when we get ourselves in a bind, and He is faithful to watch over us as we work on getting out of that bind. In His goodness, He doesn't pour out the full wrath on us that we deserve or say, "Serves you right. I told you not to do that and you did. You knew better, so you just have fun suffering those consequences on your own." Sure, there are consequences that are less than fun, but He watches over us, just like we've been watching over Scout all night, to make sure we survive them. He doesn't abandon us in our time of need, even when we've brought it on ourselves, because His grace runs deep. And so I thank the Lord for His compassion towards us. I thank Him for continuing to love us and care for us even when we do things we know we shouldn't. And I thank Him that He is always there. There to rescue us, there to forgive us, and there to watch over us as we recover from the fall.
#961 - Because He rescues us, forgive us, and watches over us as we recover from the fall.
"Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love." - Psalm 6:4
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