Author of Meet Me In The Mountains – A Memoir
What a Beagle has to do with Patience and Perspective
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I asked my daughter Sarah if she would like to do a guest blog for me this week and she agreed. She did a great job. Here are her thoughts on what a Beagle has to do with patience and perspective. Enjoy.
Scritch, Scratch, Bang. These are the muffled sounds I have been hearing all week as I have been trying to wait patiently in the front bedroom. I am a busybody and it is challenging for me to sit still and even more difficult to be confined to one room. But this is where I have been spending the first five days of my fall vacation waiting for the brand new tile to be laid throughout our house.
The Beagle, A.K.A. Chloe, has also been confined to the room with me. Her confinement consists of her crate or her doggy bed in the closet. She has not complained about sitting around all day. On the contrary, she seems to appreciate the safety her crate and the closet can provide. She also manages to squeeze her tubby beagle-self underneath the bed, an even smaller space. It is interesting how perspectives can be so dramatically different in the same situation.
There are many times in life that we have a certain perspective of a situation based on our personality, experiences or lack thereof. When you think about it, our perspectives are extremely limited. Those who have had the opportunity to travel, see, or experience many of the facets of this life may disagree that their perspective is limited, but compare your perspective with that of God and it is incomparable. As I read today’s reading, I couldn’t help but think about how God questions Job and gives him a small taste of His perspective:
Jb 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5
The LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said:
Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning
and shown the dawn its place
For taking hold of the ends of the earth,
till the wicked are shaken from its surface?
The earth is changed as is clay by the seal,
and dyed as though it were a garment;
But from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the arm of pride is shattered.
Have you entered into the sources of the sea,
or walked about in the depths of the abyss?
Have the gates of death been shown to you,
or have you seen the gates of darkness?
Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all:
Which is the way to the dwelling place of light,
and where is the abode of darkness,
That you may take them to their boundaries
and set them on their homeward paths?
You know, because you were born before them,
and the number of your years is great!
Then Job answered the LORD and said:
Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again;
though twice, I will do so no more.
There are many moments when we need to put our hands over our mouths and appreciate the moment that we are experiencing. We need to take it into perspective that God’s perspective trumps ours every time and He is always looking out for our best interest, whether we are a Beagle or a busybody.
Book News!
- Congratulations to the two winner of the Goodreads Giveaway. Michael from Las Vegas and Janelle from Pennsylvania each won a copy of my book, Meet Me In The Mountains.
- This week I am reading Chapter 9. Listen below as I share my experience with riding in a hot air balloon over the desert in Arizona. Was it a smooth ride, or…………then again, maybe not.
Chapter 9 - Staying Afloat
Thanks DT! Hopefully we will see you sometime this week!
Dear Sarah and Chloe: thanks for sharing. The reflection shared about Job has so very many ‘take-offs’ for us. Yours was right on. So too are throughts about ‘retreating’ for a bit; about silence-ing our mind (as well as our mouth)… also looking out our window on a fall day and thanking the Creator of it all for the gift of colors and elk and cooler temps. And perhaps the most important is the lesson from God’s word to Job: you weren’t with me when I spoke the Word and the world was created… you didn’t participate in any of the design… let Me be in charge and have faith that I will make all things beautiful in time and according to my plans.
Blessings. DT. Oh – and BTW: Our beloved Holly dog used to routinely love to squeeze under the bed and spend a couple three hours of peace under there. Then she would come out, look around, take a drink and ‘check’ on us — and then find another place… often in the sun of the Son.