Lessons I Learnt From Observing Our Pet Dog - Part 6

My latest lesson actually came from my wife and it is on perseverance.
Our pet Scot had been trying to get into the house for many years now and each time he stepped into the living room, he would be chased out as he was never allowed to enter the house; his roaming area would be the car porch and garden area in the front of the intermediate terrace and this had been 'ingrained' in him since his obedience training. Recently because of his  many sicknesses and also because there were no one in the house for extended periods of time, we decided to bend the rules and allow him to rest in the backyard. Also his many adventures of running away from home contributed to the change of our hearts. You might say that his perseverance in trying to come into the house had finally paid off and he is at liberty to walk through the front door and go right to the backyard and we would not shout at him and he knows it well too.


And so the Lord reminded me how when we persevere, after much changing of our character traits through many trials and training, we too would be able to enjoy our benefits. Our benefits have always been there but we may not be ready to receive them and so through much training, our characters change and we are now better equipped to enjoy the goodness of our Lord.

Lessons I Learnt From Observing Our Pet Dog - Part 5

When Scot was younger and every time there is a heavy thunderstorm, with loud thunders, he would get nervous and would want to run into the house and hide under the table or under the sink in the bathroom or anywhere else where there is an 'overhead' shelter for him.

But over the years on a few of these storms when we were not at home, and we had forgotten to lease him up on the front yard, he would contort his body and slip under the narrow gap of the main gate or in between the bars in the garden fence, reason being that there is no overhead shelter for him in the front yard and plants do not count. I recalled we had great difficulties locating him as the entire neighborhood is very widespread. However, inevitably he would be found and kept by neighbors and strangers alike and they would call us to inform us to collect him home.

Initially we could not understand his strange behavior but over close to seven experiences we introduced new measure to overcome similar situations. What is also amazing is that he could squeeze between the vertical bars of the garden fence which the gap is only about four inches. How could he manage to squeeze his head (which is about 4 inched wide) and his torso (which is slightly more than four inches at his girth) through such a narrow gap?

And does he do that in every thunderstorm? No. Whenever we are home and he knows it, the winds can howl and the sky covered in flashes of thunderbolts, he would be most peaceful and fast asleep as he could have selective hearing. And we have also learnt that his refuge is under the toilet sink and so we would place him there and shut the door and go about our errands and not have to worry about his antics again.

It is very amazing what fear can do to a person. Out of fear, Scot would force his way out of 'danger' to seek 'refuge'. I see a parallel here - humans too have a great propensity to do impossible things out of self-preservation and fear but remove that fear and we will be most calm and collected. Jesus IS our good Shepherd and with Him around we do not need to have fear (Psalm 23 & John 10:14-16).

Lessons I Learnt From Observing Our Pet Dog - Part 4

Recently we brought Scot to the veterinarian for some sores on his legs which had started to bleed and while we were waiting for the helper to fetch his medication, we chanced upon a chart which lists all the possible ailments that dogs would be susceptible to. The list was a fairly long one and as we read each type of sickness and how it would impact dogs in general, we could not help but noticed that Scot practically had all the symptoms described there.

Now, according to the list, some of the sicknesses are pretty potent and yet, when we look at Scot, his tongue is as healthy as can be - all pinkish and red with good blood circulation. Then the Lord reminded me that Scot is a blessed dog because he belongs to a blessed family and because of his blessedness, he will live a long life.

And so I was immediately arrested to the fact that we, as blessed sons and daughters of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, will live up to a good age and we are filled up on health; sometimes symptoms appear on our bodies but the truth of the matter is, we are the Lord's and as His own, divine health is our portion. The moment we realize that and start to declare that over our lives, viruses will have to leave our bodies for where the Temple of the Holy Spirit is, there will be LIFE and health.

And so I learnt from observing Scot that "as my days, so shall my strength be" Deuteronomy 33:25.

Lessons I Learnt From Observing Our Pet Dog - Part 3

Jesus told His disciples that His sheep hears His voice and listens to Him (John 10:14-16).
¹⁴"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
It is interesting that our dog can actually differentiate each of our voices and his responses differ based on his opinion of us.  To me, he responses as one who would bring him out of the house for his nature calls and he is usually quick afraid of me as I am usually his disciplinarian.  To my wife, he endears her as he views her as a 'big cookie' because she spoils him with biscuits, cookies and dog-treats.  To our daughter he attributes her as one who would groom him and to our son, he usually bullies him as he knows our son is the master and he is good-natured towards him.
And so, from this I learnt that my response to our Lord will depend on my perception of Him; if I view our Lord as one who punishes me when I do wrong, then I would cower in fear whenever I approach Him (if at all).
Praise the Lord that He is not one who is always looking out to discipline us; in fact He loves us so much that He gave up His life for us and will not hesitate to bless us in more ways than we can ask or even imagine.

Lessons I Learnt From Observing Our Pet Dog - Part 2

To continue this series, in this post I would like to share a strange habit that Scot (and for that matter, all beagles) had when he was younger. Whenever we took up his dish to fill with his pet-food, he would be twirling with joy (just like how Charles Schultz would draw Snoopy dancing for joy in his Snoopy cartoon strip) and he would not stop until we place his dish right in front of him.

One day, as I was preparing his dinner and I saw his dance of joy, the Lord quizzed me on my attitude towards feeding on His Word. Although Scot received the same food every dinner, he was never tired of eating the pet formula he had since he came home to us and he was ever so cheerful when he would hear us pouring his daily portion into the dish.

I felt a gentle loving reminder from the Lord that I should learn from Scot how I receive His Word daily into my heart:
1. that I should be joyful that I can sit at His feet and draw from Him;
2. that I should not become familiar with His Word but should appreciate Him with thankfulness.