Like Jesus

So this summer Julia (the eldest) got a dog for her birthday (the first family dog ever). She named him Buster. Buster is a one year old standard chihuahua and is obedient for the most part. One week in after having him added to the family he slipped through people's legs and out the front door. ...and was off as if he was some greyhound in a race. Richard started to cry in the driveway and I shouted at him to have his parents get the car. I bolted after him down the country road and finally caught him a quarter of a mile away from the house. Not on my own of course. I was praying for God to stop him and suddenly he just so happened to catch a scent on the ground that made him stop long enough for me to pounce on him! From the driveway he ran down I walked back to the main road and picked up a ride from the kids dad (who had gotten the van).

This experience was not favored and I had hoped that we wouldn't have a repeat. But two days ago Julia ran in and said, "buster got out through the garage!!!" I knew we didn't have much time to talk about it so I ran outside and started calling his name. I ran down the driveway to the main country road and there was the little fart looking back at the house about 100 yards away. Julia and her mom by this point were helping by calling his name and squeaking his toy. He ran back into the woods on our property, which was a blessing, but still roamed away from the house. I ran down the highway until I came to the neighbor's turn in and he was still in the woods coming toward me trying to find a way out and past me. Well... he found it, and I found myself sprinting down the road. At first I was following him but the road curved like an 'S', so when he followed the gravel road I cut through the grass. This whole time I'm praying for God to lay a scent down or stop him in some way. Buster was just about to go into the woods on the right when he suddenly turned back to go to the woods on the left. He curved, I went straight, BAM! INTERCEPTION! Well almost. I was close enough that he hunkered down even though I missed grabbing him the first go, and stayed long enough for me to catch myself and then turn back to pick him up (by the scruff of course).

I began walking back and then down the road came Julia, Grace, and their mother. I handed the dog over so as not to detest him as much as I would have if I had carried him home. Then the girls started saying,"You're a dog saver!" I laughed cause I knew it wasn't me who had really caught the dog, but God who stopped him (and I told them this). They told me they were going to wash my feet for me. (I had run out of the house without shoes and my feet were pretty badly beat up from sprinting on gravel and through pine needles and pine cones) Before I could say they didn't have to Grace said, "I know I don't 'have' to, but I 'want' to." I felt pretty bad about letting children serve me and wash my feet, so I tried to deter them the whole way home. I went to the bathroom to wash my feet and they followed me. And then they said, "Please let us wash your feet! We want to be like Jesus!" ...what could I say? So they prepped the bath water and called dibs on who got to wash which foot. And their mom came in and said,"I like that they want to be like Jesus, and I do too." And she put my hair up in a bun so that it wasn't hot on my neck. Afterwards they put lotion on my feet.

What an honor, to get to see children who so passionately want to look to the needs of others. And I need look no further for an example of how to live my life. How many times do we BEG to be like Jesus? Should we not be like these children, pleading for the opportunity to love and serve one another? How many times do we pray for God to send someone to help others? For him to send someone to bind up the broken? For him to aid those who are in need and shelter the lost and homeless? Should we not instead ask that he send US to do it? To ask that we would be like Jesus? Hope this provides some food for thought for your day.